Climate change and forest communities
Climate change is leading to unprecedented forest mortality events across the globe. We investigate the causes and consequences of these changes.
Threshold drought responses
We found that the Energy-Water Limitation Threshold that can occur within forests that span large climate gradients led to contrasting growth responses to extreme drought. We were measuring growth responses using tree rings, stable isotopes and need morphology in whitebark pine, a threatened species in the Sierra Nevada subalpine. Stay tuned — our paper is in review.
The “spoiled-tree effect” is prevalent across the globe
Spoiled trees — trees that are growing in more suitable environmental conditions relative to the rest of their climate range — are more vulnerable to drought effects than trees growing in extremely hot regions of their range. Stay tuned.
Using causal inference to isolate climate change effects
Using a causal inference analytical approach, we are testing whether climate change has shifted tree growth in the subalpine across the west, where we would expect climate change effects to be more pronounced than montane and lower-elevation forests that are often more strongly controlled by biotic interactions.