Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado
Most ecological studies are by necessity cast on rather short timescales, such that documenting change in phenomena that occur slowly (e.g., over decades to centuries) is quite difficult. Here, we explore variation in and covariation of two sources of information to address rates of treeline change...
Published in: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 https://doaj.org/article/7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b 2023-05-15T14:14:35+02:00 Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado A. Townsend Peterson Kevin Berthiaume Mark Klett Jeffrey S. Munroe 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 https://doaj.org/article/7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b EN eng Taylor & Francis Group https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 54, Iss 1, Pp 478-487 (2022) Treeline climate change remote sensing repeat photography Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 2022-12-30T19:52:11Z Most ecological studies are by necessity cast on rather short timescales, such that documenting change in phenomena that occur slowly (e.g., over decades to centuries) is quite difficult. Here, we explore variation in and covariation of two sources of information to address rates of treeline change on one mountain face in the central Rocky Mountains: repeat photography and remote sensing. The repeat photography work involved assembling and quantitatively comparing four photographs that span 148 years. The remote sensing analyses covered a shorter period (35 years) but provided quantitative measurements and fuller landscape coverage. The repeat photography results demonstrated pronounced elevational advance of erect forest, at a rate <0.3 m/year during 1873–1979 but accelerating to >1.8 m/year during 2004–2020. The remote sensing analyses reflected similar processes but also reflected considerable infilling of tree cover near treeline; consequent increases in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the upper forested areas may thus indicate treeline advance or changes in forest characteristics below treeline. Overall, these results document (1) acceleration in rise of treeline at this site in recent decades and (2) elevational compression of vegetation zones above treeline, with important implications for conservation of nonforested alpine ecosystems. Integrating multiple streams of evidence offers complementary views and insights in analyzing this phenomenon. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Fuller ENVELOPE(162.350,162.350,-77.867,-77.867) Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 54 1 478 487 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Treeline climate change remote sensing repeat photography Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Treeline climate change remote sensing repeat photography Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 A. Townsend Peterson Kevin Berthiaume Mark Klett Jeffrey S. Munroe Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
topic_facet |
Treeline climate change remote sensing repeat photography Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Most ecological studies are by necessity cast on rather short timescales, such that documenting change in phenomena that occur slowly (e.g., over decades to centuries) is quite difficult. Here, we explore variation in and covariation of two sources of information to address rates of treeline change on one mountain face in the central Rocky Mountains: repeat photography and remote sensing. The repeat photography work involved assembling and quantitatively comparing four photographs that span 148 years. The remote sensing analyses covered a shorter period (35 years) but provided quantitative measurements and fuller landscape coverage. The repeat photography results demonstrated pronounced elevational advance of erect forest, at a rate <0.3 m/year during 1873–1979 but accelerating to >1.8 m/year during 2004–2020. The remote sensing analyses reflected similar processes but also reflected considerable infilling of tree cover near treeline; consequent increases in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the upper forested areas may thus indicate treeline advance or changes in forest characteristics below treeline. Overall, these results document (1) acceleration in rise of treeline at this site in recent decades and (2) elevational compression of vegetation zones above treeline, with important implications for conservation of nonforested alpine ecosystems. Integrating multiple streams of evidence offers complementary views and insights in analyzing this phenomenon. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Townsend Peterson Kevin Berthiaume Mark Klett Jeffrey S. Munroe |
author_facet |
A. Townsend Peterson Kevin Berthiaume Mark Klett Jeffrey S. Munroe |
author_sort |
A. Townsend Peterson |
title |
Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
title_short |
Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
title_full |
Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
title_fullStr |
Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
title_full_unstemmed |
Linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: Mount of the Holy Cross, Colorado |
title_sort |
linking repeat photography and remote sensing to assess treeline rise with climate warming: mount of the holy cross, colorado |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 https://doaj.org/article/7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(162.350,162.350,-77.867,-77.867) |
geographic |
Fuller |
geographic_facet |
Fuller |
genre |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic |
op_source |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 54, Iss 1, Pp 478-487 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 1938-4246 1523-0430 https://doaj.org/article/7d3041f5ac4044719ddaca55beedd06b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2022.2121245 |
container_title |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
container_volume |
54 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
478 |
op_container_end_page |
487 |
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1766286971697627136 |