Climates of the Great Smoky Mountains

Shanks, Royal E.

doi:10.2307/1930098

Cited by 126 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Plants respond to environmental conditions within CAPs and these sites often have plants characteristically found at higher elevations or latitudes. Similar climatic refugia forests are known as frost hollows in Quebec's boreal temperate forests [36] and cove forests in southern Appalachia especially in Great Smoky Mountain National Park [37]. Another well-known example is subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), which descend more than 300 m into river valleys with cold-air pools in Idaho [38,39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Refugia, Fire Ecology and Management

Wilkin

Ackerly

Stephens

2016

Forests

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Abstract:Early climate change ideas warned of widespread species extinctions. As scientists have probed more deeply into species responses, a more nuanced perspective emerged indicating that some species may persist in microrefugia (refugia), including in mountainous terrain. Refugia are habitats that buffer climate changes and allow species to persist in-and to potentially expand under-changing environmental conditions. While climate and species interactions in refugia have been noted as sources of uncertainty, land management practices and disturbances, such as wildland fire, should also be considered when assessing any given refugium. Our landscape scale study suggests that cold-air pools, an important type of small-scale refugia, have unique fire occurrence, frequency, and severity patterns in frequent-fire mixed conifer forests of California's Sierra Nevada: cold-air pool refugia have less fire and if it occurs, it is lower severity. Therefore, individuals and small populations are less likely to be extirpated by fire. Active management, such as restoration and fuels treatments for climate change adaptation, may be required to maintain these distinctive and potentially important refugia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Refugia, Fire Ecology and Management

Wilkin

Ackerly

Stephens

2016

Forests

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“…The 2114 km 2 (816 mi 2 ) land unit is situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Appalachian Mountain chain of North Carolina and Tennessee and ranges in elevation from 260 m (875 ft.) in stream valleys in the West to 2025 m (6643 ft.) on Clingman's Dome. During the growing season, higher elevation sites are 10-15 °C cooler than are forests at lower elevation [47]. In part due to orographic precipitation, GRSM experiences some of the highest rainfall totals in eastern North America, though microclimatic differences are substantial [48].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring and Autumn Phenological Variability across Environmental Gradients of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

2017

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Abstract:Mountainous regions experience complex phenological behavior along climatic, vegetational and topographic gradients. In this paper, we use a MODIS time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to understand the causes of variations in spring and autumn timing from 2000 to 2015, for a landscape renowned for its biological diversity. By filtering for cover type, topography and disturbance history, we achieved an improved understanding of the effects of seasonal weather variation on land surface phenology (LSP). Elevational effects were greatest in spring and were more important than site moisture effects. The spring and autumn NDVI of deciduous forests were found to increase in response to antecedent warm temperatures, with evidence of possible cross-seasonal lag effects, including possible accelerated green-up after cold Januarys and early brown-down following warm springs. Areas that were disturbed by the hemlock woolly adelgid and a severe tornado showed a weaker sensitivity to cross-year temperature and precipitation variation, while low severity wildland fire had no discernable effect. Use of ancillary datasets to filter for disturbance and vegetation type improves our understanding of vegetation's phenological responsiveness to climate dynamics across complex environmental gradients.

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“…Precipitation is >200 cm annually and is distributed evenly throughout the year [38]. Mean air temperatures range from −2 °C in February to 17 °C in August with a frost-free period from May through September [38,39].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Silviculture to Influence Carbon Sequestration in Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forests

Moore¹,

DeRose

Long

et al. 2012

Forests

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Enhancement of forest growth through silvicultural modification of stand density is one strategy for increasing carbon (C) sequestration. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator, the effects of even-aged, uneven-aged and no-action management scenarios on C sequestration in a southern Appalachian red spruce-Fraser fir forest were modeled. We explicitly considered C stored in standing forest stocks and the fate of forest products derived from harvesting. Over a 100-year simulation period the even-aged scenario (250 Mg C ha , but did not outperform the no-action scenario within the simulation period. While the average annual change in C (AAC) of the no-action scenario approached zero, or carbon neutral, during the simulation, both the even-aged and uneven-aged scenarios surpassed the no-action by year 30 and maintained positive AAC throughout the 100-year simulation. This study demonstrates that silvicultural treatment of forest stands can increase potential C storage, but that careful consideration of: (1) accounting method (i.e., TC versus AAC); (2) fate of harvested products and; (3) length of the planning horizon (e.g., 100 years) will strongly influence the evaluation of C sequestration.

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Climates of the Great Smoky Mountains

Cited by 126 publications

References 6 publications

Climate Change Refugia, Fire Ecology and Management

Climate Change Refugia, Fire Ecology and Management

Spring and Autumn Phenological Variability across Environmental Gradients of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

Using Silviculture to Influence Carbon Sequestration in Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forests

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