Research

Forest Ecosystems

Current Research

Current research at the Climate Impacts Group (CIG) on Pacific Northwest (PNW) climate and forest ecosystems includes:

Regional Fire/Climate Relationships

• Regional fire/climate relationships. Fire-climate relationships are being analyzed at broad spatial scales in the PNW and beyond in order to identify which climatic patterns are most strongly associated with large fire occurrence.

Regional Tree Growth/Climate Relationships

• Climate impacts on Douglas-fir growth rates. Spatial and temporal variability in Douglas-fir tree growth-climate relationships are being quantified in watersheds of the Olympic and North Cascade and northern Rocky Mountains.

Related Work

Forest ecosystem research at the CIG benefits from externally funded, climate-related research projects and programs that key CIG research personnel conduct or are otherwise affiliated with, including the following:

• Climate-Interactions on a Mountain Ecosystem Transect (CLIMET). Funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Climate-Interactions on a Mountain Ecosystem Transect (CLIMET) program employs a series of empirical and modeling studies across watersheds of Olympic, North Cascades, and Glacier National Parks to study the impacts of climate variability and change on forest ecosystems. CLIMET focuses on (1) distribution and abundance of plant species, (2) productivity and hydrologic output, and (3) ecological disturbance processes. The CLIMET concept will be expanded in 2004 to cover other mountain ecosystems in the western United States through the Western Mountain Initiative. Contact: Dave Peterson.
• Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team (FERA). Additional studies on fire-climate interactions are supported by the USDA's Fire and Environmental Research Applications Team. Contact: Dave Peterson.
• Common modes of variability in tree growth patterns across multiple scales in the Olympic Mountains, Washington. Global climate change will almost certainly alter tree growth rates and, therefore, the productivity of Pacific Northwest forests. By examining past relationships among tree growth variables and environmental variables (e.g., physical and geographic location, site composition, climate), we can gain a better understanding of how climate change may affect the future growth, productivity, and carbon budgets of diverse forest ecosystems. This research examines the spatial scales at which common modes of variability in tree growth exist (e.g., plot, species, forest type, elevation range, watershed), how tree growth patterns differ among forest types in the Olympic Mountains, and which forest types (or other units with similar growth patterns) are most sensitive to variability in growth limiting factors. Contact: Dave Peterson.
• A dendroecological study of Douglas-fir and Lodgepole Pine along altitudinal gradients within the North Cascades National Park, WA. This study examines climate/tree growth relationships along four elevation transects within the North Cascades National Park. Specifically, researchers are examining (1) how the annual tree ring growth of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus contorta has been affected by interannual to interdecadal climatic variability (i.e. varying temperature and moisture) and (2) how and to what degree radial growth of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus contorta var. latifolia correspond to elevation and site characteristics in the study area. Preliminary results suggest that both low and high elevation plots may be responding similarly to climatic influences. Contact: Dave Peterson.
• Interannual to decadal growth variability in the Olympic Mountains, WA. Increased knowledge of the variability of tree growth in response to climate is critical for understanding future forest productivity and species distributions (McKenzie et al. 2001), especially in the face of human-caused climate change. The objectives of this study are to (1) examine if tree growth for stands in the Hoh and Dungeness River watersheds of the Olympic Mountains is correlated to climate, (2) determine which climatic variables limit growth, (3) explore the patterns of radial tree growth and (4) assess the importance of climatic factors in governing these patterns. Contact: Dave Peterson.