Northeastern American Forests: Natural Disturbances, Climate Change Impact, and the Utilization of Increasingly Damaged Forest Trees for Biofuel Production

Abstract

Forests and forestry-related industries and ecosystem services play a critical role in the daily life of all societies, including in cultural, ecological, social, economic, and environmental aspects. Globally, there are about 4.1 billion hectares of forestland. In the United States, there are about 304 million hectares of forestland, covering about 34% of the total land area, and the forest product industry produces over USD 200 billion worth of forestry products annually. Evidence suggests these precious resources may be negatively impacted by climate change via direct and indirect processes, including wildfires, insect/pest pressure, drought, extreme storm events, increased air temperature, solar radiation, vapor pressure deficit, and other factors and variables that can be detrimental. All these can not only cause significant changes in the health and productivity of the forests, but can also cause the extinction, migration, and/or re-distribution of different tree species. Thus, humankind has the paramount responsibility to take policy, technologic, economic, environmental, and management decisions and actions to protect this vital resource for current and future generations, plants, and animals. This paper provides an overview of some of the important characteristics of forest environmental services, climate–environment–forest interactions with respect to forest health and productivity, climate change’s impacts on forest species, and the utilization of forest biomass for high-value products.