Spatial modelling approach to evaluate the economic impacts of climate change on forests at a local scale

Global warming has caused significant environmental and socio-economic impacts on the global and local scales. Based on the definitions of vulnerability and resilience provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, some ecological and management indicators have been developed for forest systems. Using Dempster-Shafer's theory of evidence, forests were subdivided into different classes of vulnerability and resilience. Results enabled the estimation of economic damages to forests by 2050. The findings of this study are useful in promoting further research and guiding management decisions towards sustainable environmental policies on the monitoring and mitigation of climate change damage.