scholarly journals Mapping Regional Distribution of a Single Tree Species: Whitebark Pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Sensors ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 4983-4994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Landenburger ◽  
Rick Lawrence ◽  
Shannon Podruzny ◽  
Charles Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

scholarly journals A Comparison of Fire Regimes and Stand Dynamics in Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) Communities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 123-128
Author(s):  
William Romme ◽  
James Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Grizzly Bear ◽  
Pinus Albicaulis ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a keystone species of upper subalpine ecosystems (Tomback et al. 2001), and is especially important in the high-elevation ecosystems of the northern Rocky Mountains (Arno and Hoff 1989). Its seeds are an essential food source for the endangered grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), particularly in the autumn, prior to winter denning (Mattson and Jonkel 1990, Mattson and Reinhart 1990, Mattson et al. 1992). In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), biologists have concluded that the fate of grizzlies is intrinsically linked to the health of the whitebark pine communities found in and around Yellowstone National Park (YNP) (Mattson and Merrill 2002). Over the past century, however, whitebark pine has severely declined throughout much of its range as a result of an introduced fungus, white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) (Hoff and Hagle 1990, Smith and Hoffman 2000, McDonald and Hoff 2001), native pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) infestations (Bartos and Gibson 1990, Kendall and Keane 2001), and, perhaps in some locations, successional replacement related to fire exclusion and fire suppression (Amo 2001). The most common historical whitebark pine ftre regimes are "stand-replacement", and "mixed­ severity" regimes (Morgan et al. 1994, Arno 2000, Arno and Allison-Bunnell2002). In the GYE, mixed-severity ftre regimes have been documented in whitebark pine forests in the Shoshone National forest NW of Cody, WY (Morgan and Bunting 1990), and in NE Yellowstone National Park (Barrett 1994). In Western Montana and Idaho, mixed fire regimes have been documented in whitebark pine communities in the Bob Marshall Wilderness (Keane et al. 1994), Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness (Brown et al. 1994), and the West Bighole Range (Murray et al.1998). Mattson and Reinhart (1990) found a stand­replacing fire regime on the Mount Washburn Massif, within Yellowstone National Park.

Climate influences on whitebark pine mortality from mountain pine beetle in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2507-2524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Polly C. Buotte ◽  
Jeffrey A. Hicke ◽  
Haiganoush K. Preisler ◽  
John T. Abatzoglou ◽  
Kenneth F. Raffa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Greater Yellowstone ◽  
Climate Influences

scholarly journals Influence of whitebark pine decline on fall habitat use and movements of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 2004-2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecily M. Costello ◽  
Frank T. Manen ◽  
Mark A. Haroldson ◽  
Michael R. Ebinger ◽  
Steven L. Cain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Grizzly Bears ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Pine Decline ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

scholarly journals Biophysical Gradients and Performance of Whitebark Pine Plantings in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
David Laufenberg ◽  
David Thoma ◽  
Andrew Hansen ◽  
Jia Hu
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Balance Model ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Greater Yellowstone ◽  
Population Crisis ◽  
To Come ◽  
And Performance

Research Highlights: The efficacy of planting for restoration is important for ecosystem managers. Planting efforts represent an opportunity for conserving and managing species during a population crisis. Background and Objectives: Federal agencies have been planting whitebark pine (WBP), an important subalpine species that is late to mature and long-lived, for three decades in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). These efforts have been met with varying success, and they have not been evaluated beyond the first five years post-planting. Ecosystem managers will continue to plant WBP in the GYE for years to come, and this research helps to inform and identify higher quality habitat during a period of changing climate and high GYE WBP mortality rates. Materials and Methods: We use a combination of field sampling and a water balance model to investigate local biophysical gradients as explanatory variables for WBP performance at twenty-nine GYE planting sites. Results: We found that the WBP growth rate was positively correlated with actual evapotranspiration (AET) and was greatest when cumulative growing season AET was above 350 mm. Growth rate was not strongly affected by competition at the levels found in this study. However, site density change over time was negatively affected by mean growing season temperature and when more than five competitors were present within 3.59 m radius. Conclusions: If they make it to maturity, trees that are planted this season will not begin to produce cones until the latter half of this century. We recommend planting efforts that optimize AET for growth rate objectives, minimize water deficit (WD) that cause stress and mortality, and removing competitors if they exceed five within a short distance of seedlings.

scholarly journals Whitebark Pine, Population Density, and Home-Range Size of Grizzly Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e88160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Bjornlie ◽  
Frank T. Van Manen ◽  
Michael R. Ebinger ◽  
Mark A. Haroldson ◽  
Daniel J. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Grizzly Bears ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

Ectomycorrhizal fungi of whitebark pine (a tree in peril) revealed by sporocarps and molecular analysis of mycorrhizae from treeline forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Botany ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine R. Mohatt ◽  
Cathy L. Cripps ◽  
Matt Lavin
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Cenococcum Geophilum ◽  
Ecm Fungi ◽  
Greater Yellowstone

Whitebark pine ( Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is unique as the only stone pine in North America. This species has declined 40%–90% throughout its range owing to blister rust infection, mountain pine beetle, fire suppression, and global climate change. However, intact mature and old growth forests still exist in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) at high timberline elevations. This study addresses the urgent need to discover the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi critical to this tree species before forests are further reduced. A study of mature whitebark pine forests across five mountain ranges in the Northern GYE confirmed 32 ECM species of fungi with the pine by sporocarp occurrence in pure stands or by identification of mycorrhizae with ITS-matching. Boletales and Cortinariales ( Cortinarius ) comprise 50% of the species diversity discovered. In Boletales, Suillus subalpinus M.M. Moser (with stone pines), Suillus sibericus Singer (stone pines), Rhizopogon evadens A.H. Sm. (five-needle pines), Rhizopogon spp. (pines) and a semi-secotioid Chroogomphus sp. (pines) are restricted to the hosts listed and are not likely to occur with other high elevation conifers in the GYE. The ascomycete generalist, Cenococcum geophilum Fr., was the most frequent (64%) and abundant (51%) ECM fungus on seedling roots, as previously reported for high elevation spruce-fir and lower elevation lodgepole pine forests in the GYE. The relative importance of the basidiomycete specialists and the ascomycete generalist to whitebark pine (and for seedling establishment) is not known, however this study is the first step in delineating the ECM fungi associated with this pine in peril.

scholarly journals Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis), snow and refugia in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
David Laugenberg ◽  
Andrew Hansen ◽  
David Thoma
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Variable ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Field Sampling ◽  
Early Results ◽  
Management Effort ◽  
Greater Yellowstone ◽  
Sentinel 2 ◽  
Management Issues

Research and management issues related to pine forests, snowpack and refugia are relevant to mountainous ecosystems globally. For this study, we investigated local snowpack longevity as an explanatory variable for whitebark pine performance (survival rate, growth rate and condition). We used Sentinel-2 imagery to monitor local snowpack longevity. This new imagery is spatially and temporally more appropriate than other publicly available satellite imagery, and early results indicate that Sentinel-2 imagery can be successfully used for this purpose. Sites were selected based on a multi-decade management effort by federal agencies to plant whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Relative to initial planting records, present-day field sampling affords an opportunity to evaluate whitebark pine performance over time.   Featured photo from Figure 3 in report.

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