Silviculture as a discipline is the art and science of how forests are managed based on goals and values. Increasingly forest managers are prioritizing silvicultural treatments based on climate adaptive silviculture to increase resistance or resilience or to help facilitation transition of forest ecosystems. However, there are few frameworks that move these theoretical concepts into replicated on-the-ground large scale experiments. The overarching goal of the Adaptative Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) network is to bring together researchers and managers who span the range of disciplines within forestry and forest ecology to develop and implement large scale experiments. The ASCC network stretches across the United States and Canada and with installations spanning numerous different forest ecosystems, most of them in extensive or rural forest ecosystems. The Twin Cities is the first urban affiliated site along the floodplain forests of the Upper Mississippi River. The site is located at Crosby Farm Regional Park, a 736-acre natural area in St. Paul. MN that is experiencing changing in the timing, amount, and intensity of flooding and impacts from invasive species like emerald ash borer, reed canary grass, buckthorn, and others which are leading to high levels of overstory mortality and limited regeneration in floodplain forests. Within Crosby Farm, we have installed a replicated experiment testing the survival, growth, phenology, and health of different tree species within the resistance, resilience, and transition framework. We will share how the collaborative process developed and is continuing develop during the first 3-years of the project, funding for project implementation and long-term monitoring, initial results including data collected through a network of volunteers, scientists, and employees, and community engagement. Our project has successfully brought together numerous organizations to tackle critical questions related to climate adaptation in urban floodplain ecosystems.
