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Disturbance Ecology And Vegetation Dynamics At Varying Spatial And Temporal Scales In Southern Rocky Mountain Engelmann Spruce Forests, R. Justin Derose
Disturbance Ecology And Vegetation Dynamics At Varying Spatial And Temporal Scales In Southern Rocky Mountain Engelmann Spruce Forests, R. Justin Derose
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023
High-severity disturbances are the primary drivers of Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir ecosystems in the southern Rocky Mountain. Recently, an unprecedented, landscape-wide (at least 250 km2) spruce beetle outbreak killed virtually all the Engelmann spruce on the Markagunt Plateau in southwestern Utah, USA. Results from dendroecological analyses suggested the combination of antecedent disturbance history and drought-driven stand development was responsible for creating suitable host conditions prior to the recent outbreak. Multiple and consistent lines of evidence suggested mixed- and high-severity fires shaped the development of the Markagunt Plateau. Subsequent stand development, influenced by species-specific differential tree-ring response to drought, resulted in the …