Historical Meadow Dynamics in Southwest British Columbia: a Multidisciplinary Analysis

Lepofsky, Dana; Heyerdahl, Emily K.; Lertzman, Ken; Schaepe, Dave; Mierendorf, Bob

doi:10.5751/es-00559-070305

Cited by 38 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This mirrors findings that climate was the most likely driver of woody plant encroachment into other meadow systems (Woodward et al 1995, Dyer and Moffett 1999, Lepofsky et al 2003, Brandt et al 2013, Durak et al 2015, although Takaoka and Swanson (2008) found fire to be of greater importance while Haugo et al (2011) found little evidence of climate influencing recent meadow encroachment. In combination with seed availability, climate was sufficient to explain most variation in encroachment density among meadows, while climate during early life stages was able to explain nearly all historic variation in recruitment timing.…”

Section: Integrationsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…In many locations, mountain meadows are being transformed by woody plant encroachment (Woodward et al 1995, Dyer and Moffett 1999, Berlow et al 2002, Lepofsky et al 2003, Takaoka and Swanson 2008, Haugo et al 2011, Brandt et al 2013, Durak et al 2015. Conversion of herbaceous meadows into forest could impact hydrologic services by altering soil properties important to water retention and by altering vegetation water use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Lubetkin

Westerling

Kueppers

2017

Ecological Applications

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Mountain meadows have high biodiversity and help regulate stream water release following the snowmelt pulse. However, many meadows are experiencing woody plant encroachment, threatening these ecosystem services. While there have been field surveys of individual meadows and remote sensing-based landscape-scale studies of encroachment, what is missing is a broad-scale, ground-based study to understand common regional drivers, especially at high elevations, where land management has often played a less direct role. With this study, we ask: What are the climate and landscape conditions conducive to woody plant encroachment at the landscape scale, and how has historical climate variation affected tree recruitment in subalpine meadows over time? We measured density of encroaching trees across 340 subalpine meadows in the central Sierra Nevada, California, USA, and used generalized additive models (GAMs) to determine the relationship between landscape-scale patterns of encroachment and meadow environmental properties. We determined ages of trees in 30 survey meadows, used observed climate and GAMs to model the relationship between timing of recruitment and climate since the early 1900s, and extrapolated recruitment patterns into the future using downscaled climate scenarios. Encroachment was high among meadows with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon var. murrayana (Balf.) Engelm.) in the immediate vicinity, at lower elevations, with physical conditions favoring strong soil drying, and with maximum temperatures above or below average. Climatic conditions during the year of germination were unimportant, with tree recruitment instead depending on a 3-yr seed production period prior to germination and a 6-yr seedling establishment period following germination. Recruitment was high when the seed production period had high snowpack, and when the seedling establishment period had warm summer maximum temperatures, high summer precipitation, and high snowpack. Applying our temporal model to downscaled output from four global climate models indicated that the average meadow will shift to forest by the end of the 21st century. Sierra Nevada meadow encroachment by conifers is ubiquitous and associated with climate conditions increasingly favorable for tree recruitment, which will lead to substantial changes in subalpine meadows and the ecosystem services they provide.

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Section: Integrationsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Lubetkin

Westerling

Kueppers

2017

Ecological Applications

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“…Several studies in North America have been unable to distinguish human influences on historic fire activity because the majority of research has taken place in fire‐prone ecosystems where it is difficult to differentiate between lightning and human ignitions (Bowman et al., ; Lepofsky et al., ; Walsh, Marlon, Goring, Brown, & Gavin, ). Although the impact and scale of historic anthropogenic burning in perhumid coastal temperate rain forests in British Columbia may seem geographically localized, a closer look at the study area reveals that although the majority of fires were relatively small ( c .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological legacies of anthropogenic burning in a British Columbia coastal temperate rain forest

Hoffman

Lertzman

Starzomski

2017

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Few long‐term fire histories have been reconstructed in coastal temperate rain forests, and little is known regarding the spatial and temporal characteristics of lightning and human ignitions. We use a multidisciplinary approach to assess the impact, scale and ecological legacies of historic fires. Location We focus on perhumid temperate rain forests located on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada. Methods We reconstructed 700 years of temporal and spatial aspects of fire activity with 30 plots on Hecate Island using fire scars and forest‐stand establishment. We then conducted a paired study of 20 former indigenous habitation and control sites on 15 islands to relate fire activity to patterns of human settlement. We mapped 15 years of lightning strike densities and use mixed‐effects modelling to assess whether fire activity predicted the distribution and abundance of traditional plants. Results Sixteen low‐ and mixed‐severity fires were recorded from 1376 to 1893. The abundance of traditional plants and the density of western redcedar trees were best predicted by the location of former habitation sites and shorter mean fire intervals. Lightning is too rare to explain the pattern of fire activity in the study area. No fire activity was detected after 1893, coinciding with the relocation of indigenous groups from the study area. Main conclusions Fire was strongly associated with former indigenous habitation sites during the periods of occupation. People likely utilized fire as a tool for resource management to influence the densities of specific plants by creating mosaics of vegetation in different stages of succession. By assessing the ecological impacts of historic fire events, we gain a better understanding of the abrupt changes that occurred in the 20th century. Our ability to understand present‐day temperate rain forest ecosystems may be compromised if we underestimate the role of humans in driving historic fire activity.

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“…This fire-based 'cultivation' is still somewhat debated (Baker, 2000;Lepofsky et al, 2003). However, there seems to be a growing consensus among fire ecologists and ethnoeologists that, prior to European settlement, regular burning did maintain or expand shrub and grassland ecosystems (Agee, 1993;Anderson, 1993;Bonnicksen, 2000;Boyd, 1999;Lewis, 1973;Lewis and Ferguson, 1999;Johnson, 1999;Peacock and Turner, 2000).…”

Section: Research Setting and Landscape Historymentioning

confidence: 96%

Perceptions of landscape change in a rural British Columbia community

Lewis

2008

Landscape and Urban Planning

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Historical Meadow Dynamics in Southwest British Columbia: a Multidisciplinary Analysis

Cited by 38 publications

References 26 publications

Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Climate and landscape drive the pace and pattern of conifer encroachment into subalpine meadows

Ecological legacies of anthropogenic burning in a British Columbia coastal temperate rain forest

Perceptions of landscape change in a rural British Columbia community

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