In the race against a hotter planet, the local trees are actually doing better than the 'tougher' foreign species we planted to replace them.
April 13, 2026
Original Paper
Survival and growth of adaptation tree plantings in a northern Minnesota USA red pine woodland
SSRN · 6559682
The Takeaway
While many believe we need to plant southern species in northern forests to prepare for warming, native hardwoods are actually surviving and growing better. It suggests that local species are more resilient to changing conditions than we gave them credit for.
From the abstract
Climate change is altering habitat of tree species in many forests. Managers are making decisions about planting future-adapted genotypes and species. The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) experiment demonstrates use of adaptation plantings in various forest types in North America, including Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) woodlands in northern Minnesota USA. In Red Pine ASCC we planted eight species in 2016 in a treatment consisting of 0.2-ha gaps within a matrix harvested to 14–18m2 ha