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Effects of climate change and extreme events on forest communities in the European North

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Abstract

The European north is increasingly affected by changes in climate and climate variability. These changes and their causes are global in scope but specific impacts vary considerably between different regions. Recent incidents and events show that forest-resource based regions have difficulties in alleviating adverse effects of these changes. Also, the future socio-economic impact is to date unexplored. Norrbotten in Sweden, Lappi in Finland and Arkhangelsk oblast in Russia are regions that differ significantly in terms of their socio-economic characteristics and capacities. A modified employment multiplier model is used to predict future changes. Scenarios of changing forest resources provide quantitative estimations of the sensitivity of regional employment. These estimates are used to assess and discuss the adaptive capacities of the regions. Results show that Arkhangelsk oblast is more vulnerable to climate variability than Norrbotten and Lappi. This is due to the continued dependency on natural resources in combination with different capacities to counteract negative effects or to take advantage of the opportunities offered by climate change in this region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Linda Lundmark, Bruno Jansson & Ulf Wiberg

  2. Department of Economy and Society, Högskolan Dalarna, 791 88, Falun, Sweden

    Albina Pashkevich

Authors
  1. Linda Lundmark
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  2. Albina Pashkevich
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  3. Bruno Jansson
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  4. Ulf Wiberg
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Correspondence to Linda Lundmark.

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Lundmark, L., Pashkevich, A., Jansson, B. et al. Effects of climate change and extreme events on forest communities in the European North. Climatic Change 87, 235–249 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-007-9343-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-007-9343-3

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