Early indications of drought impacts on forests in the southeastern United States
Abstract
In the southeastern United States, drought can pose a significant threat to forests by reducing the amount of available water, thereby stressing trees. Destructive changes in crown conditions provide the first visible indication of a problem in a forested area, making it a useful indicator for problems within an ecosystem. Forest Health and Monitoring (FHM) and Palmer's Drought Severity Index (PDSI) data from 11 states in the southeastern United States were obtained in an effort to determine the role that drought, forest type, and ecoregion have in indicating differences in crown dieback. Analyses were conducted by species groups using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. The greatest amount of total relative crown dieback occurred in red oak (18%), followed by other hardwoods (14%), and white oak (11%). Relative crown dieback varied by forest type and ecoregion with a relationship to drought in both red oak and white oak. This information will be useful for focusing future research and modeling efforts to predict forest health conditions affected by changing climate variables.
Résumé
Dans le sud-est des États-Unis, la sécheresse peut représenter une menace sérieuse pour les forêts en réduisant la quantité d'eau disponible, et en conséquence provoquer un stress chez les arbres. Des changements destructifs au niveau des cimes constituent la première indication visible d'un problème dans les régions boisées, devenant de ce fait un précieux indicateur des problèmes affectant un écosystème. Les données tirées de l'indice de santé et de suivi des forêts (FHM) et de l'indice de sévérité de sécheresse de Palmer (PDSI) de onze états du sud-est des États-Unis ont été colligées dans le but de déterminer le rôle joué par la sécheresse, par le type de forêt et par l’écorégion au niveau des différences rattachées au dépérissement des cimes. Les analyses ont été menées par groupes d'espèces au moyen d'une analyse des arbres de classification et de régression (CART). Le plus fort niveau de dépérissement relatif total des cimes a été retrouvé chez le chêne rouge (18%), suivi des autres feuillus (14%) et du chêne blanc (11%). Le dépérissement relatif des cimes variait selon le type de forêt et l’écorégion et en fonction de la sécheresse affectant le chêne rouge et le chêne blanc. Cette information permettra de concentrer les efforts futurs de recherche et de modélisation visant à prédire les conditions de santé des forêts affectées par des changements climatiques.
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Published In
The Forestry Chronicle
Volume 91 • Number 04 • August 2015
Pages: 376 - 383
History
Version of record online: 29 October 2015
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© 2015.
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CrosbyMichael K., FanZhaofei, SpetichMartin A., LeiningerTheodor D., and FanXingang. 2015. Early indications of drought impacts on forests in the southeastern United States. The Forestry Chronicle.
91(04): 376-383. https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc2015-067
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