Data from: "Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest"

Dataset · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.15485/1814208· OSTI ID:1814208

Kueppers, Lara M.  ^[1]; Conlisk, Erin  ^[2]; Castanha, Cristina  ^[3]; Moyes, Andrew B.  ^[3]; Germino, Matthew J.  ^[4]; de Valpine, Perry  ^[1]; Torn, Margaret S.  ^[3]; Mitton, Jeffry B.  ^[5]

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1. University of California Berkeley
2. University of California Berkeley; now at Point Blue Conservation Science
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
4. U.S. Geological Survey
5. University of Colorado Boulder

This data package contains data used to support conclusions drawn in “Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest”, by Kueppers et al. 2017. Data were collected in field sites within the Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment (ATWE), located on Niwot Ridge, on the eastern slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. Files containing geospatial data are also included, to provide additional locational context.There are four document formats associated with this archive: three comma-separated values (.csv) files, three Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files, one .pdf data user’s guide, four keyhole markup language (.kml) files, and a compressed folder containing seven ESRI shapefiles (.shp). The .csv files can be opened using any simple text-editor software, R, or Microsoft Excel. The .xlsx files can only be opened using Microsoft Excel. The .kml file can be opened by Google Earth and Google Maps, and the shapefiles can be opened with any GIS application compatible with the file type, such as ESRI’s ArcGIS, and QGIS.We provide two versions of the seedling data file: “PIEN_PIFLseedlings20150522_20150525rev12222020.csv/.xlsx” (hereafter PIEN_PIFLseedlings2015) and “PIEN_PIFLseedlings20160408rev12222020.csv/.xlsx” (hereafter PIEN_PIFLseedlings2016). PIEN_PIFLseedlings2015 contains the data we used in the paper. PIEN_PIFLseedlings2016 contains an updated version of these data that includes sampling from later years. The main differences between the two files lie in the columns titled “k[YEAR],” which describe the number of seedlings that were killed in a particular year. In PIEN_PIFLseedlings2016, there also is an additional year of data for k2015, and k2014 also has additional data input for the 2014 cohort. Additionally, in years 2010-2014, there are minor differences in the number of seedlings killed -- in as few as 0 plots (in 2011) to as many as 5 plots (in 2014) -- due to errors in data input that were rectified in later years.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Upslope range shifts by subalpine tree species are a widely anticipated effect of climate change. Climate niche models predict subalpine forests to expand upslope, given more suitable growing conditions for adult trees. However, these models do not take into account climates required for successful seedling recruitment and establishment, an essential element for expansion. Further, localized upper treeline populations are hypothesized to contain favorable traits for colonizing the alpine. To test these expectations and to expand our knowledge of seedling recruitment under climate change, we designed a common garden, climate-warming experiment spread across an elevation gradient at Niwot Ridge in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We focus on two widespread Western North American species, Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex. Engelm) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis James), which occur at treeline. While the former is considered a late-seral species more tolerant of shade, limber pine is a shade-intolerant pioneer species able to establish on infertile sites.Every autumn, seeds of the two species were collected from high- (3370 m–3570 m) and low-provenance (2910–3240 m) sources close to the experimental sites and sown in our plots. A subset of plots were heated and another subset watered over the summer months to offset the effects of warming. Across five years, we found that seeds originating from low elevation recruited more strongly for both species, although this provenance difference diminished by the fourth year for Engelmann spruce, likely due to small sample sizes. Despite the recruitment of low-provenance seed, warming treatments decreased recruitment at all elevations. Combining this with the likeliness and availability of lower-quality, high provenance seed moving upslope at the treeline, tree migration into the alpine may be slowed. Overall, our findings suggest that the hardier limber pine is likely to become a more significant species in subalpine forest communities in the future, while the more sensitive Engelmann spruce may experience range contraction.

• Research Organization: Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem (ESS-DIVE) (United States); Subalpine and Alpine Species Range Shifts with Climate Change: Temperature and Soil Moisture Manipulations to Test Species and Population Responses (Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment)
• Sponsoring Organization: U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-07ER64457; SC0007071
• OSTI ID: 1814208
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
alpine treeline
climate change experiment
Engelmann spruce
limber pine
Picea engelmannii
Pinus flexilis
seedling demography
species range shift
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS
Seedling survey
Germination
Seedling kills
Seedling survival
Geospatial data