A newly published report shares modelling approaches to predict climate change impacts on the future distribution of the iconic high-elevation whitebark pine and foxtail pine within Sierra Nevada national parks. This report was a collaborative effort among the USGS Yosemite Field Station, the University of California at Merced, and the former Sierra Nevada Network Ecologist who is currently affiliated with the USGS in Maine.
Report Citation: Moore, P. E., O. Alvarez, S. T. McKinney, W. Li, M. L. Brooks, and Q. Guo. 2017. Climate change and tree-line ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada: Habitat suitability modelling to inform high-elevation forest dynamics monitoring. Natural Resource Report NPS/SIEN/NRR—2017/1476. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Download report here: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/581125
Whitebark pine and foxtail pine serve foundational roles in the subalpine zone of the Sierra Nevada. They provide the dominant structure in tree-line forests and regulate key ecosystem processes and community dynamics. Climate change models suggest that there will be changes in temperature regimes and in the timing and magnitude of precipitation within the current distribution of these species, and these changes may alter the species’ distributional limits. Other stressors include the non-native pathogen white pine blister rust and mountain pine beetle, which have played a role in the decline of whitebark pine throughout much of its range. The Sierra Nevada Network is monitoring status and trends of these species.
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New Report: Predicting Climate Change Impacts on Future Distributions of Sierra Nevada Whitebark and Foxtail Pines
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