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Sierran Treeline Dynamics in a Changing Climate
"Treeline position reflects climate through the rings that trees add each year and by moving up and down slope. Because the climate of the eastern High Sierra is cold and dry, dead wood is preserved for millennia. By cross dating the annual pattern of living and dead wood it is possible to date the dead trees above current treeline to a period of warmer temperatures (100 BC to AD 900) that allowed trees to disperse up slope above current treeline. Periods of drought (AD 1000 to 1400) and cool temperatures (AD 1500 to 1900) caused those trees to die and treeline to move down to the current location."
The international scientific consensus is that climate is warming right now. If that is the case, then will we be able to use tree regeneration patterns and growth rates to determine if treeline is moving right now? If it is, what can those patterns tell us about the magnitude of the current climate changes and what can it tell us about the potential for future climate?
treeline, treeline shift, dendrochronology, climate change
Foxtail pine, Whitebark pine
Pinus balfouriana austrina, Pinus albicaulis
Bunn, Andrew G. "Sierran Treeline Dynamics in a Changing Climate." Sierra Nature Notes, Volume 3, May 2003
February 28, 2003 10:00 PM
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Sierra Nevada Mountains, Sequoia National Park, Cirque Peak, Bighorn Plateau, Yosemite National Park, Lee Vining Peak