Research & Data

group of people looking at fieldClimate change is expected to make agricultural production more uncertain leaving producers and land managers to adapt to new and changing weather patterns and markets. Regionally significant research and data improve knowledge of the effects of climate change and provide sustainable solutions for producers and land managers.

Regional data and research are used to create decision-support resources (i.e. informational products and tools created to help producers adapt to the effects of a changing climate). These decision-making resources are built on research and data such as climate modeling and analysis, climate trends and variations, greenhouse gas monitoring, climate data scenarios, and historical climate data and research.

These decision-support resources assist producers, enabling them to establish economic opportunities, proactively manage risks, reduce impacts and costs over time, and sustain agricultural yields in a changing climate.

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A ghost forest of standing dead tree trunks dominate this landscape of a recently killed coastal forest along the Bass River in New Jersey. Note also the dead and down trunks of an earlier forest that was buried in the marsh sediment and is now exposed along the creek edge. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Walker

Rising sea levels and intense storms along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast are damaging and killing coastal forests. Studies document signs of stress and dieback, resulting in “ghost forests”. These are areas of standing dead trees that merge into tidal marshes.…

Climate Change Impacts to Coastal Forests

Lindsey Rustad, USDA Forest Service research ecologist, at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

There is growing concern that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are increasing under the changing climate. Scientists continue to study the impacts these extreme weather events can have on natural and managed ecosystems. Progress has been made in…

Going to Extremes at HBEF

Vermont’s forests are dominated by middle to older-aged Maple/Beech/Birch established between 1920-1960.

The results from a new study in Vermont show how forests can play a significant role in fighting climate change. Forests take up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it as forest biomass (carbon sequestration). When wood or wood products burn or decay, the carbon…

What can forest managers do to increase carbon storage and mitigate climate change?

Jornada Sunrise

The 2020 Jornada Symposium featured short presentations highlighting our climate adaptation efforts.   Climate adaptation in the SouthwestThe USDA Southwest Climate Hub team prepared flash presentations to showcase our climate adaptation projects. The Hub has three…

2020 Jornada Virtual Symposium

Gypsum curtain scene from virtual tour

Nutrient leaching is a process by which percolating rainwater carries dissolved nutrients down through the soil profile. Leached nutrients that reach shallow groundwater may then move towards surface water features like drainage ditches and streams. Nitrogen and phosphorus are…

UMES Permeable Reactive Barriers

Photo by Sara Fitzsimmons, American Chestnut Foundation

Across the northeast, farmers are increasingly looking to chestnuts as a new option for their farms. This interest in chestnuts comes from several angles. U.S. production of chestnuts is much smaller than domestic demand, so chestnut farmers have ready markets for their products…

Chestnuts: A Perennial Opportunity for Northeast Farms

Workers at Briarpatch Enterprises in Milford, CT, offload bags of clams harvested from Long Island Sound onto a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt lifts the bags into a company truck that transports them to the warehouse for processing. Photo by Judy Benson, Connecticut Sea Grant.

Climate change is a global challenge. It has the potential to impact environmental, animal, and human health, as well as the economy. The food production sector is particularly susceptible to changes in the climate. These changes have far-reaching societal impacts such as…

Climate Change and Aquaculture in Connecticut’s Long Island Sound

John Day River, Oregon

Adaptation strategies provide long-term guidance for states, counties, Tribes and communities to plan for future change with the best available science regarding anticipated climate change impacts. These documents are intended to inform a range of planning process at a variety…

Climate Change Adaptation Planning Documents of the Northwest

A field of milkweed at Borderview Farm in Vermont

Milkweed is the only food source for the monarch butterfly caterpillar, an iconic but declining species of North America. To farmers, milkweed is commonly viewed as a weed. However, Borderview Farm and UVM Extension are looking to change that view. Together, they are…

Milkweed at Borderview Farm

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