Thesis
Hot, Dry, then Die? The Future of Western Redcedar in the Northern Rocky Mountains
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
01/2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004453
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/125077
Abstract
Western redcedar is an economically, ecologically and culturally important tree species in the Pacific Northwest. Despite this, a meta-synthesis of the relevant literature found that its response to prolonged drought remains largely understudied and unresolved. Ecological niche models created using observed western redcedar dieback points from 2017-2019 United States Forest Service Aerial Detection Surveys demonstrated that dieback occurred in the hotter and drier extents of its range, suggesting that drought may be the primary agent of dieback. The field study component of this thesis examined the relationship between topography and water stress, and morphological and physiological plasticity of leaf traits at different microsites. Lower topographic positions, in this case a ravine bottom, were found to be less vulnerable to historic drought than higher topographic positions, regardless of canopy position. Trees immediately adjacent to a clear cut subjected to open canopy positions had leaf traits associated with higher water use efficiency relative to trees within the same the stand subjected to closed canopy positions. This suggests that western redcedar may have to ability to acclimate to increased levels of water stress in a period of less than a decade.
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Details
- Title
- Hot, Dry, then Die? The Future of Western Redcedar in the Northern Rocky Mountains
- Creators
- Matthew Walter Tomaszewski
- Contributors
- Henry D Adams (Advisor)Kevan B Moffett (Committee Member)Timothy E Link (Committee Member)Arjan Johan Herman Meddens (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 94
- Identifiers
- 99900883438501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis