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--></style><title>Western forest shift to shrublands
"increasingly plausible</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Geneva"><b>Excerpts from the news release:</b>
"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.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><br>
"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."</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva">"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."</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva">"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.</font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><b>Full release here</b></font></div>
<div><font
face="Geneva"
>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-08/uoc--vm083016.php</font
></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Geneva"><b>Article summarized in release is open
access here:</b></font></div>
<div><font
face="Geneva"
>http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.016<span
></span>1805</font></div>
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<div><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#141414">"Leonardo da
Vinci's dictum, 'Water is the driver of nature,' is justified on
meteorological grounds alone."</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1" color="#1A1A1A"><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#141414"> Penman,
H.L. The Water Cycle. Scientific American, September 1970</font><br>
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