Regional Climate Variations and Change for Terrestrial Ecosystems Workshop Review

Abstract

North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center (SECSC), hosted the Regional Climate Variations and Change for Terrestrial Ecosystems Workshop. The workshop was held at North Carolina State University in Raleigh on 16–17 May 2013. The workshop assembled ~40 climate and ecosystem scientists to discuss challenges and uncertainties of understanding the interactions of climate and ecosystems across the Carolinas. This multidisciplinary effort sought to bridge the knowledge gap between climate and ecosystems scientists. Another objective of this workshop was to identify climate-related variables that can be used to evaluate projections of climate change for the ecology community in the Carolinas. This workshop was the first in the Carolinas to engage both disciplines to discuss the needs of the ecology community with regard to regional projections of climate change. The workshop facilitated a discussion of the needs of ecologists from the regional projections of climate change, and the abilities and limitations of these projections, with guidance for appropriate use of projection information.