CAREER: Life on the Edge: The Effects of Climate, Competition and History on Range Limits

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Why are coconut trees never found north of Florida while Christmas trees (i.e. balsam firs) never grow south of Pennsylvania? These species differ in their tolerance of climatic stressors like frost and drought, thereby limiting their distributions to an area termed the species "range". Despite a century of study, scientists are only beginning to understand which factors, including climate, influence the boundaries of these ranges. To address these fundamental gaps in our understanding, the investigator will utilize observational data, experiments and mathematical models to study current and future ranges of five tree species on Mt. Rainier, Washington. The project will assess how competition with other tree species interacts with climate to limit ranges for each tree species; determine whether the distributions of target tree species reflect past as opposed to current climates; and determine how quickly ranges of target tree species can shift in response to the rapid rates of climate change predicted for the Pacific Northwest.The broader impacts of the proposed research are threefold. The study species are economically valuable timber species, and dominate western Washington forests that provide ecosystem services such as water supply, habitat for endangered species and storage of carbon. Thus, the information gained from this research will be valuable to conservation biologists, land managers and policy makers planning for climate change. The investigator will develop a climate change curriculum for an introductory biology class at University of Washington (reaching 2000 undergraduates per year) and a high school course. A citizen science program at Mt. Rainier National Park will increase the general public's awareness of how climate change impacts the natural world.