A new study suggests that future reductions in seasonal snowpack as a result of climate change may negatively influence forest growth in semi-arid climates, but less so in wetter climates.
A new study suggests that future reductions in seasonal snowpack as a result of climate change may negatively influence forest growth in semi-arid climates, but less so in wetter climates.
Researchers from Portland State University, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service and the universities of Vermont and Maine found that forest density and snowpack can influence drought stress and forest growth in ways that are important to recognize for managing forests in a changing climate.
Research sites included pine-dominated experimental forests in northern Arizona, South Dakota, and northern Minnesota.
The study — led by Kelly Gleason, assistant professor of ecohydrology at PSU — found that forest growth in water-limited, dryland areas is likely to be most dramatically impacted by snowpack reductions. In these semi-arid climates, reduced snowpack may negatively influence forest growth and may increase tree mortality. This was only exacerbated in high-density forests.
Read more at Portland State University
Photo: A high-density ponderosa pine forests at the Fort Valley Experimental Forest site near Flagstaff, Arizona. (Courtesy of Kelly Gleason)
