We were able to attract a high number of experts and leading scientists from the four main disciplines involved: (1) forest inventory, (2) remote sensing, (3) mortality mechanisms, and (4) modelling. Contributions of each task force member will become crucial as the task force evolves. We are well aware that, initially, we will rely mainly on the expertise and personal networks from members from discipline (1) and (2) but contributions from disciplines (3) and (4) will be essential, once mortality assessments are underway, for attribution of causes of mortality, for development of predictive tools and for forecasting of mortality trends under ongoing climate change.