<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><header style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s linear; position: relative; padding: 18px 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><div class="reltime" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 2px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font color="#000000" class=""><header style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s linear; position: relative; padding: 18px 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; display: inline !important;" class=""><span class="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s linear; position: relative; padding: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; display: inline !important;" class="">THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA</a> </span></header><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class="">Public Release: 29-Jun-2018</a></font></span></div><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class=""><h2 class="post_title" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14px;"><font color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">UM study: Forests may lose ability to protect against extremes of climate change</font></h2></a></header><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class=""><font color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><div class="entry hidden-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s linear; position: relative; padding: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><p class="intro" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; border-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(185, 186, 188); padding-left: 10px; line-height: 19px;">A recent University of Montana study suggests that a warming climate in the Pacific Northwest would lessen the capacity of many forest microclimates to moderate climate extremes in the future.</p></div></font></a><font color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><dl class="meta hidden-xs dl-horizontal" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: all 0.1s linear; position: relative; padding: 0px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; margin-top: 17px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class=""><dt class="yellow" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; float: left; width: auto; clear: left; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; text-transform: uppercase; border-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid; border-color: rgb(255, 177, 52); padding-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 12px; min-width: 100px;">JOURNAL</dt><dd style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; margin-left: 100px;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Ecography: A Journal of Space and Time in Ecology</em></dd></a><dd style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; margin-left: 100px;" class=""><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class=""></a><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.03836" class="">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecog.03836</a></dd><dd style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.42857; margin-left: 100px;" class=""><em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><br class=""></em></dd></dl></font><div class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Full release <b class="">[ bold added ]</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php" class="">https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/tuom-usf062918.php</a></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">MISSOULA, Montana - Forests, one of the most dominate ecosystems on Earth, harbor significant biodiversity. Scientists have become increasingly interested in how this diversity is enhanced by the sheltering microclimates produced by trees.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">A recent University of Montana study suggests that a warming climate in the Pacific Northwest would lessen the capacity of many forest microclimates to moderate climate extremes in the future.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">The study was published in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">Ecography: A Journal of Space and Time in Ecology</em>. It is online at <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/2KcO1iC" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 136, 204); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s linear; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">http://bit.<wbr style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">ly/<wbr style="box-sizing: border-box;" class="">2KcO1iC</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">"Forest canopies produce microclimates that are less variable and more stable than similar settings without forest cover," said Kimberley Davis, a UM postdoctoral research associate and the lead author of the study. "Our work shows that the ability of forests to buffer climate extremes is dependent on canopy cover and local moisture availability - both of which are expected to change as the Earth warms."</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">She said many plants and animals that live in the understory of forests rely on the stable climate conditions found there. The study suggests some forests <b class="">will lose their capacity to buffer climate extremes as water becomes limited at many sites.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><b class="">"Changes in water balance, combined with</b> accelerating canopy losses due to increases in the frequency and severity of disturbance, will create <b class="">many changes in the microclimate conditions of western U.S. forests," Davis said.</b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12px;" class="">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></p></div><div class=""><div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">"What we are witnessing is major hydrologic change," said co-author Jay Famiglietti. <br class=""><br class="">"We see a distinctive pattern of the wet land areas of the world getting wetter -- those are the high latitudes and the tropics -- and the dry areas in between getting dryer."</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class=""><br class=""><a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2018-102" class="">https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2018-102</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">“The changes experienced by the biosphere over the past century ... have raised concerns about the possibility of rapid shifts from green to desert states.” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">Richard Sole'. Scaling laws in the drier. Nature 13 September 2007</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px;" class="">"The big challenge is still to deliver emissions reductions at the pace and scale needed, especially in a world where economies are driven by consumption.”<br class=""><br class="">Sonja van Renssen.The inconvenient truth of failed climate policies. Nature Climate Change MAY 2018<br class=""><br class="">Published online: 27 April 2018 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0155-4" class="">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0155-4</a> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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