scholarly journals Wildfire and spruce beetle outbreak have mixed effects on below‐canopy temperatures in a Rocky Mountain subalpine forest

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Carlson ◽  
Jason S. Sibold ◽  
José F. Negrón
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Spruce Beetle

Drought-driven disturbance history characterizes a southern Rocky Mountain subalpine forest

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (9) ◽  
pp. 1649-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Justin DeRose ◽  
James N. Long
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Dendroctonus Rufipennis ◽  
Southern Rocky Mountains ◽  
Engelmann Spruce ◽  
Spruce Beetle ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
Recent Outbreak ◽  
Species Specific

The view that subalpine forest vegetation dynamics in western North America are “driven” by a particular disturbance type (i.e., fire) has shaped our understanding of their disturbance regimes. In the wake of a recent (1990s) landscape-extent spruce beetle ( Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby) outbreak in the southern Rocky Mountains, we re-examined the temporal continuity in disturbance types and interactions and the possible role of drought on their occurrence by reconstructing antecedent disturbances for 11 sites across the Markagunt Plateau, southern Utah, USA. Multiple consistent lines of evidence suggested that historic fires were the primary antecedent disturbance, while relatively minor, stand-specific spruce beetle activity occurred later in stand development but prior to the recent outbreak. Unlike the recent outbreak, antecedent fires were spatially and temporally asynchronous over the period examined (~1600–2000). Reconstructed fire events primarily occurred during periods of prolonged drought. Similarly, historic spruce beetle activity, indicated by species-specific tree-ring release, and timing of Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) death dates from the recent outbreak were related to drought conditions. Vegetation dynamics on this landscape were strongly driven by historic fires and the recent spruce beetle outbreak, and drought conditions likely influenced the occurrence of both disturbance types.

scholarly journals Two New Late Pleistocene Avifaunas From New Mexico

The Condor ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecka L. Brasso ◽  
Steven D. Emslie
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
New Records ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Aegolius Funereus ◽  
Boreal Owl ◽  
Gymnogyps Californianus

Abstract We report two new late Pleistocene avifaunas from New Mexico, recovered from Sandia Cave during archaeological excavations by F. Hibben in the 1930s and the nearby Marmot Cave excavated in 2000. The fossil assemblage from Sandia Cave consists of at least 30 taxa, including seven extralimital and two extinct species, Coragyps occidentalis (extinct vulture) and Ectopistes migratorius (Passenger Pigeon). The avifauna from Marmot Cave is limited to eight taxa shared with Sandia Cave. Two new records of Gymnogyps californianus (California Condor) are reported from these sites, as well as new records of Lagopus sp. (ptarmigan), Aegolius funereus (Boreal Owl), and Micrathene whitneyi (Elf Owl) from New Mexico. Two new radiocarbon dates on fossil G. californianus from Sandia and Marmot cave are reported at 10 795 ± 50 and 25 090 ± 220 14C years before present (B.P.), respectively. These collections provide further evidence for mixed avian communities in New Mexico during the late Pleistocene and are similar to other cave avifaunas of comparable age from the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain regions. The birds from Sandia Cave that are shared with other fossil avifaunas include species currently found in arctic tundra, boreal, and steppe habitats, as well as open, xeric communities. This collection provides additional evidence for widespread steppe-tundra, shrub, and subalpine forest environments at lower elevations of western North America during the late Pleistocene.

Disturbance Regime and Disturbance Interactions in a Rocky Mountain Subalpine Forest

1994 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas T. Veblen ◽  
Keith S. Hadley ◽  
Elizabeth M. Nel ◽  
Thomas Kitzberger ◽  
Marion Reid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Disturbance Regime ◽  
Disturbance Interactions

Lawn Lake, a high montane hunting camp in the Colorado (USA) rocky mountains: Insights into early Holocene Late Paleoindian hunter-gatherer adaptations and paleo-landscapes

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-44
Author(s):  
Robert H Brunswig ◽  
James P Doerner
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Lake Outlet ◽  
Plant Processing ◽  
Sediment Data ◽  
Late Paleoindian ◽  
Camp Levels

The Lawn Lake site is a stratified hunting camp situated on a glacial lake outlet river terrace in Rocky Mountain National Park’s upper subalpine forest zone. Its archaeological assemblage represents 9,000 years of hunter-gatherer use as a summer game and plant processing camp for subalpine forest and nearby alpine tundra resource areas. This article’s focus is on the site’s earliest camp levels which contain artifacts and AMS radiocarbon dated hearth charcoal between 8,900 and 7,900 cal yr BP, placing them among the region’s earliest high montane (3,353 m ASL) Paleoindian hunting camps, once part of a network of such sites designed to support systematic high altitude procurement of summer migratory game animals and plant foods in Southern Rocky Mountain subalpine forest and tundra ecosystems. Lawn Lake paleoclimate and paleoecology studies produced long-term pollen records and climate-proxy sediment data for modeling the site’s prehistoric climate and ecology history, useful for interpreting its high-altitude Late Paleoindian hunter-gatherer adaptations.

Limitations to winter and spring photosynthesis of a Rocky Mountain subalpine forest

2018 ◽  
Vol 252 ◽  
pp. 241-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Bowling ◽  
Barry A. Logan ◽  
Koen Hufkens ◽  
Donald M. Aubrecht ◽  
Andrew D. Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Subalpine Forest

A fire history from tree rings in a high-elevation forest of Rocky Mountain National Park

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1259-1273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Buechling ◽  
William L Baker
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
National Park ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Rocky Mountain National Park ◽  
Subalpine Forest ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
High Severity ◽  
Surface Fires ◽  
Crown Fires

Historical fire patterns in a subalpine forest of Rocky Mountain National Park were quantified from an analysis of forest stand ages and fire-scarred trees. A comparatively detailed sample of 3461 tree cores and 212 fire scars was collected from a 9200-ha study area north of Estes Park, Colorado. A total of 41 fire events were identified in the record. Annually precise fire dates, beginning in 1533, include 22 high-severity crown fires, 7 low-severity surface fires, and 8 mixed-severity events with both surface and crown fire components. Fire rotation was estimated for both surface fires (7587 years) and crown fires (346 years). Fire rotation did not appear to vary with fuel characteristics associated with topographical differences in the study area. Fires larger than 300 ha were few, but they determined a large proportion of the area burned since 1700 and were significantly correlated with a reconstructed index of summer drought. Low fire activity in the 20th century was associated with decreased severity and frequency of drought episodes. Long fire rotations preclude definitive conclusions regarding the effects of fire suppression in the 20th century, but relationships between high-severity fires, fuels, and drought suggest that climatic variability remains the primary influence on fire cycles in high-elevation ecosystems of the southern Rocky Mountains.

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