Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
Understanding how global climate change will alter future forest composition is especially challenging in forest communities where tree species have long co-occurred, but their competitive balance may be altered due to changes in climate. Of particular concern with increasing global temperatures are boreal forest communities that lie on the southern boreal-temperate forest ecotone, where the boreal forest is particularly vulnerable. The aim of my research is to investigate shifts in recruitment dynamics due to climate change near the southern range limit of two historically co-occurring boreal forest conifer species, white spruce (Picea glauca) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea). My specific research objectives are: 1) determine whether this boreal-temperate forest community is stable or in transition, and 2) relate long-term levels of seed production and local site characteristics to species-specific recruitment success. The study area is in the Huron Mountain Range, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA. In 2013, 42 randomly placed seed traps were deployed to collect seedfall from all species in the forest sites, and seedling plots were established to monitor annual survival and growth over time. My study will use four mixed stands of white spruce and balsam fir. I will combine long-term seed trap and seedling plot data, and newly collected seedling and sapling density data, with stand composition mapping using drone aerial photography and ground-based species identification. My proposed research will fill a gap in the literature on how tree species composition of forest communities within the understudied boreal-temperate ecotone may be shifting with climate change.
Included in
Biology Commons, Forest Biology Commons, Population Biology Commons
Forest recruitment dynamics within the southern boreal-temperate ecotone
Understanding how global climate change will alter future forest composition is especially challenging in forest communities where tree species have long co-occurred, but their competitive balance may be altered due to changes in climate. Of particular concern with increasing global temperatures are boreal forest communities that lie on the southern boreal-temperate forest ecotone, where the boreal forest is particularly vulnerable. The aim of my research is to investigate shifts in recruitment dynamics due to climate change near the southern range limit of two historically co-occurring boreal forest conifer species, white spruce (Picea glauca) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea). My specific research objectives are: 1) determine whether this boreal-temperate forest community is stable or in transition, and 2) relate long-term levels of seed production and local site characteristics to species-specific recruitment success. The study area is in the Huron Mountain Range, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA. In 2013, 42 randomly placed seed traps were deployed to collect seedfall from all species in the forest sites, and seedling plots were established to monitor annual survival and growth over time. My study will use four mixed stands of white spruce and balsam fir. I will combine long-term seed trap and seedling plot data, and newly collected seedling and sapling density data, with stand composition mapping using drone aerial photography and ground-based species identification. My proposed research will fill a gap in the literature on how tree species composition of forest communities within the understudied boreal-temperate ecotone may be shifting with climate change.
Comments
Jalene M LaMontagne, DePaul University