OPUS: Understanding Ecosystem Processes in Response to Climate Variation in a Subalpine Forest

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This project involves an integrative synthesis of 52 studies published by Dr. Monson over the past 14 years on how a subalpine forest exchanges carbon dioxide and water with the atmosphere. The project will enhance the utility of this body of work, improving its potential to inform stakeholders and land managers about the causes of several environmental challenges that have emerged in the Western US. These include an epidemic pine beetle outbreak, mass tree die-off due to persistent drought, high frequencies of wildfires, and uncertainty in the contribution of forests to regional carbon budgets. The investigator plans to: extract new, longer-term insights from a 14-year data set of forest carbon and water fluxes; use the longer-term insights to re-assess conclusions from the previously published papers; and disseminate the synthesis to those attempting to understand and manage forest ecosystems of the Western US. The synthesis will be conducted using an advanced computer modeling procedure known as Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis. The ANN analysis will be conducted in a manner that elucidates how changes in weather and climate affect the ability of the forest to exchange carbon and water with the atmosphere. This project will support the work of a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) to implement the ANN analysis. The results will be disseminated to the through: (1) an article intended for professional ecologists; (2) an invited Spotlight Article intended for foresters and land managers; (3) a book chapter intended for beginning graduate students; and (4) a chapter intended for college undergraduate students in a Wiki and hardbound book.