UK Forests and Climate Change.

A new series of four expert factsheets from @Forest_Research gets into the nuance below the headlines, and sorts the facts from the myths on this important and too frequently politicised topic: [Thread]

1. How does tree planting affect climate?
How much of a tree is carbon?
What role does timber play?
What is the effect of forests on carbon in soil?
What is the role of complex effects like albedo, VOCs and evapotranspiration? https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/factsheet-climate-change-and-forests/

2. How can forestry help flooding in a changing climate?
What are the roles of evaporation, absorption, ‘leaky dams’?
How do you think at catchment-scale?
What are the limitations? https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/factsheet-climate-change-flooding-and-forests/

3. Where should forest-to-bog restoration take place? Drying peatlands lose carbon, and old forests planted inappropriately can accelerate that loss. This factsheet surveys the evidence to recommend restoration where trees are growing at YC8 or less. https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/factsheet-peatlands-forestry-and-climate-change/

4. More biodiverse woodlands are more resilient to pressures like climate change.
But what does ‘diversity’ mean?
Disentangle diversity of genetics, species, ecosystems, spatial scales;
why each is important;
and management interventions to deliver them. https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/factsheet-climate-change-and-biodiversity/

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