Temporal and Spatial Patterns at Alpine Treeline in the Sierra
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TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL PATTERNS AT ALPINE TREELINE IN THE SIERRA NEVADA USA: IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE by Andrew Godard Bunn A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Land Resources and Environmental Sciences MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Bozeman, Montana June 2004 © COPYRIGHT by Andrew Godard Bunn 2004 All Rights Reserved ii APPROVAL of a dissertation submitted by Andrew Godard Bunn This dissertation has been read by each member of the dissertation committee and has been found to be satisfactory regarding content, English usage, format, citations, bibliographic style, and consistency, and is ready for submission to the College of Graduate Studies. Dr. Lisa J. Graumlich Approved for the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dr. Jon M. Wraith Approved for the College of Graduate Studies Dr. Bruce R. McLeod iii STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a doctoral degree at Montana State University, I agree that the Library shall make it available to borrowers under rules of the Library. I further agree that copying of this dissertation is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with “fair use” as prescribed in the U.S. Copyright Law. Requests for extensive copying or reproduction of this dissertation should be referred to Bell and Howell Information and Learning, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, to whom I have granted “the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute my dissertation in and from microform along with the non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute my abstract in any format in whole or in part.” Andrew G. Bunn June 8, 2004 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend thanks to Lisa Graumlich who has provided excellent advising. Dean Urban has been a stalwart professional advisor and has graciously furnished his time and the resources of the Landscape Ecology Lab at Duke University to me several times during the course of this work. The quality of the research was thoroughly improved by the exacting editing of Rick Lawrence and the insightful comments of Cathy Zabinski. Gabe Bellante, Greg Buppert, Chris Caruso, Jeanette Goodwin, Steve Gray, Sean Hill, Jeremy Littell, Greg Pederson, Brian Peters, Mike Pisaric, Todd Kipfer, and Andra Toivola (among others) provided help in the field, lab, or office. I extend special thanks to the Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program, and its director Dr. Gary Machlis, which has generously supported me during this research. Most importantly I thank Rebecca for patience and flexibility and Samuel Bunn for the witty discourse that only a two year old can provide. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. DISSERTATION OVERVIEW...............................................................................1 Introduction..............................................................................................................1 References................................................................................................................4 2. USING A SIMULATION MODEL TO COMPARE METHODS OF TREE- RING DETRENDING AND TO INVESTIGATE THE DETECTABILITY OF LOW FREQUENCY SIGNALS .............................................................................7 Introduction..............................................................................................................7 Methods....................................................................................................................9 Generating the Samples ...................................................................................10 Adding the Effects of Climate and Weather....................................................12 Detrending and Chronology Construction.......................................................16 Assessing Standardization Efficacy with Model Runs ....................................17 Results....................................................................................................................20 Discussion..............................................................................................................23 Conclusions......................................................................................................29 References..............................................................................................................31 3. TRENDS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY TREE GROWTH AT HIGH ELEVATIONS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA AND WHITE MOUNTAINS, USA ................................................................................................................................34 Introduction............................................................................................................34 Methods..................................................................................................................35 Results....................................................................................................................42 Discussion..............................................................................................................48 References..............................................................................................................55 4. TOPOGRAPHIC MEDIATION OF GROWTH OF SUBALPINE FORESTS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA, USA.............................................................................62 Introduction............................................................................................................62 Methods..................................................................................................................65 Study Area.......................................................................................................65 Site Selection...................................................................................................67 Forest Demographic and Time Series Data .....................................................68 Results....................................................................................................................70 Discussion..............................................................................................................73 Conclusions......................................................................................................84 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS – CONTINUED References..........................................................................................................................85 5. THE ROLE OF GROWTH FORM IN MEDIATING ALPINE TREELINE DYNAMICS, SIERRA NEVADA USA ...............................................................93 Introduction............................................................................................................93 Methods..................................................................................................................95 Study Area.......................................................................................................95 Environmental Data.........................................................................................98 Point Pattern.....................................................................................................99 Mantel’s Test.................................................................................................100 Results..................................................................................................................101 Point Pattern...................................................................................................102 Tree Vigor and Environment Associations....................................................102 Discussion............................................................................................................103 Conclusions....................................................................................................113 References............................................................................................................114 6. POTENTIAL GLOBAL WARMING IMPACTS AT ALPINE TREELINE IN THE SIERRA NEVADA, CALIFORNIA: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MONITORING....................................................................................................120 Introduction..........................................................................................................120 Methods................................................................................................................122 Study Area.....................................................................................................123 Coarse Scale Portion of the Study .................................................................124 Coarse Land Cover Data..........................................................................124 Climate Data............................................................................................126 Analysis....................................................................................................127 Climate Change Scenarios.......................................................................128 Fine Scale Portion of the Study .....................................................................128 Satellite and Abiotic Proxy Data..............................................................128 Analysis....................................................................................................130 Results..................................................................................................................131