Forest density intensifies the importance of snowpack to growth in water-limited pine forests
| Autor: | Kelly E. Gleason, Shawn Fraver, Anthony W. D'Amato, Michael Battaglia, John B. Bradford, Brian J. Palik |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Ecology Thinning Range (biology) 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology media_common.quotation_subject Climate Change Water Snowpack Forests Snow Pinus 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Arid Competition (biology) Latitude Trees Forest ecology Environmental science media_common |
| Zdroj: | Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of AmericaLiterature Cited. 31(1) |
| ISSN: | 1051-0761 |
| Popis: | 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 data set of population-level forest growth (n = 2,495 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 by forest density. However, forest growth was negatively related to snowpack in a higher latitude more energy-limited forest, and this relationship did not interact with forest density. Future reductions in snowpack may have contrasting consequences, as growth may respond positively in energy-limited forests and negatively in water-limited forests; however, these declines may be mitigated by reducing stand density through forest thinning. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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