IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v71y2016icp94-102.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the role of forest resources in reducing community vulnerability to the heat effects of climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Walton, Z.L.
  • Poudyal, N.C.
  • Hepinstall-Cymerman, J.
  • Johnson Gaither, C.
  • Boley, B.B.

Abstract

While the growing literature on forest ecosystem services has examined the value and significance of a range of services, our understanding of the health-related benefits of ecosystem services from forests is still limited. To characterize the role of forest resources in reducing community vulnerability to the heat effects of climate change, a general index of heat vulnerability (HEVI) was developed through Principle Components Analysis (PCA) and subsequently used within ANVOA and Poisson regression to assess the relationship between the amount and type of forest resources (species, management regime, spatial pattern) and a county's vulnerability to the heat effects of climate change. Results of the ANOVA showed significant differences in the extent and characteristics of forests among counties experiencing different levels of heat vulnerability. The Poisson regression using county heat mortality as the dependent variable found forest characteristics to have a significant influence on heat mortality when other determinants of vulnerability were controlled. A negative and significant relationship was specifically found between forest area and heat related mortality, which supports the hypothesis that the extent of forest coverage helps to alleviate vulnerability associated with heat effects. These findings have important implications for understanding the role of forest ecosystem services in reducing a community's vulnerability to the heat effects of climate change. Findings will also be useful in guiding land use planning and preserving desirable forest characteristics to help communities adapt to climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Walton, Z.L. & Poudyal, N.C. & Hepinstall-Cymerman, J. & Johnson Gaither, C. & Boley, B.B., 2016. "Exploring the role of forest resources in reducing community vulnerability to the heat effects of climate change," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 94-102.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:71:y:2016:i:c:p:94-102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2015.09.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934115300447
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.09.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smoyer, Karen E., 1998. "Putting risk in its place: methodological considerations for investigating extreme event health risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(11), pages 1809-1824, December.
    2. Harlan, Sharon L. & Brazel, Anthony J. & Prashad, Lela & Stefanov, William L. & Larsen, Larissa, 2006. "Neighborhood microclimates and vulnerability to heat stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2847-2863, December.
    3. Pandit, Ram & Laband, David N., 2010. "Energy savings from tree shade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1324-1329, April.
    4. Nathan Wood & Christopher Burton & Susan Cutter, 2010. "Community variations in social vulnerability to Cascadia-related tsunamis in the U.S. Pacific Northwest," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 52(2), pages 369-389, February.
    5. Farber, Stephen C. & Costanza, Robert & Wilson, Matthew A., 2002. "Economic and ecological concepts for valuing ecosystem services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 375-392, June.
    6. Amacher, Gregory S. & Ollikainen, Markku & Uusivuori, Jussi, 2014. "Forests and ecosystem services: Outlines for new policy options," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-3.
    7. Gaither, Cassandra Johnson & Poudyal, Neelam C. & Goodrick, Scott & Bowker, J.M. & Malone, Sparkle & Gan, Jianbang, 2011. "Wildland fire risk and social vulnerability in the Southeastern United States: An exploratory spatial data analysis approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 24-36, January.
    8. Parkhurst, Gregory M. & Shogren, Jason F., 2007. "Spatial incentives to coordinate contiguous habitat," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 344-355, December.
    9. Ajita Atreya & Susana Ferreira & Warren Kriesel, 2013. "Forgetting the Flood? An Analysis of the Flood Risk Discount over Time," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 89(4), pages 577-596.
    10. Susan L. Cutter & Bryan J. Boruff & W. Lynn Shirley, 2003. "Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(2), pages 242-261, June.
    11. Wätzold, Frank & Drechsler, Martin, 2014. "Agglomeration payment, agglomeration bonus or homogeneous payment?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 85-101.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hodges, Donald G. & Zadnik Stirn, Lidija & Grebner, Donald L., 2016. "Integrating ecosystem service concepts into valuation and management decisions," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 61-62.
    2. Massimiliano Agovino & Massimiliano Cerciello & Aniello Ferraro & Antonio Garofalo, 2021. "Spatial analysis of wildfire incidence in the USA: the role of climatic spillovers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 6084-6105, April.
    3. Therasme, Obste & Volk, Timothy A. & Fortier, Marie-Odile & Kim, Youngwoon & Wood, Christopher D. & Ha, HakSoo & Ali, Atif & Brown, Tristan & Malmsheimer, Robert, 2022. "Carbon footprint of biofuels production from forest biomass using hot water extraction and biochemical conversion in the Northeast United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    4. Zhi Cai & Yan Tang & Kai Chen & Guifeng Han, 2019. "Assessing the Heat Vulnerability of Different Local Climate Zones in the Old Areas of a Chinese Megacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Cassandra Johnson Gaither & Sadia Afrin & Fernando Garcia-Menendez & M. Talat Odman & Ran Huang & Scott Goodrick & Alan Ricardo da Silva, 2019. "African American Exposure to Prescribed Fire Smoke in Georgia, USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-15, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Surun, Clément & Drechsler, Martin, 2018. "Effectiveness of Tradable Permits for the Conservation of Metacommunities With Two Competing Species," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 189-196.
    2. Eric Tate, 2012. "Social vulnerability indices: a comparative assessment using uncertainty and sensitivity analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(2), pages 325-347, September.
    3. Yi Ge & Guangfei Yang & Yi Chen & Wen Dou, 2019. "Examining Social Vulnerability and Inequality: A Joint Analysis through a Connectivity Lens in the Urban Agglomerations of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, February.
    4. Susan Williams & Peng Bi & Jonathan Newbury & Guy Robinson & Dino Pisaniello & Arthur Saniotis & Alana Hansen, 2013. "Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Mohsen Alizadeh & Esmaeil Alizadeh & Sara Asadollahpour Kotenaee & Himan Shahabi & Amin Beiranvand Pour & Mahdi Panahi & Baharin Bin Ahmad & Lee Saro, 2018. "Social Vulnerability Assessment Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Model for Earthquake Hazard in Tabriz City, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-23, September.
    6. Jonathan W. F. Remo & Nicholas Pinter & Moe Mahgoub, 2016. "Assessing Illinois’s flood vulnerability using Hazus-MH," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 265-287, March.
    7. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Lijie Zhang & Qiuhong Tang & Hua Liao & Xian'en Li, 2014. "Assessing Heat Health Risk for Sustainability in Beijing’s Urban Heat Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-24, October.
    8. Matteo Zavalloni & Meri Raggi & Davide Viaggi, 2016. "Assessing Collective Measures in Rural Policy: The Effect of Minimum Participation Rules on the Distribution of Benefits from Irrigation Infrastructure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Seunghoo Jeong & D. K. Yoon, 2018. "Examining Vulnerability Factors to Natural Disasters with a Spatial Autoregressive Model: The Case of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    10. Vaneckova, Pavla & Beggs, Paul J. & Jacobson, Carol R., 2010. "Spatial analysis of heat-related mortality among the elderly between 1993 and 2004 in Sydney, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 293-304, January.
    11. Ibolya Török, 2018. "Qualitative Assessment of Social Vulnerability to Flood Hazards in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    12. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Hua Liao & Qiuhong Tang & Xian’en Li, 2015. "New climate and socio-economic scenarios for assessing global human health challenges due to heat risk," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 505-518, June.
    13. Yi Ge & Wen Dou & Jianping Dai, 2017. "A New Approach to Identify Social Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.
    14. Ward, Patrick S. & Bell, Andrew R. & Droppelmann, Klaus & Benton, Tim G., 2018. "Early adoption of conservation agriculture practices: Understanding partial compliance in programs with multiple adoption decisions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 27-37.
    15. Drechsler, Martin, 2023. "Ecological and economic trade-offs between amount and spatial aggregation of conservation and the cost-effective design of coordination incentives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    16. Uttama Barua & Shahrin Mannan & Ishrat Islam & Mohammad Shakil Akther & Md. Aminul Islam & Tamanna Akter & Raquib Ahsan & Mehedy Ahmed Ansary, 2020. "People’s awareness, knowledge and perception influencing earthquake vulnerability of a community: A study on Ward no. 14, Mymensingh Municipality, Bangladesh," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 103(1), pages 1121-1181, August.
    17. Amanullah Mengal & Katsuichiro Goda & Muhammad Ashraf & Ghulam Murtaza, 2021. "Social vulnerability to seismic-tsunami hazards in district Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 108(1), pages 1159-1181, August.
    18. Gaaff, Aris & Reinhard, Stijn, 2012. "Incorporating the value of ecological networks into cost–benefit analysis to improve spatially explicit land-use planning," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 66-74.
    19. Tiodora Siagian & Purhadi Purhadi & Suhartono Suhartono & Hamonangan Ritonga, 2014. "Social vulnerability to natural hazards in Indonesia: driving factors and policy implications," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 70(2), pages 1603-1617, January.
    20. Oleksandr Didkovskyi & Giovanni Azzone & Alessandra Menafoglio & Piercesare Secchi, 2021. "Social and material vulnerability in the face of seismic hazard: An analysis of the Italian case," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(4), pages 1549-1577, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:71:y:2016:i:c:p:94-102. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.