Features Overview

This project looks at the impacts of climate change on the potential habitat suitability envelope for Sitka Spruce in western North America.

Description

This project looked at the potential future climate change impacts on the climate envelope for Sitka Spruce in western North America. Data was analyzed for current and future (2080) conditions. Sitka Spruce live in a narrow area along the coast of North America and may be particularly vulnerable to climatic changes.

Analysis

The analysis for this project involved collecting climate data in order to develop models that can show the changing envelope that Sitka Spruce could survive within. The factors that were used for analysis were the mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, mean summer precipitation, number of frost free days, and continentality. The future predictions for this data and the resulting habitat envelope is based on the A2 climate projection. The final maps also used a hillshade for the region.

Results and Significance

The results of the analysis show that based on the data included in the model the habitat for the sitka spruce is shrinking. It is also moving northward and inland. This analysis can inform forestry management and conservation policies and actions at the state, provincial and federal level. The analysis shows that Sitka Spruce habitat is predicted to decrease by 28 percent by 2080.