Premium
Patterns and causes of observed piñon pine mortality in the southwestern United States
Author(s) -
Meddens Arjan J. H.,
Hicke Jeffrey A.,
Macalady Alison K.,
Buotte Polly C.,
Cowles Travis R.,
Allen Craig D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/nph.13193
Subject(s) - abiotic component , bark (sound) , ecology , biology , demography , bark beetle , geography , sociology
Summary Recently, widespread piñon pine die‐off occurred in the southwestern United States. Here we synthesize observational studies of this event and compare findings to expected relationships with biotic and abiotic factors. Agreement exists on the occurrence of drought, presence of bark beetles and increased mortality of larger trees. However, studies disagree about the influences of stem density, elevation and other factors, perhaps related to study design, location and impact of extreme drought. Detailed information about bark beetles is seldom reported and their role is poorly understood. Our analysis reveals substantial limits to our knowledge regarding the processes that produce mortality patterns across space and time, indicating a poor ability to forecast mortality in response to expected increases in future droughts.ContentsSummary 91 I. Introduction 91 II. Mortality mechanisms 92 III. Methods 92 IV. Results 92 V. Discussion 94 VI. Conclusions 96Acknowledgements 96References 96