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TREE & PLANT NEWS: The Summer & Fall of 2019
All Tree News
Generally Covering the Plant World
TREE & PLANT
NEWS
Summer & Fall
of
2019
Previously
Winter & Spring of 2019
High Sierra Tree Identification Resources
The Brethren
Previously
Winter & Spring of 2019

All News about High Sierra Trees and Plants
All Tree News
Generally Covering the Plant World
TREE & PLANT
NEWS
2015 through 2018
2018
Next Year's Tree & Plant News
2019
All
High Sierra Fire and Smoke Information
High Sierra Tree Identification Resources
The Brethren
Bottom: 2015
Last
Updated
2018
December 21
PLANTS, TREES, WEATHER, WATER, & FORESTS
Observing the Decline of the Doomed Forests in the Southwestern US
Southwest forest trees will grow much slower in the 21st century

Big Climate-Driven Changes in Alaskan Forests Unfolding Now, How will Future Forests Look?
ALASKAN FORESTS & TREES in a RADICALLY WARMING WORLD
Climate Change Brings Forest Change
Biomass changes by species over time, Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment.
Big Changes Unfolding Now
Warmer, Drier Climate Could Transform Alaskan Forests,
NASA Earth Observatory, October 17, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
A Very Different Future
"In a future with higher temperatures and other climate changes, Alaska’s boreal forests could look significantly different than they do now."
Major Changes Anticipated
"In a warmer future, the ratio of conifers to deciduous trees is likely to change, with aspen and birch trees increasing compared to black and white spruce."

Climate Warming Directly Responsible for 400% Increase in California Fires
WARMING TREES & FORESTS BURNING
Recent Extreme Warming
The years 2014-2018, averaged on this map, were the warmest years in the modern record compared to GISTEMP's 1951-1980 baseline. The areas in red experienced warmer than normal temperatures, while the areas in blue were cooler than normal during this period. NASA, Big.
Climate Warming Directly Responsible for 400% Increase in California Fires
Rising Global Temperatures Influence California’s Fire Season,
NASA Earth Observatory, September 3, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Increasing Fire
"...the annual burned area across California has increased fivefold over the past five decades, and the main driver is higher temperatures."

Northern Forests in Deep Trouble
PLANTS, FORESTS, & TREES
The Changing Snowy Forest Scene
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found clear signs of a decline in frost and snow days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health, by MaxPixel.
Northern Forests in Deep Trouble
UNH Researchers Find Northern Forests Have Lost Crucial Cold, Snowy Conditions,
University of New Hampshire, October 4, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Winter Changes
"...have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health."
Snow to Rain
"Whether precipitation falls as snow or rain makes a big difference, whether you're talking about a forest stream, a snowshoe hare or even a skier."

Massive Northern Forests at Risk
PLANTS, FORESTS, & TREES
Massive Northern Forests at Risk
Boreal forest fires could release deep soil carbon,
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, August 21, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Feedback Loop by Fire
"Increasingly frequent and severe forest fires could burn generations-old carbon stored in the soils of boreal forests, according to results from the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment."
"Canada’s Northwest Territories were scorched by record-breaking wildfires in 2014."
Why this is Very, Very Important
Arboreal Forest Burning Accelerating for Years
Boreal Forests Burning More Now Than Any Time in Past 10,000 Years,
Scientific American, July 2013.
Legacy Carbon
"Boreal forests have long been thought to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release into it, making them carbon “sinks.” But if bigger and more frequent fires start burning legacy carbon, these forests could start releasing more carbon than they store."

The Farce Continues: India, China, & Brazil Exempt from, Environmental “Pacts,”
ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, FORESTRY DIVISION
Forest Restoration Agreement Map
Restoration opportunity map across 43 tropical and sub-tropical countries. Data source: Minnemeyer, S., et al. Bonn Challenge: A World of Opportunity (World Resource Institute, 2011). Big Map.
The Farce Continues: India, China, & Brazil Exempt from, “Pacts,”
&
Cheating Forest Pact all the Way to Environmental Destruction
Restore natural forests to meet global climate goals,
University College London, April 2, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
The Failing Farce
“International plans to restore forests to combat global warming are flawed and will fall far short of meeting 1.5C climate targets...”

Northwestern Forest Succession Underway Under Our Changing Climate
PLANTS, FOREST, & TREES
Northwest Pacific Forest Composition to Radically Change
The Coastal Range in Central Oregon
View of conifer forest from the top of Marys Peak, the highest point on Oregon’s Coast Range, Credit to OSU & Lessa Clayton for the photo.
This Tears the Hundred Year Plan to Shreds...
Climate modeling shows significant shifts in 21st century Pacific Northwest coastal forests,
Oregon State University, February 6, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
“...changing climate in the 21st century will significantly alter the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest.”
“Vegetation is projected to change from predominantly conifer to predominantly mixed conifer and hardwood forests.”
Happening Around the World
“...the current forests can be expected to eventually be replaced by trees better adapted to future conditions.”

Innovative Study Links Satellite & Climate Data to Water-Stunted Tree Growth
FORESTS, TREES, PLANTS & OUR CHANGING CLIMATE
Forest Trees Respond to 20th Century Temperature Change
Caption & Key. Graphic Credit to Flurin Babst, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zurich.
Innovative Study Links Satellite & Climate Data with Tree Growth
Water, not temperature, limits global forest growth as climate warms,
University of Arizona, January 16, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
“The growth of forest trees all over the world is becoming more water-limited as the climate warms...”
“The effect is most evident in northern climates and at high altitudes where the primary limitation on tree growth had been cold temperatures...”
"Our study shows that across the vast majority of the land surface, trees are becoming more limited by water..."
"This is the first time that anybody has projected the tree growth responses to climate at a near-global scale."

2019 Water Research: Can our Forests Survive the Next Drought?
FORESTS, TREES, PLANTS, & PEOPLE
Bleak Current Status of Sierra Tree Mortality
Dead Trees Everywhere
Many trees in the Sierra have died in the past few years because of drought. Photo & Caption Credit: UC Merced.
Understanding Tree Mortality
Can our forests survive the next drought?
UC Merced, January 9, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Understanding Tree Mortality
“Each year our forests, grasslands and shrublands depend on water stored underground to survive the dry summers, but during multiyear dry periods there is not enough precipitation in the wet winter season to replenish that supply.”
“If the drought is long enough and especially hot, as was the case from fall 2011 through 2015, large numbers of trees run out of water and die.”
Goal
“...delved into data from sites across the semi-arid West to determine the amount of water storage available in the root zones of different areas.”
“...how dependent different areas in the West are on that subsurface water storage and how many dry years the plants can survive.”

New Forest-Climate Relationships Revealed by “Super Studies” Amassing & Organizing Vast Information
FORESTS, TREES, CLIMATE, & TECHNOLOGY
New Relationships Revealed by “Super Studies” Amassing & Organizing Vast Information
These nine measures reveal how forests are controlled by climate,
Santa Fe Institute, December 27, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
Super Study
Functional Traits
“...vital signs for a forest are captured in key traits such as the amount of nitrogen in a tree's leaves, the leaf area, or the density of the wood. These "functional traits" can impact how trees grow -- and therefore how forests respond to climate change.”
“...analyze existing data from trait studies on forest communities to see what could be revealed about these shifts on a global scale.”
“...take what functional data we have available from databases and pair this with locally collected field data, as well as data about species abundance, to say something about climate-biodiversity relationships that we couldn't say before."

Observing the Decline of the Doomed Forests in the Southwestern US
PLANTS, TREES, & FORESTS
Observing the Decline of the Doomed Forests in the Southwestern US
Southwest forest trees will grow much slower in the 21st century,
University of Arizona, December 18, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
75% Productivity Decline
“Southwest forests may decline in productivity on average as much as 75 percent over the 21st century as climate warms...”
Tree Core Survey Recovery
THE LOST CORES
“...based on a treasure trove of about 20,000 unanalyzed tree cores discovered in a Utah laboratory about a decade ago. The annual growth rings visible in tree cores reflect each year's climatic conditions.”
Photo by John D. Shaw, US Forest Service.
“The new collection of Forest Inventory and Analysis tree cores turned up when scientists at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Ogden, Utah, were moving from one building to another. The researchers were surprised to find a bunch of dusty boxes filled with tree cores that had never been analyzed.”

Pando in Trouble: Massive organism is crashing on our watch
TREE NEWS
Pando in Trouble
Pando Grove in fall foliage at Dr. Creek Campground, Utah, image by Paul C. Rogers.
Massive organism is crashing on our watch,
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, October 17, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
The Pando
"...considered the world's largest single organism weighing in at an estimated 13 million lbs. (5.9 million kg). Covering some 106 acres (43 ha) in south-central Utah's Fishlake National Forest, the clonal colony consists of more than 47,000 genetically identical above-ground stems or "ramets" originating from a single underground parent clone. Quaking aspen, Pando's iconic species, was named Utah's State Tree in 2014 and, among numerous values, is considered a staple of scenic montane landscapes in the American West. Rogers sees trends found at Pando occurring across the western states"

2018 Tree Mortality Mitigation: Feds To Remove Millions Of Dead-Dying Trees From California’s Forests
FOREST NEWS
Tree Mortality Mitigation
BLM has a Plan
Feds Want To Remove Millions Of Dead And Dying Trees From California’s Forests,
Capital Public Radio, July 9, 2018.
"The federal Bureau of Land Management wants to remove dead and dying trees from 35 California counties, from Siskiyou to Santa Barbara."
"...this would include prescribed fires and “mastication” work, which is grinding up vegetation and making it less of a hazard."
"The agency estimates trees on between 2,500 and 20,000 acres of land could be cut down, burned, hauled away or chipped."
"BLM says there are 127 million dead and dying trees in California forests. Agencies working through California's Tree Mortality Task Force have removed 1.2 million since February 2015."
“The scope of the problem seems to be expanding.”
"...the plan is to pay particular attention to forest land near power lines, roads, private property and trails used for recreation."
The Bottom Line
I give wildfire a higher chance of removing these trees than I give the BLM...

Beetles Devastate Western Pines, Heat, Droughts, Beetles, & Fires All Continue Rising
ECO-CRASHING FOREST NEWS
Beetles Devastate Billions of Western Pine Trees
Heat, Droughts, Beetles, & Fires All Continue Rising
A tiny beetle has left Yosemite dangerously vulnerable to fire,
SF Chron, July 18, 2018.
"An epidemic of bark beetles is devastating billions of pine trees across the West in what has been described as the largest forest insect outbreak ever recorded. In California, the tree die-off is especially prevalent in the 4,500-foot to 6,000-foot elevation range of the central and southern Sierra. Yosemite Valley is just about 4,000 feet above sea level."
"Since 2010, more than 129 million drought-weakened and beetle-infested trees have died across 7.7 million acres of California forest, according to U.S. Forest Service estimates."
...there's no evidence that bark beetle infestation will subside anytime soon. In fact warming temperatures are expected to expand the insect's range, allowing it to thrive in higher elevations that previously would have been too cold for the bug to survive."
Earlier Beetle Research
Climate Change News: Study confirms beetles exploit warm winters to expand range

Particulates the "Icing on the Cake?" of Tree Mortality?
TREES, CLIMATE, FIRE, POLLUTION & DEATH
Drought & Pollution Driving Tree Mortality
Particulates the "Icing on the Cake?"
Particulate matter increases drought vulnerability of trees,
University of Bonn, July 16, 2018.
More Dimensions of Forest Danger

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: Mariposa Grove Restoration Complete
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Mariposa Grove Restoration Complete
From parking lot to giant sequoia grove. Yosemite transformation finally complete,
Fresno Bee, June 13, 2018.
"...three-year restoration project in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias."
"...around 500 mature giant sequoias and is the largest and best-known of Yosemite's three sequoia groves."

Forest loss in one part of US can harm trees on the opposite coast
Tree News
Weird Science
Forest loss in one part of US can harm trees on the opposite coast,
University of Washington, May 15, 2018.

2018 FIRE THREAT PROFOUND: Three Fire Stories
2018 WILDFIRE THREAT PROFOUND
Three California Fire Stories
Fire in Foothills stokes Fears
Jerry & Dems Caused the Problem
State & Local Officals Declare Profound Fire Dangers
Wildfire, Climate, and Forest Links
Fire in Foothills stokes Fears
Small Fire on West Flank
Fire in Madera County prompts warning,
Sierra Star, May 11, 2018.
half-acre, an early warning for a dangerous upcoming season.
Also See
East Flank
April 20
Big Early Spring Fire in Owens Valley
1,265 acres. Danger already blows around Owens Valley
Our Situation
High Sierra Forest Succession Disaster Looms

Forest Wisdom: Big Trees Lead in Carbon Storage, Habitat, & Forest Stability
Forest Wisdom
Carbon Storage, Habitat, & Forest Stability
It's Rooted in the Big Trees
Inequality is normal: Dominance of the big trees,
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, May 8, 2018.
“...the largest 1% of trees in mature and older forests comprised 50% of forest biomass worldwide.”