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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS: VEGETATION AND ECOSYSTEMS

Item #d93mar84

Two items from Clim. Change, 22(4), Dec. 1992:

"Tropical Soils Could Dominate the Short-Term Carbon Cycle Feedbacks to Increased Global Temperatures," A.R. Townsend (Dept. Biol. Sci., Stanford Univ., Stanford CA 94305), P.M. Vitousek, E.A. Holland, 293-303. Results of a simple model of the effects of temperature on net ecosystem production calls into question the argument that warming in the northern regions will lead to large releases of carbon to the atmosphere. However, large releases are projected in the tropics.

"Impacts of Summer Warming on the Energy and Water Balance of Wetland Tundra," W.R. Rouse (Dept. Geog., McMaster Univ., Hamilton ON L8S 4K1, Can.), D.W. Carlson, E.J. Weick, 305-326. Measurements made at a high subarctic, maritime, wetland tundra site are presented for three growing seasons. Concludes that such tundra growing on peat soils displays feedback mechanisms that can offset the effects of moisture stress caused by summer warming of a similar magnitude to that predicted by GCM doubled CO₂ runs.

Item #d93mar85

"Mapping Eastern North American Vegetation Change of the Past 18 ka: No-Analogs and the Future," J.T. Overpeck (NOAA, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80303), R.S. Webb, T. Webb III, Geology, 20(12), 1071-1074, Dec. 1992.

A new series of paleovegetation maps, based on the method of modern analogs and an extensive database of modern and fossil pollen data, suggests that possible future climate changes could force complex changes in natural vegetation, including the development of biomes without modern analogs.

Item #d93mar86

"Long-Term Response of an Arctic Sedge to Climate Change: A Simulation Study," P.W. Leadley (Dept. Bot., Duke Univ., Durham NC 27706), J.F. Reynolds, Ecolog. Applic., 2(4), 323-340, Nov. 1992.

A mechanistic model including the effects of light, temperature, season length and N availability, applied to the sedge Eriophorum vaginatum, predicts a slight decrease in peak biomass. Climate change will have substantial effects only indirectly through changes in N availability.

Item #d93mar87

Two items from Can. J. For. Res., 22(11), Nov. 1992:

"Past and Future Climate Change: Response by Mixed Deciduous Coniferous Forest Ecosystems in Northern Michigan," A.M. Solomon (U.S. EPA, Corvallis OR 97333), P.J. Bartlein, 1727-1738. Used proxy climate data derived from pollen records for the past 10,000 years to drive forest gap models. Resulting projections were more affected by the rate than by the magnitude of climate change.

"Predicting Effects of Global Warming on Growth and Mortality of Upland Oak Species in the Midwestern United States--A Physiologically Based Dendroecological Approach," D.C. LeBlanc (Dept. Biol., Ball State Univ., Muncie IN 47306), J.R. Foster, 1739-1752. Combines an ecophysiological model and dendroecological analyses to evaluate potential effects on the physiology, growth and mortality of white and black oak. Warming could increase the incidence of decline and mortality in upland oak populations.

Item #d93mar88

"Potential Carbon Losses from Peat Profiles--Effects of Temperature, Drought Cycles and Fire," E.H. Hogg (Dept. For. Sci., 855 Gen. Serv. Bldg., Univ. Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, Can.), C.J. Lieffers, R.W. Wein, Ecol. Appl., 2(3), 298-306, Aug. 1992.

Global warming could lead to lowered water tables in peatlands, and increased fires with resulting changes in peat decomposition. Examined dry mass losses and CO₂ and CH₄ emissions from layers of a black spruce peatland under two moisture treatments, and also simulated the effects of fire.

Item #d93mar89

"Effects of CO₂ and Temperature on Growth and Resource Use of Concurring C3 and C4 Annuals," J.S. Coleman (Dept. Biol., Syracuse Univ., Syracuse NY 13244), F.A. Bazzaz, Ecology, 73(4), 1244-1259, Aug. 1992.

Examined individuals of Abutilon theophrasti (C3) and Amaranthus retroflexus (C4). Elevated CO₂ and temperature had significant independent and interactive effects on plant growth, resource allocation and resource acquisition, the strength of which depended on plant species.

Item #d93mar90

Two items from Environ. Toxicol. & Chem., 11(8), Aug. 1992:

"A Global Perspective on Forest Decline," D. Muellerdombois (Dept. Bot., Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu HI 96822), 1069-1076. Forest declines are occurring in several Pacific forests completely unaffected by industrial pollution. The natural cause complexes (demographic, disturbance, biotic components) are placed in a causal hierarchy theory based on cohort senescence. This may serve as a framework for comparative ecosystem research of forest declines at the global level.

"Regional Forest Migrations and Potential Economic Effects," D.G. Hodges (Dept. For., Mississippi State Univ., PO Drawer FR, Miss. St. MS 39762), F.W. Cubbage, J.L. Regens, 1129-1136. Rapid temperature increases could cause considerable stress to trees in the southern part of their range without commensurate increase in growth in the expanding range. In the southern U.S. alone, losses could total $300 million for declining timber volume and pulp and paper yields, and more than $100 million for increased management.

Item #d93mar91

Two items from Forestry Chronicle, 68(4), Aug. 1992:

"Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the Biodiversity of Plants," M.W. Schwartz (Illinois Nat. Hist. Surv., 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign IL 61820), 462-471. Reviews understanding of possible shifts in the ranges of vegetation species, insects pests and pathogens; response of vegetation to increased drought stress; and shifts in species composition within plant communities.

"Breeding Strategies in a Changing Climate and Implications for Biodiversity," D.P. Fowler (Ctr. Maritime For., Box 400, Fredericton NB E3B 5P7, Can.), J.A. Loodinkins, 472-475. Suggests a three-pronged approach for mitigating the impacts of climate change in the Maritime provinces of Canada: development of short rotation clonal forestry; breeding for stability of genotypes over a range of climatic conditions; collection, storage and testing of native and nonnative materials of potential value.

Item #d93mar92

"Evidence for Rising Upper Limits of Four Native New Zealand Forest Trees," P. Wardle (Landcare Res. N. Zealand Ltd., POB 69, Lincoln, New Zealand), M.C. Coleman, N.Z. J. Bot., 30(3), 303-314, 1992.

Species were studied for evidence of a 100 m rise in their altitudinal limits, which would be expected to have occurred in response to the observed 0.5°C increase in regional mean temperature since the 1860s. Results suggest that in the event of rapid and substantial climatic change, species with intrinsically slow rates of spread would be unable to keep pace.

Item #d93mar93

"Increased Microbial Immobilization of Nutrients Will Adversely Affect Afforestation in Dry Tropics during Future Climate Change," S. Roy (Dept. Bot., Banaras Hindu Univ., Varanasi 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India), Current Sci., 62(11), 715-716, June 10, 1992. If afforestation is delayed in leached, impoverished soils of the dry tropics, global warming and lowered soil water potential may increase microbial immobilization of soil nutrients, reducing their availability to plants.

Item #d93mar94

"Will Climate Change Affect Biodiversity in Pacific Northwest Forests," S. Henderson (U.S. EPA, 200 SW 35th St., Corvallis OR 97333), B.J. Rosenbaum, Northwest Environ. J., 8(1), 197-199, Spr.-Sum. 1992.