Yellow-Cedar Decline What is killing the trees? Yellow-Cedar - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Yellow-Cedar Decline What is killing the trees? Yellow-Cedar - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Jan 05, 2024 354 likes •476 views

Yellow-Cedar Decline What is killing the trees? Yellow-Cedar Researchers Tara Barrett U.S. Forest Service, Wenatchee, WA Allison Bidlack Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, UAS, Juneau, AK Sarah Bisbing University of

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SLIDE 1

Yellow-Cedar Decline

What is killing the trees?

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SLIDE 2

Yellow-Cedar Researchers

  • Tara Barrett – U.S. Forest Service, Wenatchee, WA
  • Allison Bidlack – Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, UAS, Juneau, AK
  • Sarah Bisbing – University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV
  • Brian Buma – Dept. of Natural Resource, UAS, Juneau, AK
  • Vanessa Comeau – University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
  • Rich Cronn – U.S. Forest Service, Corvallis, OR
  • Dave D’Amore – U.S. Forest Service, Juneau, AK
  • Paul Hennon – U.S. Forest Service (retired)
  • John Krapek – Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
  • Robin Mulvey – U.S. Forest Service, Juneau, AK
  • Lauren Oakes – Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
  • Nick Reynolds – Council of the Haida Nation, Haida Gwaii, BC
  • Sari Saunders – B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, & Nat. Res., Victoria, BC
  • Sheila Spores – U. S. Forest Service, Sitka, AK
  • Dustin Wittwer – U. S. Forest Service, Juneau, AK

Apologies if I missed anyone!

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SLIDE 3

Yellow-Cedar Ecology

  • Slow growing
  • Long lived (up to 1,000 years)
  • Limited reproduction
  • Not very competitive
  • Grows best on moderately well

drained soil

  • Mostly found on shallow soils

where competition is low

  • Fine roots in upper soil horizon

for nutrient uptake

  • Roots are less cold hardy than
  • ther species and deharden at

lower temperature

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SLIDE 4
  • High concentrations
  • f bioactive

chemicals in foliage and wood

  • Give characteristic

color and odor

  • Also highly rot

resistant

  • Dead trees remain

standing up to 80 years

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SLIDE 5

Yellow-Cedar Range & Extent of Decline

  • Coastal rainforest
  • Mostly BC and SE Alaska
  • Extends to northern CA
  • Disjunct populations in PWS

From Buma et al. 2016 (Global Change Biology , doi: 10.111/gcb 13555)

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SLIDE 6

Early Research

USDA Forest Service USDA Forest Service

Bears? Bark beetles? Fungal infections?

USDA Forest Service USDA Forest Service

Why?

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SLIDE 7

Lessons Learned

  • Problem is specific to yellow-cedar
  • Mortality starts with fine roots
  • Decline began in 1880-1900, increased in late

1990s

  • Trees on poorly drained soils are most

affected

  • Direct cause appears to be abiotic
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SLIDE 8

Abiotic Factors

  • Aluminum toxicity
  • Calcium deficiency
  • Soil acidity
  • Freezing injury
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SLIDE 9

It’s complicated…

  • Climate warming
  • Shift from snow to rain
  • No snowpack in late

winter

  • Frequency of cold

spells unchanged

  • Freezing damage to

fine roots

  • Tree mortality (may

take several events)

Shutterstock 25.media.tumblr.com Pixabay/Creative Commons

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SLIDE 10

Additional Factors

  • Deer browsing may limit

regeneration where densities are high

  • Regeneration potential is

generally low, and may be more limited in post- decline stands

  • Harvest may affect overall

species population

Deby Dixon/Flickr lh2treeid@blogspot.cocm alaska-in-pictures.com

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SLIDE 11

What about the future?

  • Areas of decline are expanding
  • Regeneration likely limited in post-decline

stands

  • What about migration?
  • Management options (harvesting, planting?)
  • Climate modeling is key, but has limitations