Global warming changing northern forests

Experiments were conducted along the American-Canadian border using heat lamps and heating coils on small sections of forest to simulate what the future may hold for us. The test area is right where two different forests meet. During the experiment, the trees that favor a warmer climate, like oaks and maples, tend to do better than the species that favor a colder environment. This suggest that, as the planet continues to warm, we may see species that prefer a warmer climate start to move up further north. This would seem to follow the current agriculture movement up north due to optimal growing conditions moving north. This experiment did not take all of the possibilities into account, like the difference between summer and winter, but it does show what is possible from the information we already know about global warming. To get more information on this, click here.

Credit: David Hansen, University of Minnesota