Collaborative Research: Spruce Beetle and Wildfire Interactions Under Varying Climate in the Rockies

这个研究项目将检查云杉树皮甲虫的爆发和落基山脉针叶林野火活动之间的关系。自20世纪90年代初以来，随着气温的升高，从阿拉斯加到美国西南部的北美西部针叶林中出现了本土树皮甲虫的同步爆发。树皮甲虫爆发引起的大量树木死亡正在引发森林景观及其相关生态系统服务的重大变化。该合作研究项目将解决以下问题：气候变化下野火与云杉甲虫爆发之间的相互作用及其对生态系统服务的影响：(1)气候变化如何影响云杉甲虫在复杂景观中的爆发和蔓延？(2)风暴、伐木和火灾等事前扰动对云杉甲虫爆发的发生和严重程度有何影响？(3)在近期气候变暖的背景下，云杉甲虫爆发如何影响森林结构和组成？(4)在不同的气候条件下，云杉甲虫的爆发如何影响燃料和潜在的野火活动？(5)在不同的适应性森林管理情景下，气候变化和野火和云杉甲虫活动对落基山脉南部亚高山地区未来生态系统服务的影响是什么？前四个问题将通过实证研究来解决，包括对过去干扰的广泛树木年轮重建、对永久森林地块的重新测量、对云杉甲虫爆发对燃料影响的实地测量、火灾行为建模以及对最近云杉甲虫爆发的传播进行时空分析。第五个问题将通过对未来森林条件及其对关键生态系统服务（包括生物多样性、野生动物栖息地和对环境变化的适应能力）的影响的模拟建模来研究。该项目将有助于了解不同气候条件下火甲虫的相互作用及其对生态系统服务的影响。该项目将提供有关气候对树皮甲虫爆发的影响、野火和其他干扰的反馈以及维持生态系统服务的新信息和见解。该项目将通过评估不同的适应性管理策略，在面对气候变化的情况下维持生物多样性、野生动物栖息地和生态系统的恢复力，为森林管理和决策需求提供最新的科学信息。该项目将开发关于野火和树皮甲虫相互作用的大学预科和大学水平的课程材料。它将为研究生和本科生以及早期职业博士后研究员创造实地和实验室教育和培训经验。为进一步加强公众对火甲虫主题的教育，计划将制作一部纪录短片，并建立一个网站，收集气候变化下有关树皮甲虫和野火的常见问题。

This research project will examine relationships between outbreaks of spruce bark beetles and wildfire activity in coniferous forests of the Rocky Mountains. Coincident with warmer temperatures, since the early 1990s synchronous outbreaks of native bark beetles have been occurring throughout coniferous forests of western North America from Alaska to the U.S. Southwest. Extensive tree mortality caused by bark beetle outbreaks is triggering major changes in forest landscapes and their associated ecosystem services. This collaborative research project will address the following questions about interactions between wildfire and spruce beetle outbreaks under varying climate and their consequences for ecosystem services: (1) How does climatic variation affect the initiation and spread of spruce beetle outbreaks across complex landscapes? (2) How does prior disturbance by windstorm, logging, and fire affect the subsequent occurrence and severity of spruce beetle outbreak? (3) In the context of a recently warmed climate, how do spruce beetle outbreaks affect forest structure and composition? (4) How do spruce beetle outbreaks affect fuels and potential wildfire activity under varying climatic conditions? (5) How will climate change and the climate-sensitive disturbances of wildfire and spruce beetle activity affect future ecosystem services in the subalpine zone of the southern Rocky Mountains under varying scenarios of adaptive forest management? The first four questions will be addressed through empirical research, including extensive tree-ring reconstructions of past disturbances, re-measurement of permanent forest plots, field measurements of effects of spruce beetle outbreaks on fuels, fire behavior modeling, and spatiotemporal analyses of the spread of recent spruce beetle outbreaks. The fifth question will be examined through simulation modeling of future forest conditions and their consequences for key selected ecosystem services, including biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and resilience to environmental change.The project will contribute to understanding of fire-beetle interactions under varying climate conditions and their consequences for ecosystem services. The project will provide new information and insights about climate impacts on bark beetle outbreaks, feedbacks to and from wildfire and other disturbances, and sustaining ecosystem services. The project will provide current science information in support of forest management and decision making needs through evaluation of different adaptive management strategies to maintain biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change. The project will develop pre-collegiate and collegiate-level curriculum material on wildfire and bark beetle interactions. It will create field and laboratory educational and training experiences for graduate and undergraduate students as well as an early-career postdoctoral researcher. To further enhance public education on fire-beetle topics, the project will produce a documentary video as well as a website of frequently asked questions about bark beetles and wildfire in the face of climate change.