Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park
We report long-term patterns of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) recruitment for five ungulate exclosures in the northern ungulate winter range of Yellowstone National Park. Aspen recruitment was low (<3 aspen·ha −1 ·year −1 ) in the mid-1900s prior to exclosure construction due to herb...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Forest Research |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 2024-09-15T18:01:18+00:00 Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park Beschta, Robert L. Painter, Luke E. Levi, Taal Ripple, William J. 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 46, issue 4, page 548-556 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 journal-article 2016 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 2024-08-08T04:13:35Z We report long-term patterns of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) recruitment for five ungulate exclosures in the northern ungulate winter range of Yellowstone National Park. Aspen recruitment was low (<3 aspen·ha −1 ·year −1 ) in the mid-1900s prior to exclosure construction due to herbivory by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758) but increased more than 60-fold within 25 years after exclosure construction despite a drying climatic trend since 1940. Results support the hypothesis that long-term aspen decline in Yellowstone’s northern range during the latter half of the 20th century was caused by high levels of ungulate herbivory and not a drying climate. Gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) were reintroduced during 1995–1996. For the period 1995–2012, we summarized annual predator–prey ratios, ungulate biomass, and drought severity. The average density of young aspen increased from 4350 aspen·ha −1 in 1997–1998 to 8960 aspen·ha −1 in 2012; during the same time period, those >1 m in height increased over 30-fold (from 105 to 3194 aspen·ha −1 ). Increased heights of young aspen occurred primarily from 2007 to 2012, a period with relatively high predator–prey ratios, declining elk numbers, and decreasing browsing rates. Consistent with a re-established trophic cascade, aspen stands in Yellowstone’s northern range have increasingly begun to recover. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Forest Research 46 4 548 556 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
We report long-term patterns of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) recruitment for five ungulate exclosures in the northern ungulate winter range of Yellowstone National Park. Aspen recruitment was low (<3 aspen·ha −1 ·year −1 ) in the mid-1900s prior to exclosure construction due to herbivory by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758) but increased more than 60-fold within 25 years after exclosure construction despite a drying climatic trend since 1940. Results support the hypothesis that long-term aspen decline in Yellowstone’s northern range during the latter half of the 20th century was caused by high levels of ungulate herbivory and not a drying climate. Gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) were reintroduced during 1995–1996. For the period 1995–2012, we summarized annual predator–prey ratios, ungulate biomass, and drought severity. The average density of young aspen increased from 4350 aspen·ha −1 in 1997–1998 to 8960 aspen·ha −1 in 2012; during the same time period, those >1 m in height increased over 30-fold (from 105 to 3194 aspen·ha −1 ). Increased heights of young aspen occurred primarily from 2007 to 2012, a period with relatively high predator–prey ratios, declining elk numbers, and decreasing browsing rates. Consistent with a re-established trophic cascade, aspen stands in Yellowstone’s northern range have increasingly begun to recover. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beschta, Robert L. Painter, Luke E. Levi, Taal Ripple, William J. |
spellingShingle |
Beschta, Robert L. Painter, Luke E. Levi, Taal Ripple, William J. Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
author_facet |
Beschta, Robert L. Painter, Luke E. Levi, Taal Ripple, William J. |
author_sort |
Beschta, Robert L. |
title |
Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
title_short |
Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
title_full |
Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
title_fullStr |
Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park |
title_sort |
long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern yellowstone national park |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research volume 46, issue 4, page 548-556 ISSN 0045-5067 1208-6037 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0301 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Forest Research |
container_volume |
46 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
548 |
op_container_end_page |
556 |
_version_ |
1810438467391324160 |