Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska
Yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Örsted ex D.P. Little) is in a century-long decline coinciding with the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The leading hypothesis explaining this decline is a decrease in insulating snow pack due to warming and increased susceptibility to damaging fros...
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ftcollegewooster:oai:openworks.wooster.edu:facpub-1072 2023-05-15T16:20:30+02:00 Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska Wiles, Greg C. Mennett, Colin R. Jarvis, Stephanie K. D'Arrigo, R. D. Wiesenberg, Nicholas Lawson, D. E. 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z https://openworks.wooster.edu/facpub/73 unknown Open Works https://openworks.wooster.edu/facpub/73 All Faculty Articles text 2012 ftcollegewooster 2022-04-27T05:43:34Z Yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Örsted ex D.P. Little) is in a century-long decline coinciding with the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The leading hypothesis explaining this decline is a decrease in insulating snow pack due to warming and increased susceptibility to damaging frosts in the root zone. A ring-width series from yellow-cedar on Excursion Ridge (260 m a.s.l.) in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, and another from trees on Pleasant Island (150 m a.s.l.) in the Tongass National Forest in Icy Strait were compared with regional monthly temperature and precipitation data from Sitka, Alaska, to investigate the changing growth response to temperature at these sites. Comparisons with monthly temperatures from 1832 to 1876 during the end of the Little Ice Age show that the high-elevation Excursion Ridge and the low-elevation Pleasant Island sites strongly favored warmer January through July temperatures. Both tree populations have markedly changed their response from a positive to a strong negative correlation with January through July temperatures since 1950. This strong negative response to warming by the yellow-cedar together with a positive relationship with total March and April precipitation suggests that these yellow-cedar sites may be susceptible to decline. Furthermore, these analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that the yellow-cedar decline is linked to decreased snowpack. Text glacier Alaska The College of Wooster: Open Works Glacier Bay |
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The College of Wooster: Open Works |
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ftcollegewooster |
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description |
Yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Örsted ex D.P. Little) is in a century-long decline coinciding with the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA). The leading hypothesis explaining this decline is a decrease in insulating snow pack due to warming and increased susceptibility to damaging frosts in the root zone. A ring-width series from yellow-cedar on Excursion Ridge (260 m a.s.l.) in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, and another from trees on Pleasant Island (150 m a.s.l.) in the Tongass National Forest in Icy Strait were compared with regional monthly temperature and precipitation data from Sitka, Alaska, to investigate the changing growth response to temperature at these sites. Comparisons with monthly temperatures from 1832 to 1876 during the end of the Little Ice Age show that the high-elevation Excursion Ridge and the low-elevation Pleasant Island sites strongly favored warmer January through July temperatures. Both tree populations have markedly changed their response from a positive to a strong negative correlation with January through July temperatures since 1950. This strong negative response to warming by the yellow-cedar together with a positive relationship with total March and April precipitation suggests that these yellow-cedar sites may be susceptible to decline. Furthermore, these analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that the yellow-cedar decline is linked to decreased snowpack. |
format |
Text |
author |
Wiles, Greg C. Mennett, Colin R. Jarvis, Stephanie K. D'Arrigo, R. D. Wiesenberg, Nicholas Lawson, D. E. |
spellingShingle |
Wiles, Greg C. Mennett, Colin R. Jarvis, Stephanie K. D'Arrigo, R. D. Wiesenberg, Nicholas Lawson, D. E. Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
author_facet |
Wiles, Greg C. Mennett, Colin R. Jarvis, Stephanie K. D'Arrigo, R. D. Wiesenberg, Nicholas Lawson, D. E. |
author_sort |
Wiles, Greg C. |
title |
Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_short |
Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_full |
Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tree-Ring Investigations into Changing Climatic Responses of Yellow-Cedar, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_sort |
tree-ring investigations into changing climatic responses of yellow-cedar, glacier bay, alaska |
publisher |
Open Works |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://openworks.wooster.edu/facpub/73 |
geographic |
Glacier Bay |
geographic_facet |
Glacier Bay |
genre |
glacier Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier Alaska |
op_source |
All Faculty Articles |
op_relation |
https://openworks.wooster.edu/facpub/73 |
_version_ |
1766008417099448320 |