RECORD
Hot, Dry, Then Die? The Future of Western Redcedar in the Northern Rocky Mountains
- Title:
- Hot, Dry, Then Die? The Future of Western Redcedar in the Northern Rocky Mountains
- Creator:
- Tomaszewski, Matthew Walter
- Date Created:
- 2022-05
- Description:
- Western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) is an economically, ecologically and culturally important tree species in the Pacific Northwest. Recent observations (both through aerial surveys and on the ground) have found declining (crown thinning, branch die-off) and mortality western redcedars across its range. Despite this, a meta-synthesis of the relevant literature found that its response to prolonged drought remains understudied. I developed ecological niche models using observed western redcedar dieback points from 2017-2019 United States Forest Service Aerial Detection Surveys, which found that dieback occurred in the hotter extents of its range where dryness increased relative to the 30-year normal, suggesting that drought may be the primary agent of dieback. I subsequently developed a field study to examine the relationship between topography and water stress, and morphological and physiological plasticity of leaf traits at different microsites. Lower topographic positions, in this case a ravine bottom, were found to be less vulnerable to historic drought than higher topographic positions, regardless of canopy position. Trees immediately adjacent to a clear cut subjected to open canopy positions had leaf traits associated with higher water use efficiency relative to trees within the same the stand subjected to closed canopy positions. This suggests that western redcedar may have to ability to acclimate to increased levels of water stress in a period of less than a decade.
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Subjects:
- UIEF thuja plicata drought forest products tree mortality dieback ecological niche models topography water stress silviculture
- UIEF Unit:
- Flat Creek
- Location:
- UIEF; Flat Creek
- Latitude:
- 46.841000
- Longitude:
- -116.776000
- Publisher:
- ProQuest Dissertations Publishing
- Department:
- Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences
- Type:
- Text
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Hot, Dry, Then Die? The Future of Western Redcedar in the Northern Rocky Mountains ", UIEF Research Exchange, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/uief/items/uief_0275.html
Rights
- Rights:
- In copyright, educational use permitted.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/