DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Future Woodland Composition in a Changing Climate: Abiotic and Biotic Controls on Tree Regeneration

在世界各地，由于气温升高带来的干旱和昆虫爆发，木本物种正在经历大量死亡。这已经改变了森林和林地的结构，并影响了水和能源的通量、碳储量和生态系统服务。该项目将评估气候对piñon松树和杜松林地的影响，这些树木覆盖了美国西南部的大部分地区。之前，关于新树木从一个地方的种子发芽的能力的密集工作将与整个地区的林地组成、土壤和当地气候数据相结合，并分析发现气候和森林再生之间的关系。这将有助于预测西南地区的植被如何随着未来的气候变化而变化，并促进我们对全球范围内的变化如何影响当地生态系统的总体理解。这项研究的社会影响包括加强大学科学家和土地管理者之间的合作，指导K-12和本科生，并将研究纳入教学。这项研究将使土地管理人员能够确定最容易受到piñon-juniper林地结构和组成变化影响的地区。研究人员将与K-12学校合作，向学生传授科学过程，指导本科生进行独立研究项目，并将结果纳入本科课程的模块。

Around the world, woody species are experiencing extensive mortality due to drought and insect outbreaks brought on by warmer temperatures. This has already altered the structure of forests and woodlands and affected fluxes of water and energy, carbon stocks, and ecosystem services. This project will evaluate the effects of climate on the woodlands of piñon pine and juniper trees that cover much of the southwestern U.S. Previous, intensive work on the ability of new trees to establish themselves from seeds in one locality will be combined with data on woodland composition, soils, and local climate across the region and analyzed to discover relationships between climate and forest regeneration. This will help predict how the vegetation of the southwest may shift with future change in climate, and advance our general understanding of how changes on a global scale affect local ecological systems.The societal impacts of this study include increasing collaborations between university scientists and land managers, mentoring K-12 and undergraduate students, and incorporating the research into teaching. The study will enable land managers to identify areas that are most vulnerable to changes in piñon-juniper woodland structure and composition. Researchers will work with K-12 schools to teach students about the scientific process, mentor undergraduate students on independent research projects, and incorporate results into a module for an undergraduate course.