Predicting the Distribution and Dynamics of Forest Vegetation in the Central Rocky Mountains; Leaf Area, Sapwood, and Site Water Balance at the Tree, Stand, and Landscape Level

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9903947RobertsThis project proposes to develop a mechanistic and spatially explicit model describing the growth, structure and species composition of forests in the Rocky Mountains. The framework for the conceptual model and the specific hypothesis is built on the extensive theoretical and empirical research on water relations and carbon allocation. This new model, the Leaf Area Allocation Simulation (LAASIM) will be an individual tree-based simulation model that is physiologically-mechanistic in a way that is sensitive to climate and environmental variability that is based upon fundamental research in woody plant biology. This information gained from this research will highlight our understanding of the interaction of environmental variability and basic organism- and community-level biological and ecological mechanisms, and test a number of hypotheses concerning these mechanisms.