Dataset Information

Climate change, tree demography, and thermophilization in western US forests.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is driving widespread changes in ecological communities. Warming temperatures often shift community composition toward more heat-tolerant taxa. The factors influencing the rate of this "thermophilization" process remain unclear. Using 10-y census data from an extensive forest plot network, we show that mature tree communities of the western United States have undergone thermophilization. The mean magnitude of climate warming over the 10-y study interval was 0.32 °C, whereas the mean magnitude of thermophilization was 0.039 °C. Differential tree mortality was the strongest demographic driver of thermophilization, rather than growth or recruitment. Thermophilization rates are associated with recent changes in temperature and hydrologic variables, as well as topography and disturbance, with insect damage showing the strongest standardized effect on thermophilization rates. On average, thermophilization occurred more rapidly on cool, north-facing hillslopes. Our results demonstrate that warming temperatures are outpacing the composition of western US forest tree communities, and that climate change may erode biodiversity patterns structured by topographic variation.

SUBMITTER: Rosenblad KC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10161004 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Climate change, tree demography, and thermophilization in western US forests.

Rosenblad Kyle C KC Baer Kathryn C KC Ackerly David D DD

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20230424 18

Climate change is driving widespread changes in ecological communities. Warming temperatures often shift community composition toward more heat-tolerant taxa. The factors influencing the rate of this "thermophilization" process remain unclear. Using 10-y census data from an extensive forest plot network, we show that mature tree communities of the western United States have undergone thermophilization. The mean magnitude of climate warming over the 10-y study interval was 0.32 °C, whereas the me ...[more]

PMID: 37094127

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Dataset Information

Climate change, tree demography, and thermophilization in western US forests.

Publications

Climate change, tree demography, and thermophilization in western US forests.

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