Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA
Studies in the Front Range of north-central Colorado have shown that sclerotia of Cenococcum geophilum, a common ectomycorrhizal fungus, are larger beneath spruce-fir-forest and tree-island vegetation than beneath tundra grasses and herbs. The presence, in alpine-tundra soils, of C. geophilum sclero...
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crsagepubl:10.1177/0959683610395078 2024-10-06T13:53:14+00:00 Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA Benedict, James B. 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683610395078 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683610395078 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0959683610395078 en eng SAGE Publications https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license The Holocene volume 21, issue 6, page 1021-1023 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 journal-article 2011 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683610395078 2024-09-24T04:14:00Z Studies in the Front Range of north-central Colorado have shown that sclerotia of Cenococcum geophilum, a common ectomycorrhizal fungus, are larger beneath spruce-fir-forest and tree-island vegetation than beneath tundra grasses and herbs. The presence, in alpine-tundra soils, of C. geophilum sclerotia with median diameters that approach or exceed 1.0 mm is evidence that tree limit formerly stood higher than it does today. A sediment sample collected 116 m above tree limit on Rowe Mountain, in Rocky Mountain National Park, contained charred sclerotia with a median diameter of 1.1 mm. Wood-charcoal particles too large to have been transported by wind were associated. Radiocarbon dates of 4770 ± 25 yr BP (charred sclerotia) and 4900 ± 15 yr BP (charred spruce twig) apply to the wildfire that destroyed forest or tree-island vegetation at this locality. Lack of evidence for post-fire regeneration suggests that growing-season temperatures had already begun to decline from elevated middle Holocene levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra SAGE Publications Rowe ENVELOPE(-60.904,-60.904,-62.592,-62.592) The Holocene 21 6 1021 1023 |
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Open Polar |
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SAGE Publications |
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crsagepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Studies in the Front Range of north-central Colorado have shown that sclerotia of Cenococcum geophilum, a common ectomycorrhizal fungus, are larger beneath spruce-fir-forest and tree-island vegetation than beneath tundra grasses and herbs. The presence, in alpine-tundra soils, of C. geophilum sclerotia with median diameters that approach or exceed 1.0 mm is evidence that tree limit formerly stood higher than it does today. A sediment sample collected 116 m above tree limit on Rowe Mountain, in Rocky Mountain National Park, contained charred sclerotia with a median diameter of 1.1 mm. Wood-charcoal particles too large to have been transported by wind were associated. Radiocarbon dates of 4770 ± 25 yr BP (charred sclerotia) and 4900 ± 15 yr BP (charred spruce twig) apply to the wildfire that destroyed forest or tree-island vegetation at this locality. Lack of evidence for post-fire regeneration suggests that growing-season temperatures had already begun to decline from elevated middle Holocene levels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Benedict, James B. |
spellingShingle |
Benedict, James B. Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
author_facet |
Benedict, James B. |
author_sort |
Benedict, James B. |
title |
Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
title_short |
Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
title_full |
Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
title_fullStr |
Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sclerotia as indicators of mid-Holocene tree-limit altitude, Colorado Front Range, USA |
title_sort |
sclerotia as indicators of mid-holocene tree-limit altitude, colorado front range, usa |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959683610395078 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0959683610395078 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0959683610395078 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.904,-60.904,-62.592,-62.592) |
geographic |
Rowe |
geographic_facet |
Rowe |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
The Holocene volume 21, issue 6, page 1021-1023 ISSN 0959-6836 1477-0911 |
op_rights |
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683610395078 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1021 |
op_container_end_page |
1023 |
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1812181908756365312 |