Sponsor
U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC).
Published In
Landscape Ecology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-5-2015
Subjects
Quaking aspen, Forest fires -- Environmental aspects, Great Basin, Climatic changes
Abstract
Content Changing aspen distribution in response to climate change and fire is a major focus of biodiversity conservation, yet little is known about the potential response of aspen to these two driving forces along topoclimatic gradients.
Objective This study is set to evaluate how aspen distribution might shift in response to different climate-fire scenarios in a semi-arid montane landscape, and quantify the influence of fire regime along topoclimatic gradients.
Methods We used a novel integration of a forest landscape succession and disturbance model (LAN DIS-II) with a fine-scale climatic water deficit approach to simulate dynamics of aspen and associated conifer and shrub species over the next 150 years under various climate-fire scenarios.
Results Simulations suggest that many aspen stands could persist without fire for centuries under current climate conditions. However, a simulated 2–5ºC increase in temperature caused a substantial reduction of aspen coverage at lower elevations and a modest increase at upper elevations, leading to an overall reduction of aspen range at the landscape level. Increasing fire activity may favor aspen increase at its upper elevation limits adjacent to coniferous forest, but may also favor reduction of aspen at lower elevation limits adjacent to xeric shrubland.
Conclusions Our study highlights the importance of incorporating fine-scale terrain effects on climatic water deficit and ecohydrology when modeling species distribution response to climate change. This modeling study suggests that climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that use fire would benefit from consideration of spatial context at landscape scales.
Rights
This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
DOI
10.1007/s10980-015-0160-1
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/14534
Citation Details
Yang, J., Weisberg, P. J., Shinneman, D. J., Dilts, T. E., Earnst, S. L., & Scheller, R. M. Fire modulates climate change response of simulated aspen distribution across topoclimatic gradients in a semi-arid montane landscape. Landscape Ecology, 1-19.
Supplementary material