TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming
T2 - Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado
AU - Peterson, A. Townsend
AU - Berthiaume, Kevin
AU - Klett, Mark
AU - Munroe, Jeffrey S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Most ecological studies are by necessity cast on rather short timescales, such that documenting change in phenomena that occur slowly (e.g., over decades to centuries) is quite difficult. Here, we explore variation in and covariation of two sources of information to address rates of treeline change on one mountain face in the central Rocky Mountains: repeat photography and remote sensing. The repeat photography work involved assembling and quantitatively comparing four photographs that span 148 years. The remote sensing analyses covered a shorter period (35 years) but provided quantitative measurements and fuller landscape coverage. The repeat photography results demonstrated pronounced elevational advance of erect forest, at a rate <0.3 m/year during 1873–1979 but accelerating to >1.8 m/year during 2004–2020. The remote sensing analyses reflected similar processes but also reflected considerable infilling of tree cover near treeline; consequent increases in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the upper forested areas may thus indicate treeline advance or changes in forest characteristics below treeline. Overall, these results document (1) acceleration in rise of treeline at this site in recent decades and (2) elevational compression of vegetation zones above treeline, with important implications for conservation of nonforested alpine ecosystems. Integrating multiple streams of evidence offers complementary views and insights in analyzing this phenomenon.
AB - Most ecological studies are by necessity cast on rather short timescales, such that documenting change in phenomena that occur slowly (e.g., over decades to centuries) is quite difficult. Here, we explore variation in and covariation of two sources of information to address rates of treeline change on one mountain face in the central Rocky Mountains: repeat photography and remote sensing. The repeat photography work involved assembling and quantitatively comparing four photographs that span 148 years. The remote sensing analyses covered a shorter period (35 years) but provided quantitative measurements and fuller landscape coverage. The repeat photography results demonstrated pronounced elevational advance of erect forest, at a rate <0.3 m/year during 1873–1979 but accelerating to >1.8 m/year during 2004–2020. The remote sensing analyses reflected similar processes but also reflected considerable infilling of tree cover near treeline; consequent increases in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the upper forested areas may thus indicate treeline advance or changes in forest characteristics below treeline. Overall, these results document (1) acceleration in rise of treeline at this site in recent decades and (2) elevational compression of vegetation zones above treeline, with important implications for conservation of nonforested alpine ecosystems. Integrating multiple streams of evidence offers complementary views and insights in analyzing this phenomenon.
KW - Treeline
KW - climate change
KW - remote sensing
KW - repeat photography
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U2 - 10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245
DO - 10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85139765588
SN - 1523-0430
VL - 54
SP - 478
EP - 487
JO - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
JF - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
IS - 1
ER -