Upper Feather River Watershed

Mediterranean Climate effects. II. Confier growth phenology across a Sierra Nevada ecotone

Growth and xylem water potential of the lower elevation conifers Pinus jeffreyi and Abies concolor and the higher elevation Pinus monticola and Abies magnifica were monitored in thEIR montane Mediterranean habitat of the southernmost Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Measurements were made across the ecotone between the midmontane and upper montane forests and heavy snowfall years.

objectives were to determine the species-specific timing of critical events in the phenology of conifer growth and to quantify how this timing interacts with the progression of weather to affect species distribution in the relatively unstudied southernmost Sierra, where the summer drought is most severe. Competition between conifer trees and between trees and shrubs for soil moisture should also affect conifer growth, and we wanted to identify the contribution of growth phenology to accentuating or mitigating such competitive effects.We expected that species would be more sensitive to environmental effects in or near the ecotone, because they would be at a limit of thEIR range. In addition, the study area was near the southern limit of red fir, so we expected red fir to be particularly sensitive to environmental factors there.

2015-08-21

American Journal of Botany

Author for correspondence, E. B. ROYCE2 current address: Kennedy Meadows Box 2C4, Inyokern, California 93527 USA (e-mail: ebroyce@alumni.caltech.edu).

Conifer, Ecotone, Ecotone, Forestry, Growth Phenology, Growth Phenology, Mediterranean Climate, Mediterranean Climate, Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada, Snowpack

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