The roles of hydraulic and carbon stress in a widespread climate-induced forest die-off.

ABSTRACT: Forest ecosystems store approximately 45% of the carbon found in terrestrial ecosystems, but they are sensitive to climate-induced dieback. Forest die-off constitutes a large uncertainty in projections of climate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, climate-ecosystem interactions, and carbon-cycle feedbacks. Current understanding of the physiological mechanisms mediating climate-induced forest mortality limits the ability to model or project these threshold events. We report here a direct and in situ study of the mechanisms underlying recent widespread and climate-induced trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) forest mortality in western North America. We find substantial evidence of hydraulic failure of roots and branches linked to landscape patterns of canopy and root mortality in this spec

SUBMITTER: Anderegg WR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3252909 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature