Investigating tree mortality at multiple spatial and temporal scales in the Bishop pine forest on Santa Cruz Island, California
Abstract
The rate of tree mortality has increased across the western United States in recent decades, and many studies attribute the cause to water stress induced by regional warming. To date, the geographical scope of study regions affected by widespread tree mortality in the American West has largely been limited to continental, montane climates. Much less is known about mortality events in other climatic regions, such as coastal forests. The relatively unvarying nature of the coastal, maritime climate has traditionally been assumed to buffer these forests from large climate variations; however, we have observed rapid tree mortality in this region which suggests coastal forests may be as susceptible to drought-induced mortality as inland forest locations. Santa Cruz Island (SCI), one of the California Channel Islands, harbors numerous relict and endemic plant species, including Bishop pine (Pinus muricata). Following extreme drought in southern California in two of the last three years (2007-2009), widespread mortality of Bishop pines has become evident. Bishop pine populations are restricted to the fog belt of coastal California and northern Baja California; therefore, a major reduction of existing populations on SCI would greatly reduce the distribution of the species as a whole. The focus of my research is to investigate the mechanisms underlying spatial and temporal patterns of Bishop pine mortality on SCI. I used remote sensing techniques to characterize spatiotemporal patterns of tree mortality and I have performed ground-data collection to validate remote-sensing results. Remote sensing in combination with field verification is a valuable tool to understand the spatiotemporal pattern of tree mortality and is a necessary step to help elucidate potential environmental and biological controls on tree mortality.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.B33H0479B
- Keywords:
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- 0476 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Plant ecology;
- 0480 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Remote sensing;
- 1826 HYDROLOGY / Geomorphology: hillslope