Thursday, August 9, 2012: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
A105, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Henry D. Adams
Co-organizers:
Jeffrey M. Kane
and
Nathan G. McDowell
Moderator:
Henry D. Adams
Increased tree mortality caused by a combination of rising temperatures, drought, insects, and pathogens is now emerging as an important global phenomenon. While some progress has been made to understand the extent and mechanisms of tree mortality, the ecological consequences of these events are less well understood. The impacts of increased tree mortality on associated organisms and ecological processes will likely differ across scales and will be dependent on the relative function of affected tree species their interactions with other species. At smaller scales, tree mortality events may impact the structure and dynamics of populations and communities as well as associated processes, while at the global scale these events can alter earth system feedbacks that affect hydrological and climate systems through altered biosphere-atmosphere interactions of water, carbon, and energy. The consequences of tree mortality can be expressed as a threat to the goods and services that ecosystems provide for society, through production of wood, fuel, and food and the services of flood protection, nutrient cycling, and climate regulation.
As a result of these potential and unexplored effects, the consequences of tree mortality are becoming an active area of research. Yet, much of this emerging research is largely disconnected among different fields, including invasive species ecology, forest entomology, ecophysiology, ecosystem ecology, hydrology and others. Researchers have often approached the topic from their own background and studied it narrowly from the perspective of a specific system while failing to consider how the consequences of their case may or may not apply broadly across different examples of tree mortality. This organized session on the ecological consequences of tree mortality aims to bring researchers from disparate backgrounds together to consider the challenges that global change-caused tree mortality represents to society. Our goal is to foster an integrated approach to tree mortality research that considers numerous consequences that occur across multiple scales of ecological organization.
9:20 AM
Linking drought related mortality to plant genetics, susceptibility to herbivory, and associations with mycorrhizal fungi
Amy V. Whipple, Northern Arizona University;
Lluvia Flores-Rentería, Northern Arizona University;
Kimberly McCallum, Northern Arizona University;
Christopher M. Sthultz, University of Minnesota, Crookston;
Adrian C. Stone, Northern Arizona University;
Thomas G. Whitham, Northern Arizona University;
Catherine Gehring, Northern Arizona University
10:10 AM
Multi-scale observations of hydrologic partitioning following insect-induced tree mortality: Implications for ecosystem water and biogeochemical cycles
Paul D. Brooks, University of Arizona;
Holly R. Barnard, University of Colorado;
Joel Biederman, USDA-ARS;
Bujidmaa Borkhuu, University of Wyoming;
Steven L. Edburg, University of Idaho;
Brent E. Ewers, University of Wyoming;
Dave Gochis, NCAR;
Ethan Gutmann, NCAR;
Adrian A. Harpold, University of Arizona;
Jeffrey A. Hicke, University of Idaho;
David J.P. Moore, University of Arizona;
Elise Pendall, University of Wyoming;
David Reed, University of Wyoming;
Andrew Somor, University of Arizona;
Peter A. Troch, University of Arizona
