Influences of 20th-century warming at the upper tree line contingent on local-scale interactions: Evidence from a latitudinal gradient in the Rocky Mountains, USA

Global Ecology and Biogeography

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 46-57

  Elliott, Grant P ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI   (United States)

Author keywords

Climate change; Dendroecology; Positive feedback; Regime shift; Rocky Mountains; Spatial pattern; Tree line

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE CHANGE; CLIMATE EFFECT; COMMUNITY RESPONSE; DENDROECOLOGY; ECOTONE; GLOBAL WARMING; LATITUDINAL GRADIENT; SPATIAL ANALYSIS; TREELINE; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

BIGHORN MOUNTAINS; COLORADO; FRONT RANGE; MEDICINE BOW MOUNTAINS; ROCKY MOUNTAINS; SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS; UNITED STATES;

JATROPHA CARDIOPHYLLA;

EID: 78650046563     PISSN: 1466822X     EISSN: 14668238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00588.x     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. Alftine, K.J. & Malanson, G.P. (2004) Directional positive feedback and pattern at an alpine tree line. Journal of Vegetation Science, 15, 3-12.
2. Anderson, T., Carstensen, J., Hernández-García, E. & Duarte, C.M. (2009) Ecological thresholds and regime shifts: approaches to identification. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 24, 49-57.
3. Applequist, M.B. (1958) A simple pith locator for use with off-center increment cores. Journal of Forestry, 56, 141.
4. Bader, M.Y., Rietkerk, M. & Bregt, A.K. (2008) A simple spatial model exploring positive feedbacks at tropical alpine treelines. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 40, 269-278.
5. Batllori, E. & Gutiérrez, E. (2008) Regional tree line dynamics in response to global change in the Pyrenees. Journal of Ecology, 96, 1275-1288.
6. Batllori, E., Camarero, J.J., Ninot, J.M. & Gutiérrez, E. (2009) Seedling recruitment, survival and facilitation in alpine Pinus uncinata tree line ecotones. Implications and potential repsonses to climate warming. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 18, 460-472.
7. Bekker, M.F. (2005) Positive feedback between tree establishment and patterns of subalpine forest advancement, Glacier National Park, Montana, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 37, 97-107.
8. Butler, D.R., Malanson, G.P., Walsh, S.J. & Fagre, D.B. (2007) Influences of geomorphology and geology on alpine treeline in the American West - more important than climatic influences? Physical Geography, 28, 434-450.
9. Callaway, R.M., Brooker, R.W., Choler, P., Kikvidze, Z., Lortie, C.J., Michalet, R., Paolini, L., Pugnaire, F.I., Newingham, B., Aschehough, E.T., Armas, C., Kikodze, D. & Cook, B. (2002) Positive interactions among alpine plants increase with stress. Nature, 417, 844-848.
10. Camarero, J.J. & Gutiérrez, E. (2004) Pace and pattern of recent treeline dynamics: response of ecotones to climatic variability in the Spanish Pyrenees. Climatic Change, 63, 181-200.
11. Camarero, J.J., Gutiérrez, E. & Fortin, M.-J. (2000) Spatial pattern of subalpine forest-alpine grassland ecotones in the Spanish Central Pyrenees. Forest Ecology and Management, 134, 1-16.
12. Daly, C., Halbleib, M., Smith, J.I., Gibson, W.P., Doggett, M.K., Taylor, G.H., Curtis, J.T. & Pasteris, P.A. (2008) Physiographically-sensitive mapping of temperature and precipitation across the conterminous United States. International Journal of Climatology, 28, 2031-2064.
13. Danby, R.K. & Hik, D.S. (2007) Variability, contingency and rapid change in recent subarctic alpine tree line dynamics. Journal of Ecology, 95, 352-363.
14. Daniels, L.D. & Veblen, T.T. (2004) Spatiotemporal influences of climate on altitudinal treeline in northern Patagonia. Ecology, 85, 1284-1296.
15. Despain, D.G. (1973) Vegetation of the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming, in relation to substrate and climate. Ecological Monographs, 43, 329-355.
16. Diggle, P.J. (1983) Statistical analysis of spatial point patterns. Academic Press, New York.
17. Duncan, R.P. (1990) Spatial analysis programs. Statistical analysis software package. Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.
18. Elliott, G.P. (2009) Multi-scale influences of climate on upper treeline dynamics along a latitudinal gradient in the Rocky Mountains, USA. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
19. Elliott, G.P. & Baker, W.L. (2004) Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) at tree line: a century of change in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA. Journal of Biogeography, 31, 733-745.
20. Elliott, G.P. & Kipfmueller, K.F. (2010) Multi-scale influences of slope aspect and spatial pattern on ecotonal dynamics at upper treeline in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 42, 45-56.
21. Fall, P.L. (1997) Timberline fluctuations and late Quaternary paleoclimates in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 109, 1306-1320.
22. Germino, M.J., Smith, W.K. & Resor, A.C. (2002) Conifer seedling distribution and survival in an alpine-treeline ecotone. Plant Ecology, 162, 157-168.
23. Haase, P. (1995) Spatial pattern analysis in ecology based on Ripley's K-function: introduction and methods of edge correction. Journal of Vegetation Science, 6, 575-582.
24. Harsch, M.A., Hulme, P.E., McGlone, M.S. & Duncan, R.P. (2009) Are treelines advancing? A global meta-analysis of treeline response to climate warming. Ecology Letters, 12, 1040-1049.
25. Hättenschwiler, S. & Smith, W.K. (1999) Seedling occurrence in alpine treeline conifers: a case study from the Central Rocky Mountains, USA. Acta Oecologica, 20, 219-224.
26. Hiemstra, C.A., Liston, G.E. & Reiners, W.A. (2002) Snow redistribution by wind and interactions with vegetation at upper treeline in the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming, U.S.A. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 34, 262-273.
27. Holtmeier, F.-K. & Broll, G. (2005) Sensitivity and response of Northern Hemisphere altitudinal and polar treelines to environmental change at landscape and local scales. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 14, 395-410.
28. Holtmeier, F.-K. & Broll, G. (2007) Treeline advance - driving processes and adverse factors. Landscape Online, 1, 1-33.
29. Knight, D.H. (1994) Mountains and plains: the ecology of Wyoming landscapes. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
30. Körner, C. & Paulsen, J. (2004) A world-wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. Journal of Biogeography, 31, 713-732.
31. Kullman, L. & Kjällgren, L. (2006) Holocene pine tree-line evolution in the Swedish Scandes: recent tree-line rise and climate change in a long-term perspective. Boreas, 35, 159-168.
32. Kullman, L. & Öberg, L. (2009) Post-Little Ice Age tree line rise and climate warming in the Swedish Scandes: a landscape ecological perspective. Journal of Ecology, 97, 415-429.
33. Levin, S.A. (1992) The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology, 73, 1943-1967.
34. Lingua, E., Cherubini, P., Motta, R. & Nola, P. (2008) Spatial structure along an altitudinal gradient in the Italian Central Alps suggests competition and facilitation among coniferous species. Journal of Vegetation Science, 19, 425-436.
35. Lloyd, A.H. (2005) Ecological histories from Alaskan tree lines provide insight into future change. Ecology, 86, 1687-1695.
36. Lloyd, A.H. & Fastie, C.L. (2003) Recent changes in treeline forest distribution and structure in interior Alaska. Ecoscience, 10, 176-185.
37. Luckman, B.H. & Kavanagh, T. (2000) Impact of climate fluctuations on mountain environments in the Canadian Rockies. Ambio, 29, 371-380.
38. McCabe, G.J., Palecki, M.A. & Betancourt, J.L. (2004) Pacific and Atlantic Ocean influences on multidecadal drought frequency in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 101, 4136-4141.
39. MacDonald, G.M., Szeicz, J.M., Claricoates, J. & Dale, K.A. (1998) Response of the central Canadian treeline to recent climate changes. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 88, 183-208.
40. Malanson, G.P., Butler, D.R., Fagre, D.B., Walsh, S.J., Tomback, D.F., Daniels, L.D., Resler, L.M., Smith, W.K., Weiss, D.J., Peterson, D.L., Bunn, A.G., Hiemstra, C.A., Liptzin, D., Bourgeron, P.S., Shen, Z. & Millar, C. (2007) Alpine treeline of western North America: linking organism-to-landscape dynamics. Physical Geography, 28, 378-396.
41. Paulsen, J., Weber, U.M. & Körner, C. (2000) Tree growth near treeline: abrupt or gradual reduction with altitude? Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 32, 14-20.
42. Peet, R.K. (2000) Forests and meadows of the Rocky Mountains. North American terrestrial vegetation (ed. by M.G. Barbour and W.D. Billings ), pp. 76-121. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
43. Resler, L.M. (2006) Geomorphic controls on spatial pattern and process at alpine treeline. Professional Geographer, 58, 124-138.
44. Resler, L.M., Butler, D.R. & Malanson, G.P. (2005) Topographic shelter and conifer establishment and mortality in an alpine environment, Glacier National Park, Montana. Physical Geography, 26, 112-125.
45. Ripley, B.D. (1977) Modelling spatial patterns. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Methodological, 39, 172-212.
46. Rodionov, S.N. (2004) A sequential algorithm for testing climate regime shifts. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L09204.
47. Rodionov, S.N. & Overland, J.E. (2005) Application of a sequential regime shift detection method to the Bering Sea ecosystem. Journal of Marine Science, 62, 328-332.
48. Smith, W.K., Germino, M.J., Johnson, D.M. & Reinhardt, K. (2009) The altitude of alpine treeline: a bellwether of climate change effects. Botanical Review, 75, 163-190.
49. Stokes, M.A. & Smiley, T.L. (1996) An introduction to tree-ring dating. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
50. Weisberg, P.J. & Baker, W.L. (1995) Spatial variation in tree regeneration in the forest-tundra ecotone, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 25, 1326-1339.
51. Young, K.R. & León, B. (2007) Tree-line changes along the Andes: implications of spatial patterns and dynamics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362, 263-272.