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Trees grow within narrow ecological limits. Cottonwoods don’t grow on mountain tops and spruce trees don’t grow in Tennessee river bottoms. The complex topography, geology, soils, and climate of Tennessee has resulted in highly diverse forests. But we know climate has changed in the past and is changing right now. A list of native trees of Tennessee 15,000 years ago would be completely different from the list of native trees now. Trees migrate as a result of changes in climate, not by picking up their roots and walking over a mountain, but due to changes in where seeds of various species can become established and grow. In a time of very rapid climate change, it is reasonable to consider what the future forests of Tennessee might be like, and what trees we might consider native.

This discussion will be divided into three parts. We will describe the trees of the past and present in Tennessee, then see how the current climate crisis might favor some trees and cause the loss of others, and we will finish by examining what we, as native tree enthusiasts should do in the face of the climate crisis. We will focus on trees, even though these changes affect all plant species, because we collect huge amounts of data about the health and growth of trees, but do not do the same for herbaceous plants. There will be plenty of time for discussion following each of these three segments.

Instructor: Tom Kimmerer, Ph.D.
Elective Class: 4 hours credit for Certificate in Native Plants