Author Williamson, T.B., Price, D.T., Beverly, J.L. et al.

Year of publication 2007

This report describes a general framework for and approach to assessing the vulnerability of forest-based communities to climate change and the potentially increased risks associated with such change. Communities that face relatively high levels of exposure to climate change and that are highly sensitive to changes in the composition and productivity of forests and to changes in forest disturbances (e.g., wildfire), or that have relatively low adaptive capacity (because of factors such as individual immobility, low economic diversity, remoteness, or lack of autonomy) will be vulnerable to climate change. This report identifies specific elements that should be considered in assessing vulnerability and outlines a series of steps that researchers or a community itself may follow to systematically determine sources of vulnerability to climate change.