Doctoral Dissertation Research: Landscape Level Dynamics in an Endangered Mountain Ecosystem, Northern Rocky Mountains, USA

博士论文研究：美国落基山脉北部濒危山区生态系统的景观水平动态

• 批准号: 0503329
• 负责人: Henri Grissino-Mayer
• 金额: $ 0.99万
• 依托单位: University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-15 至 2007-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0503329&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Landscape; Level

Dendroecological techniques and analyses will be used to provide high-quality, temporally precise information on the ecological status of endangered whitebark pine ecosystems. This dissertation research investigates the ecology of whitebark pine communities using methods of stand dynamics and dendroecology to provide a long-term record of disturbance and stand history in diminishing whitebark pine communities in western Montana and central Idaho. Whitebark pine is a long-lived tree species found in many high elevation and subalpine forest communities of western North America. Whitebark pine is considered a keystone species in mutualistic relationships that involve Clark's nutcrackers, black bears, and grizzly bears. Twentieth century fire suppression, periodic mountain pine beetle outbreaks, and infection by white pine blister rust have led to dramatic declines in whitebark pine communities throughout the species' native range, with critical ramifications for dependent wildlife species. To better understand the dynamics of these declining communities, this project will investigate current and past stand dynamics and the synergistic effects of blister rust, fire exclusion, mountain pine beetle, and climate on changing the structure, composition, and vigor of whitebark pine communities. This project is unique for its combined emphasis on stand dynamics, disturbance regimes, and climate-forest health interactions in the northern Rocky Mountains. The researchers will (1) collect tree cores from all living and dead standing trees to obtain precise information on the disturbance regime and successional status of whitebark pine over the past five centuries, (2) quantify the age structure and assess the successional status of subalpine fir, and (3) evaluate the effects of blister rust, mountain pine beetle, and fire suppression in whitebark pine ecosystems on a landscape scale. Knowledge of the complex stand dynamics and stand history of whitebark pine ecosystems is essential to the long-term management and restoration of this declining critical species. Whitebark pine restoration efforts must succeed in the next 15-20 years for this species to avoid extinction, which would dramatically impact wildlife species and likely destabilize fragile ecosystems in the higher elevations. The results from this research will be shared with land management agencies (such as the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Service) and conservation organizations (such as the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation). Whitebark pine tree-ring data (which will be contributed to the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology) will add needed data points to the paleoclimatic record in North America. Information gathered from this research will be integrated into programs run by the Tennessee Geographic Alliance and will be presented to a variety of audiences, including kindergarten-12th grade students, senior citizen groups, and local summer camps (YMCA).

树木生态学技术和分析将用于提供高质量的，时间上精确的濒危白皮松生态系统的生态状况的信息。本论文的研究调查了白皮松群落的生态学，利用林分动态学和树木生态学的方法，提供了一个长期的记录，干扰和林分的历史，在西部蒙大拿州和中部爱达荷州减少白皮松社区。白皮松是北美西部许多高海拔和亚高山森林群落中发现的长寿树种。白皮松被认为是克拉克胡桃钳、黑熊和灰熊互惠关系的关键物种。二十世纪世纪的灭火，周期性的山松甲虫爆发，以及白松疱锈病的感染，导致白皮松群落在整个物种的原生范围内急剧下降，对依赖的野生动物物种产生了严重影响。为了更好地了解这些下降的社区的动态，该项目将调查当前和过去的立场动态和协同作用的疱锈病，防火隔离，山松甲虫，气候变化的结构，组成和活力的白皮松社区。这个项目是独一无二的，它的综合强调林分动态，干扰制度，气候-森林健康的相互作用，在北方落基山脉。研究人员将（1）收集所有存活和死亡的树木的树芯，以获得过去五个世纪白皮松干扰状况和演替状态的精确信息，（2）量化年龄结构并评估亚高山冷杉的演替状态，（3）评估疱锈病，山松甲虫，和灭火在白皮松生态系统的景观规模。白皮松生态系统复杂的林分动态和林分历史的知识是必不可少的长期管理和恢复这一下降的关键物种。白皮松的恢复工作必须在未来15-20年内取得成功，以避免这种物种灭绝，这将严重影响野生动物物种，并可能破坏高海拔地区脆弱的生态系统。这项研究的结果将与土地管理机构（如美国农业部林务局和国家公园管理局）和保护组织（如白皮松生态系统基金会）分享。白皮松的年轮数据（将提供给世界古气候数据中心）将为北美的古气候记录增加所需的数据点。从这项研究中收集的信息将被整合到田纳西州地理联盟运行的程序，并将呈现给各种观众，包括幼儿园-12年级的学生，老年人团体和当地夏令营（基督教青年会）。