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Climate, Vegetation and Landscapes
Paleoecology of Great Basin Pinyon-Juniper Communities
This is being studied to provide sufficient information to determine ecological processes and
relationships in Great Basin ecosystems. RMRS scientists investigate how those relationships will
be affected by climate change, predict site responses to management alternatives, and develop
recommendations for maintaining site integrity. The best source of information for understanding
potential changes is the study of vegetation responses to past climate change. Evidence from the
past changes provides the data for testing predictive models of future climate change. Arid and
semi-arid Great Basin ecosystems are potentially some of the most fragile to global change. Studies
combining paleoecological records and current distribution of selected plant species permit estimation
of their environmental limits. Thus, the western Great Basin offers unique opportunities for
these kinds of analyses. See the
Great Basin Ecosystem Management Project
for additional information and view the
publications
on the paleo-climate
and vegetation of the Great Basin.
Contact Robin Tausch or
Jeanne Chambers
for additional information.
Climate Change Effects on Historical Range of Variability of Two Large Landscapes in Central Utah
Land managers need to be able to generate landscape composition and structure reference time series
under historical, current, and future climate conditions to effectively prioritize, design, and
implement current landscape level restoration treatments. RMRS scientists are conducting a simulation
study to generate reference conditions for three climate scenarios and three fire regime scenarios
using the landscape fire succession model LANDSUM. LANDSUM is being parameterized and initialized
using spatial data generated from the LANDFIRE prototype project. The variation of simulated burned area
and dominant vegetation types will be compared with the current landscape to determine departure. These
departures will then be compared across the two climate
scenarios to determine the implications of changing fire regimes and climates to fire management.
Contact Bob Keane
for additional information.
Regional Dynamic Vegetation Model for the Southern Colorado Plateau: A Species-Specific Approach
RMRS scientists and cooperators are working on a recently-funded project that will modify the
SIMPPLLE
landscape model to address the impact that climate change and disturbances such as bark beetles,
wildlife and exotics species will have on the distribution and abundance of vegetation species.
Contact Jimmie Chew
for additional information.
Plant-Climate Relationship Models for the Western United States
RMRS scientists have developed
plant-climate relationship models
to explore species shifts under climate
change in the western U.S. They are also beginning to modify the
Forest Vegetation Simulator
to use climate
variables for predicting forest growth and development. View the
current and potential
distribution of lodgepole pine.
Contact Nick Crookston
for additional information.
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