Abstract
This report presents forecasts from the Southern Forest Futures Project that are specific to the Mid-South, which consists of four sections located within Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas: the Ozark-Ouachita Highlands, the Cross Timbers, the High Plains, and the West Texas Basin and Range. Ranging from Little Rock, AR to El Paso, TX, it is the most diverse subregion in the South. The Mid-South faces a number of important challenges to management of forests and woodlands over the next 50 years, including population increases, the likelihood for increased drought, increased demand for water and water supply stress, sea level rise along the Gulf of Mexico, and invasive native species. Understanding these challenges, and the implications they could have on management and policy in the region, is critical to maintaining the diversity, health, productivity, and sustainability of Mid-South forests, woodlands, and grasslands.
Keywords
Climate change,
Cross Timbers,
drought,
forest management,
High Plains,
Mid-South,
Ouachita,
Ozark,
Southern Forest Futures Project,
water,
West Texas Basin and Range,
woodlands.
Citation
Guldin, James M.; Hallgren, Stephen; Crooks, James S. 2015. Outlook for Mid-South forests: a subregional report from the Southern Forest Futures Project. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-206. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 70 p.
