scholarly journals Threats to Oaks in the Eastern United States: Perceptions and Expectations of Experts

2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Anna O Conrad ◽  
Ellen V Crocker ◽  
Xiaoshu Li ◽  
William R Thomas ◽  
Thomas O Ochuodho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
The Future ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Perceptions And Expectations

Abstract Oaks (Quercus spp.) are keystone species in many ecosystems and are ecologically as well as economically valuable. The objective of this study was to gather and evaluate information from a diverse group of oak experts on current and future biotic and abiotic threats to oaks in the eastern United States. Using a Delphi survey method with three iterative surveys, we found that oak decline and climate change were identified as critical current and future threats, respectively, in this region. Focusing on climate change, experts were asked a series of questions to assess its potential future temporal and spatial impact on oaks. With respect to climate change, the majority of experts surveyed believe climate change will manifest gradually, although they were generally uncertain about the geographical distribution of climate change in the future, i.e., the areas where oaks are likely to be impacted by climate change in the future. New/emerging pests and pathogens were seen as the most critical future threat by the third survey round. Results from this study can be used to better inform management practices and research priorities for ensuring resilient oak resources for the future.

scholarly journals Threshold effects of air pollution and climate change on understory plant communities at forested sites in the eastern United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 262 ◽  
pp. 114351 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.C. McDonnell ◽  
G.J. Reinds ◽  
G.W.W. Wamelink ◽  
P.W. Goedhart ◽  
M. Posch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Threshold Effects ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Understory Plant ◽  
Understory Plant Communities

scholarly journals Strong influence of 2000–2050 climate change on particulate matter in the United States: Results from a new statistical model

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Shen ◽  
Loretta J. Mickley ◽  
Lee T. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Statistical Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Meteorological Variables ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Low Cloud

Abstract. We use a statistical model to investigate the effect of 2000–2050 climate change on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality across the contiguous United States. By applying observed relationships of PM2.5 and meteorology to the IPCC Coupled Model Intercomparision Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) archives, we bypass many of the uncertainties inherent in chemistry-climate models. Our approach uses both the relationships between PM2.5 and local meteorology as well as the synoptic circulation patterns, defined as the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) pattern of the spatial correlations between PM2.5 and meteorological variables in the surrounding region. Using an ensemble of 17 GCMs under the RCP4.5 scenario, we project an increase of ~ 1 μg m−3 in annual mean PM2.5 in the eastern US and a decrease of 0.3–1.2 μg m−3 in the Intermountain West by the 2050s, assuming present-day anthropogenic sources of PM2.5. Mean summertime PM2.5 increases as much as 2–3 μg m−3 in the eastern United States due to faster oxidation rates and greater mass of organic carbon from biogenic emissions. Mean wintertime PM2.5 decreases by 0.3–3 μg m−3 over most regions in United States, likely due to the volatilization of ammonium nitrate. Our approach provides an efficient method to calculate the climate penalty or benefit on air quality across a range of models and scenarios. We find that current atmospheric chemistry models may underestimate or even fail to capture the strongly positive sensitivity of monthly mean PM2.5 to temperature in the eastern United States in summer, and may underestimate future changes in PM2.5 in a warmer climate. In GEOS-Chem, the underestimate in monthly mean PM2.5-temperature relationship in the East in summer is likely caused by overly strong negative sensitivity of monthly mean low cloud fraction to temperature in the assimilated meteorology (~ −0.04 K−1), compared to the weak sensitivity implied by satellite observations (±0.01 K−1). The strong negative dependence of low cloud cover on temperature, in turn, causes the modeled rates of sulfate aqueous oxidation to diminish too rapidly as temperatures rise, leading to the underestimate of sulfate-temperature slopes, especially in the South. Our work underscores the importance of evaluating the sensitivity of PM2.5 to its key controlling meteorological variables in climate-chemistry models on multiple timescales before they are applied to project future air quality.

Comparison of dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp., Viscaceae) in the western United States with mistletoes (Amyema spp., Loranthaceae) in Australia—ecological analogs and reciprocal models for ecosystem management

2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shaw ◽  
David M. Watson ◽  
Robert L. Mathiasen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Life History ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Management Perspective ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Considerable Detail

Whereas the biology, physiology and systematics of mistletoes have been explored in considerable detail, their ecology has received less attention and our understanding is highly fragmentary. A conspicuous exception is the dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.)—a genus that exclusively parasitises coniferous trees, including many commercially valuable species in the forests of the western United States. Accordingly, these plants have been the subjects of intensive cross-disciplinary research for the past five decades, initially from a control and management perspective but extending into most aspects of their ecology and life history. This review summarises our understanding of dwarf mistletoes, focusing on recent developments in the areas of mistletoe–wildlife interactions, fire, ecosystem ecology and conservation biology. We also compare dwarf mistletoes with Australian mistletoes in the genus Amyema, a diverse suite of species found throughout the continent. Despite fundamental differences in their evolutionary origin and most aspects of their autecology and life history, the genera exhibit many similarities in terms of their ecological role in forests and woodlands, and their influence on stand- and forest-scale dynamics. In particular, both groups provide nesting resources for a range of birds and mammals, and nutritional resources for a diverse assemblage of species. Both also interact with fire, potentially leading to changes in successional dynamics at the stand scale. At an applied level, both groups are widely considered as pests but, as our understanding of these keystone species improves, they have the potential to serve as sensitive ecological indicators for their respective ecosystems. Key research priorities are identified for further research on both groups of mistletoes and more explicit comparative research, with Arceuthobium serving as a valuable template for future work on Amyema and Australian mistletoes in general.

Comparative Susceptibility of Plants Native to the Appalachian Range of the United States to Inoculation with Phytophthora ramorum

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Linderman ◽  
Patricia B. de Sá ◽  
E. Anne Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Phytophthora Ramorum ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Comparative Susceptibility ◽  
Climatic Characteristics ◽  
Inoculum Type

Phytophthora ramorum, cause of sudden oak death of trees or ramorum blight of other plant species, has an ever-increasing host range. Some geographic regions are considered to be at high risk of becoming infested with the pathogen, possibly causing plant mortality such as seen in native habitats of California and Oregon. One such region is the Appalachian range of the eastern United States, where known susceptible plants occur and climatic characteristics appear favorable for infections by this pathogen. We collected foliage of a range of plant species native to Appalachia in Kentucky during two summer seasons, and the foliage was shipped to Oregon for inoculation with P. ramorum to determine relative susceptibility. Leaves were needle-wounded and inoculated with either mycelium agar plugs or sporangia of a North American (A2 mating type) or European (A1 mating type) isolate. After 14 days incubation at 20°C in moist boxes, lesions caused by either inoculum type or isolate generally were comparable using digital photos and ASSESS software. Some genera, species, and cultivars within species were highly susceptible, while others were moderately susceptible or not susceptible. These results provide a basis for regional surveyors to select target hosts and to generate survey and management practices for nursery and forest areas. Accepted for publication 24 April 2007. Published 17 September 2007.

scholarly journals Community‐level responses to climate change in forests of the eastern United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1299-1314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Knott ◽  
Michael A. Jenkins ◽  
Christopher M. Oswalt ◽  
Songlin Fei
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Eastern United States

Identifying and Partnering Ecoallies through Perceived Natural Environment Futures in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 343-360
Author(s):  
Brandon D. Lundy ◽  
Lauren Weeks ◽  
Rachel Langkau ◽  
Kamran Sadiq ◽  
Sami Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
College And University ◽  
The Past ◽  
Guinea Bissau ◽  
The Future

Through an experiential, field-based investigative opportunity in the anthropology of climate change, this project introduced college and university students from the United States and Guinea-Bissau through active research encounters. This article examines one part of the larger project, perceptions of natural environment futures via 287 drawings collected by three United States-based undergraduate students from 145 college and university students and alumni (ages 18–53) in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Guinea-Bissau is a climate change hotspot. This study’s specific focus was on how participants represent natural environmental change over time. Participants were asked to produce two drawings, one depicting their natural environment hundreds of years in the past (pre-European contact) and one representing their natural environment twenty years in the future. Using content analysis, descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, and McNemar’s test, the study finds that (1a) participants’ depictions of the future contain statistically significantly more pollution, scarcity, deforestation, desertification, and less biodiversity than those in the past, and (1b) these depictions of environmental change hazards highly correlate; (2) participants draw the natural environment statistically significantly more in the past than in the future; (3a) women are statistically significantly more likely than men to draw environmental management in the past and future, and (3b) men are statistically significantly more likely than women to draw commercialization in the past and future; and (4) environmental sciences and teaching professionals are statistically significantly more likely than business professionals to draw environmental management in the past and future. The study found no differences in perceptions of the natural environment based on age, place of birth, or religion. Results indicate that people perceive real differences between their past and future natural environments, especially related to future environmental change hazards. Furthermore, gender and professional differences in participant drawings of environmental management suggest that women and non-business professionals are likely ecoallies. This concept is important from an applied perspective because through this research project, United States- and Guinea-Bissau-based undergraduate students and alumni are able to recognize in each other their shared advocacy capacities, acknowledge the systematic nature of the climate change problem, and establish a common cause around sustainable environmental management.

Effects of climate change on forests of the eastern United States

1994 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.C. Randolph ◽  
Jae K. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Eastern United States

Impact of climate change on mercury concentrations and deposition in the eastern United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 487 ◽  
pp. 299-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasios G. Megaritis ◽  
Benjamin N. Murphy ◽  
Pavan N. Racherla ◽  
Peter J. Adams ◽  
Spyros N. Pandis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change
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