Northern Minnesota is experiencing climate warming at a rapid pace, with an expectation that iconic tree species in northern forests will be at risk and habitat for new tree species will increase. Scientists have confirmed these predictions through an innovative experiment that assists in the establishment of novel tree species in northern Minnesota pine forests.

Climate change predictions for northern Minnesota include increasingly severe and frequent growing season drought. As a consequence, habitat for iconic tree species in northern pine forests is predicted to decline, while habitat for species from southern Minnesota is predicted to increase. For the first time, a Northern Research Station scientist and collaborators have confirmed these predictions using an innovative field experiment that involves transplanting southern tree species into a field setting on the Cutfoot Experimental Forest in northern Minnesota. This assisted migration experiment is part of the Minnesota Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (MN-ASCC) project, one of the largest forest adaptation experiments in the world. The transplanted trees include white oak, bitternut hickory, and black cherry, species with main populations located at least 62 miles south of the study area. Results confirm that the climate of the study site may already be suitable for these species, as their survival after 3 years is nearly 100 percent and their growth is keeping pace with several northern species. A goal of the MN-ASCC experiment is to find climate change adaptation approaches that keep forests on the landscape. The results from this research show promise for achieving this goal using future-adapted tree species.