[MCN] Western forest shift to shrublands "increasingly plausible"

[Lance Olsen]

Excerpts from the news release: "As the climate continues to warm and 
produce more severe droughts, fires and tree die-off events across 
the western United States, the potential for widespread 
vegetation-type conversion is becoming increasingly plausible.

"Wildfire is a particularly important factor. Exacerbated by climate 
and drought, fires such as the 2013 Rim Fire in Yosemite National 
Park can destroy entire stands of forest, which may not return. In 
some cases, they may be replaced by shrubs, raising the question of 
whether such a shift in vegetation type will leave more or less water 
in nearby streams."

"The team focused on the lower montane zone -- which ranges in 
altitude from 4,000 to 7,000 -- because the trailing, lower edge of 
many forests is likely to be the most susceptible to vegetation-type 
conversion."

"The researchers also found that increases in stream flow would be 
observed only during wet years. "During very dry years, it doesn't 
matter what vegetation you have on a landscape, whether a tall tree 
or a small shrub," Bart said.

Full release here
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/uoc--vm083016.php

Article summarized in release is open access here:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161805


-- 
=============================================================
"Leonardo da Vinci's dictum, 'Water is the driver of nature,' is 
justified on meteorological grounds alone."

  Penman, H.L. The Water Cycle. Scientific American, September 1970






















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