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Full-Text Articles in Other Environmental Sciences
A Programmatic Geographic Information Systems Analysis Of Plant Hardiness Zones, Andrew Bowen
A Programmatic Geographic Information Systems Analysis Of Plant Hardiness Zones, Andrew Bowen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Plant Hardiness Zone Map consists of thirteen geographical zones that describe whether a plant can survive based on average annual minimal temperatures. As climate change progresses, minimum temperatures in all regions are expected to change. This work programmatically evaluates predicted future climate projection data and converts it to United States Department of Agriculture-defined hardiness zones. Through the next 80 years, hardiness zones are projected to move poleward; in effect, colder zones will lose area and warmer zones will gain area globally. Some implications include changes in crop growing degree days, which could alter crop productivity, migration and settlement of …
The Ecological Resilience Of A Tropical Montane Pine Forest To Droughts, Fire, And Hurricane Disturbance, Daniel Erland Brugger Swann
The Ecological Resilience Of A Tropical Montane Pine Forest To Droughts, Fire, And Hurricane Disturbance, Daniel Erland Brugger Swann
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Owing to the geographic isolation and unique climatic conditions which occur in tropical montane forests (TMFs), these systems are highly sensitive to changes in both climate and disturbance. Therefore, as ongoing climate change alters disturbance regimes – potentially facilitating multiple disturbance interactions much greater than that of isolated disturbances – TMFs may be shifted to alternate stable states. However, study of TMF resilience is essentially unknown given the lack of long-term studies in these systems. We address the resiliency of the tropical montane pine forests of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic using long-term climate records, remeasured vegetation data, and reconstructed …