Decadal drivers of quaking aspen decline across the Western United States.
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| Title: | Decadal drivers of quaking aspen decline across the Western United States. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Cushman, J. Hall1,2 (AUTHOR) jhcushman@unr.edu, Macdonald, Jacob A.1 (AUTHOR), Halsch, Christopher A.3 (AUTHOR), Refsland, Tyler K.4 (AUTHOR), Steed, Brytten E.5 (AUTHOR), Dilts, Thomas E.1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Ecology. Jun2026, Vol. 114 Issue 6, p1-16. 16p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Climate change, *Tree mortality, *Forests & forestry, *Climatology, Aspen (Trees), Ecosystem services, Competition (Biology), Populus tremuloides |
| Geographic Terms: | United States, West (U.S.) |
| Abstract: | Although forests serve critical roles maintaining biodiversity and provisioning ecosystem services, many tree species world‐wide have experienced population declines due to climate change and other related factors. One such species is quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), the most widely distributed tree species in North America, which has undergone reductions in survival, growth, and/or recruitment in many parts of its range.To understand the patterns in and drivers of aspen performance across its range in six western US states, we evaluated the importance of 44 climatic, topographic, and forest structure variables in explaining mortality, growth and adult recruitment rates in 263 plots over a 9‐to‐13‐year period.Aspen experienced substantial mortality during this study, with 4% of trees on average dying each year. In addition, aspen performed differently from co‐occurring conifers, with their dominance declining during the study while conifers increased. Mortality rates for aspen increased with higher aspen canopy dieback and dead aspen in the initial sampling and decreased with increased initial dominance of aspen and conifers as well as increased precipitation and reduced aridity. Growth rates of aspen increased with higher temperatures and winter precipitation, in more upland and south‐facing locations, and decreased with warmer and drier conditions relative to the historic baseline, greater initial aspen canopy dieback, higher initial dead aspen and greater initial dominance of aspen and conifers. Increased adult recruitment was associated with higher temperatures and winter precipitation as well as more upland and south‐facing locations, whereas reduced recruitment occurred with higher initial aspen and conifer dominance, greater amounts of initial dead aspen, and hotter and drier conditions relative to the historic baseline.Synthesis. Across the western United States, the health and dominance of aspen declined during a decade‐long study, with annual mortality being three times greater than the recruitment of new adults. We frequently detected long‐lasting effects, where areas that were challenging or optimal for aspen at the outset of our study continued to be so over the next decade. Intra‐ and interspecific competition as well as hotter and drier conditions associated with climate change adversely influenced aspen populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | GreenFILE |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: 8gh DbLabel: GreenFILE An: 194812246 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Decadal drivers of quaking aspen decline across the Western United States. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cushman%2C+J%2E+Hall%22">Cushman, J. Hall</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> jhcushman@unr.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Macdonald%2C+Jacob+A%2E%22">Macdonald, Jacob A.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Halsch%2C+Christopher+A%2E%22">Halsch, Christopher A.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Refsland%2C+Tyler+K%2E%22">Refsland, Tyler K.</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Steed%2C+Brytten+E%2E%22">Steed, Brytten E.</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dilts%2C+Thomas+E%2E%22">Dilts, Thomas E.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Ecology%22">Journal of Ecology</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 114 Issue 6, p1-16. 16p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Climate+change%22">Climate change</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tree+mortality%22">Tree mortality</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Forests+%26+forestry%22">Forests & forestry</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Climatology%22">Climatology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Aspen+%28Trees%29%22">Aspen (Trees)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ecosystem+services%22">Ecosystem services</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Competition+%28Biology%29%22">Competition (Biology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Populus+tremuloides%22">Populus tremuloides</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22West+%28U%2ES%2E%29%22">West (U.S.)</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Although forests serve critical roles maintaining biodiversity and provisioning ecosystem services, many tree species world‐wide have experienced population declines due to climate change and other related factors. One such species is quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), the most widely distributed tree species in North America, which has undergone reductions in survival, growth, and/or recruitment in many parts of its range.To understand the patterns in and drivers of aspen performance across its range in six western US states, we evaluated the importance of 44 climatic, topographic, and forest structure variables in explaining mortality, growth and adult recruitment rates in 263 plots over a 9‐to‐13‐year period.Aspen experienced substantial mortality during this study, with 4% of trees on average dying each year. In addition, aspen performed differently from co‐occurring conifers, with their dominance declining during the study while conifers increased. Mortality rates for aspen increased with higher aspen canopy dieback and dead aspen in the initial sampling and decreased with increased initial dominance of aspen and conifers as well as increased precipitation and reduced aridity. Growth rates of aspen increased with higher temperatures and winter precipitation, in more upland and south‐facing locations, and decreased with warmer and drier conditions relative to the historic baseline, greater initial aspen canopy dieback, higher initial dead aspen and greater initial dominance of aspen and conifers. Increased adult recruitment was associated with higher temperatures and winter precipitation as well as more upland and south‐facing locations, whereas reduced recruitment occurred with higher initial aspen and conifer dominance, greater amounts of initial dead aspen, and hotter and drier conditions relative to the historic baseline.Synthesis. Across the western United States, the health and dominance of aspen declined during a decade‐long study, with annual mortality being three times greater than the recruitment of new adults. We frequently detected long‐lasting effects, where areas that were challenging or optimal for aspen at the outset of our study continued to be so over the next decade. Intra‐ and interspecific competition as well as hotter and drier conditions associated with climate change adversely influenced aspen populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1111/1365-2745.70367 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 16 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Climate change Type: general – SubjectFull: Tree mortality Type: general – SubjectFull: Forests & forestry Type: general – SubjectFull: Climatology Type: general – SubjectFull: Aspen (Trees) Type: general – SubjectFull: Ecosystem services Type: general – SubjectFull: Competition (Biology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Populus tremuloides Type: general – SubjectFull: United States Type: general – SubjectFull: West (U.S.) Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Decadal drivers of quaking aspen decline across the Western United States. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Cushman, J. Hall – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Macdonald, Jacob A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Halsch, Christopher A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Refsland, Tyler K. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Steed, Brytten E. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Dilts, Thomas E. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00220477 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 114 – Type: issue Value: 6 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Ecology Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
