Tropical cyclone migration mitigates the impact of climate change on
cool-temperate and boreal forests
Abstract
The poleward migration of tropical cyclones (TCs) inevitably triggers
unprecedented ecological consequences for cool-temperate and boreal
forests, including shifts in species distribution, global carbon
dynamics, or forest policies. However, our current understanding of the
impact of TCs’ expansion into new regions is limited and lacks attention
by both, the media and research community, compared to TCs’ impact on
(sub-)tropical forests. We suggest that TCs should not only be perceived
as destructive weather phenomena but also as vehicle mitigating the
impact of climate change on forest ecosystems via enabling the forest
transition and reducing the negative impact of prolonged drought
periods. Hence, it is vital to establish globally coherent long-term and
large-scale research to capture unique ongoing (and currently
overlooked) ecological processes induced by TC migration, which may lead
to a complex unprecedented forest transition dynamic.