Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Data From: Forest Density Intensifies The Importance Of Snowpack To Growth In Water-Limited Pine Forests, Kelly E. Gleason, John B. Bradford, Anthony W. D’Amato, Shawn Fraver, Brian J. Palik, Michael A. Battaglia

Environmental Science and Management Datasets

Research Study
Warming climate and resulting declines in seasonal snowpack have been associated with drought stress and tree mortality in seasonally snow-covered watersheds worldwide. Meanwhile, increasing forest density has further exacerbated drought stress due to intensified tree-tree competition. Using a uniquely detailed dataset of population-level forest growth (n=2495 sampled trees), we examined how inter-annual variability in growth relates to snow volume across a range of forest densities (e.g., competitive environments) in sites spanning a broad aridity gradient across the United States. Forest growth was positively related to snowpack in water-limited forests located at low latitude, and this relationship was intensified …

Quantitative And Qualitative Approaches To Assess Tree Vigor And Stand Health In Dry Pine Forests, Nancy Grulke, Craig Bienz, Kate Hrinkevich, Jason Maxfield, Kellie Uyeda

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite a critical need to evaluate effectiveness of forest treatments in improving stand health, practitioners lack quantitative, repeatable metrics to assess tree vigor and stand health. We evaluated canopy and whole tree attributes of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. Ex Laws) related to carbon balance, water balance, and susceptibility to insects and pathogens in dry, pine-dominated forest stands during a multi-year drought, an environmental challenge to stand resilience. Metrics of trees in two unmanaged, and seven treated forested stands, in both uplands and lowlands to develop the quantitative approach. Whole tree and crown attributes including needle length and color, branchlet …

Bending The Carbon Curve: Fire Management For Carbon Resilience Under Climate Change, E. Louise Loudermilk, Robert M. Scheller, Peter J. Weisberg, Alec M. Kretchun

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Context: Forest landscapes are increasingly managed for fire resilience, particularly in the western US which has recently experienced drought and widespread, high-severity wildfires. Fuel reduction treatments have been effective where fires coincide with treated areas. Fuel treatments also have the potential to reduce drought-mortality if tree density is uncharacteristically high, and to increase long-term carbon storage by reducing high-severity fire probability.

Objective: Assess whether fuel treatments reduce fire intensity and spread and increase carbon storage under climate change.

Methods: We used a simulation modeling approach that couples a landscape model of forest disturbance and succession with an ecosystem model of …

Competition Amplifies Drought Stress In Forests Across Broad Climatic And Compositional Gradients, Kelly E. Gleason, John B. Bradford, Alessandra Bottero, Anthony W. D'Amato, Shawn Fraver, Brian J. Palik, Michael A. Battaglia, Louis Iverson, Laura Kenefic, Christel C. Kern

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Forests around the world are experiencing increasingly severe droughts and elevated competitive intensity due to increased tree density. However, the influence of interactions between drought and competition on forest growth remains poorly understood. Using a unique dataset of stand-scale dendrochronology sampled from 6405 trees, we quantified how annual growth of entire tree populations responds to drought and competition in eight, long-term (multi-decadal), experiments with replicated levels of density (e.g., competitive intensity) arrayed across a broad climatic and compositional gradient. Forest growth (cumulative individual tree growth within a stand) declined during drought, especially during more severe drought in drier climates. Forest …