Vegetation and Environmental Patterns in the Crested Butte Area, Gunnison County, Colorado

Langenheim, Jean H.

doi:10.2307/1942400

Cited by 130 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…Subalpine meadows in this location are characterized by dry, rocky soil, and long-lived perennial plants. The site of the experiment is dominated by herbaceous plants and grasses, within a mosaic of shrubs and aspen-spruce forest (Langenheim 1962), although the slope in which the experiment took place was naturally free of trees and shrubs. ''Ecosystem'' level measurements for this experiment refer only to herbaceous and graminoid-dominated meadows.…”

Section: Experimental Design and Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the Foresummer Drought on Carbon Exchange in Subalpine Meadows

et al. 2015

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Climate in subalpine meadows of the Rocky Mountains can be characterized by an early (foresummer) drought that occurs after snowmelt (May) and lasts until the start of the summer monsoon season (July). Climate change models predict an increase in the length and severity of this dry period due to earlier snowmelt dates, rising air temperatures, and shifts in the start and/or intensity of the North American monsoon. However, it is unknown how changes in the severity of this early season dry period will affect ecosystem carbon exchange. To address the importance of early season drought, we combined a watering manipulation with 11 years of ecosystem carbon exchange data across an elevational gradient at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado. Long-term trends reveal that earlier snowmelt dates lead to a decrease in net ecosystem productivity (NEP), in part because of the positive effect on early growing season drought conditions. Manipulating the strength of the foresummer drought by watering revealed that the timing of growing season precipitation is more important than the total amount for determining cumulative NEP. The strength of the foresummer drought did not significantly impact ecosystem respiration rates, but plants that experienced a strong foresummer drought exhibited more water stress, and lower instantaneous rates of NEP, even during the rainy season. Our results highlight the central role of the foresummer drought in determining rates of carbon exchange throughout the growing season, and the potential for an increasingly negative balance of carbon in subalpine meadows under future climate change.

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Section: Experimental Design and Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the Foresummer Drought on Carbon Exchange in Subalpine Meadows

et al. 2015

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“…"Community type" (sensu LANGENHEIM, 1962 ) refers to the patterns of largest scale, and includes bog community type, forest community type and intermediate community type. The last type, as noted earlier, involves the most artificial combination of data, since segments of ecotones rather than homogeneous communities were used.…”

Section: Vegetational Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The forest-bog complex of southeast Alaska

Neiland¹

1971

Plant Ecol

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“…In the study area, seral aspen patches and forests (often with emergent conifers in the aspen canopies) are successional to Englemann spruce (P. engelmannii) and subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa), and at lower elevations blue spruce (P. pungens) (Langenheim 1962, Morgan 1969). Situated within these aspen forests were small to large areas of pure, or nearly pure, conifer forests.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding Ecology of Sharp-Shinned Hawks Nesting in Deciduous and Coniferous Forests in Colorado

et al. 1994

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Abstract. Feeding ecology of 11 Sharp-skinned Hawk (Accipiter striates) pairs nesting in aspen (Populus tremuloides), conifer (Abies, Picea spp.), and mixed aspen-conifer habitats in southwest Colorado was investigated during 1988-1989. Small birds (x= 20.9 g, SE = 0.8 g) and mammals (X = 41.1 g, SE = 3.3 g) comprised 91 and 9% of 5 13 prey identified at nests that fledged at least one young, respectively. Sixty percent of the birds eaten during the hawks' nestling and fledgling stages were nestlings or fledglings. Accordingly, median mass of birds eaten decreased from 17.4 g during incubation to 12.1 g during the nestling stage. Although more birds were consumed than mammals during all nesting stages (birds = 91 .I%; mammals = 8.9%), the proportion of birds relative to mammals in diets progressively decreased from incubation through fledging. Taxa of birds in the diet were consumed in proportion to their occurrence in the most abundant of three different habitats surrounding nests, whereas some mammalian taxa were consumed in greater proportion than their relative "availability" in these habitats. This suggested that Sharp-shinned Hawks foraged opportunistically for birds, but may have selectively foraged for mammals. Differences in the habits of mammals (e.g., fossorial vs. terrestrial behavior), and hence their relative availability, may explain the apparent selection for certain species of mammals by Sharp-shinned Hawks.

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Vegetation and Environmental Patterns in the Crested Butte Area, Gunnison County, Colorado

Cited by 130 publications

References 32 publications

The Effect of the Foresummer Drought on Carbon Exchange in Subalpine Meadows

The Effect of the Foresummer Drought on Carbon Exchange in Subalpine Meadows

The forest-bog complex of southeast Alaska

Feeding Ecology of Sharp-Shinned Hawks Nesting in Deciduous and Coniferous Forests in Colorado

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