Michigan's Relationship Between Climate, Soils, and Forestry. Paper Example

The Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan is a generally Great Lake forested landscape with various forest types of different conditions. This area commonly has an interrelationship between climate, soils, and forestry. The Northern Lower Michigan can be found within the northern temperate forest that consists of abandoned forests and lesser protected contiguous forest land. Michigan is characterized by a temperate climate that is more unsettled as it consists of different seasons with deep winters as well as warm summers (Ladwig et al. 374). The soils were developed from the deposition of glacial sediments during the Ice Age. A well-defined relationship between climate, soils, and forestry exists around Michigan where each of them benefits or is affected by the other in ways such as climate change, pest intrusion, water infiltration, and carbon emission.

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Michigan forests are being changed with the globally changing climate (Janowiak et al. 36). For instance, the warmer and shorter winters greatly affect trees and also influence pests and diseases that damage them. There are mild, and variable winters within Michigan and sudden precipitation are evident in heavier rainstorms. Various pests harbored by the soils are influenced by cold winters (Bebber 337). It is during the cold that soils become a favorable habitat for these pests, such as the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid which affect temperate forests.

Michigan's climate also influences the availability of water and nutrients that are essential for tree growth (Handler et al. 36). These are also vital for the population growth rate of pests harbored in the soils. From another perspective, the health of the temperate forests around Michigan influences the quality of water around Michigan. Water from precipitation is captured continuously by the forests, filtered by the soil, and released to the watershed. Furthermore, soils within the forests tend to hold carbon that is even greater than the carbon existent within the trees (Talhelm et al. 2498). The forests emit carbon and cause climate change through soaking and storing atmospheric carbon.

Michigan's climate, soils, and forests have a well-defined relationship for which either of them either benefits or is limited by the other. There has been evidence of changing climate, pest populations, increased precipitation, and more atmospheric carbon as a result of their relationship. Therefore, Michigan is among the states that have benefited from various ecosystem services.

Works Cited

Bebber, Daniel Patrick. "Range-expanding pests and pathogens in a warming world." Annual Review of Phytopathology, vol 53, 2015, pp. 335-356, doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080614-120207

Handler, Stephen, et al. "Michigan forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Northwoods Climate Change Response Framework project." Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-129. Newtown Square, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Vol. 229, 2014, pp. 1-229, doi: 10.2737/NRS-GTR-129

Janowiak, Maria K., et al. "Forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis for northern Wisconsin and western Upper Michigan: a report from the Northwoods Climate Change Response Framework project." Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-136. Newtown Square, PA: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station, vol. 247, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-247, doi: 10.2737/NRS-GTR-136

Ladwig, Laura M., et al. "Beyond arctic and alpine: The influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems." Ecology, vol. 97, no.2, 2016, pp. 372-382, doi: 10.1890/15-0153.1

Talhelm, Alan F., et al. "Elevated carbon dioxide and ozone alter productivity and ecosystem carbon content in northern temperate forests." Global Change Biology, vol. 20, no. 8, 2014, pp. 2492-2504, doi: 10.1111/gcb.12564