Repeat Oblique Photography Shows Terrain and Fire-Exposure Controls on Century-Scale Canopy Cover Change in the Alpine Treeline Ecotone

Alpine Treeline Ecotone (ATE), the typically gradual transition zone between closed canopy forest and alpine tundra vegetation in mountain regions, displays an elevational range that is generally constrained by thermal deficits. At landscape scales, precipitation and moisture regimes can suppress ATE elevation below thermal limits, causing variability in ATE position. Recent studies have investigated the relative effects of hydroclimatic variables on ATE position at multiple scales, but less attention has been given to interactions between hydroclimatic variables and disturbance agents, such as fire. Advances in monoplotting have enabled the extraction of canopy cover information from oblique photography. Using airborne lidar, and repeat photography from the Mountain Legacy Project, we observed canopy cover change in West Castle Watershed (Alberta, Canada; ~103 km2; 49.3° N, 114.4° W) over a 92-year period (1914–2006). Two wildfires, occurring 1934 and 1936, provided an opportunity to compare topographic patterns of mortality and succession in the ATE, while factoring by exposure to fire. Aspect was a strong predictor of mortality and succession. Fire-exposed areas accounted for 83.6% of all mortality, with 72.1% of mortality occurring on south- and east-facing slope aspects. Succession was balanced between fire-exposed and unburned areas, with 62.0% of all succession occurring on north- and east-facing slope aspects. The mean elevation increase in closed canopy forest (i.e., the lower boundary of ATE) on north- and east-facing undisturbed slopes was estimated to be 0.44 m per year, or ~44 m per century. The observed retardation of treeline advance on south-facing slopes is likely due to moisture limitation.

Microsites and Climate Zones: Seedling Regeneration in the Alpine Treeline Ecotone Worldwide

Microsites, local features having the potential to alter the environment for seedling regeneration, may help to define likely trends in high-elevation forest regeneration pattern. Although multiple microsites may exist in any alpine treeline ecotone (ATE) on any continent, some microsites appear to enhance density of seedling regeneration better than others. Known seedling regeneration stresses in the ATE include low temperature, low substrate moisture, high radiation, drought, wind, and both high and low snowfall amount. Relationships among various microsite types, annual temperature, annual precipitation, and tree genera groups were assessed by synthesizing 52 studies from 26 countries spanning six continents. By categorization of four main microsite types (convex, concave, object, and wood) by mean annual precipitation and temperature, four major climatic zone associations were distinguished: cold & dry, cold & wet, warm & dry, warm & wet. Successful tree recruitment varied among microsite types and by climatic zones. In general, elevated convex sites and/or decayed wood facilitated earlier snow melt for seedlings located in cold & wet climates with abundant snowfall, depressions or concave sites enhanced summer moisture and protected seedlings from wind chill exposure for seedlings growing in cold & dry locations, and objects protected seedlings from excessive radiation and wind in warm & dry high locations. Our study results suggest that climate change will most benefit seedling regeneration in cold & wet locations and will most limit seedling regeneration in warm & dry locations given likely increases in fire and drought. Study results suggest that high-elevation mountain forests with water-limited growing seasons are likely to experience recruitment declines or, at best, no new recruitment advantage as climate warms. Climate envelope models, generally focusing on adult trees rather than seedling requirements, often assume that a warming climate will move tree species upward. Study results suggest that climate models may benefit from more physically-based considerations of microsites, climate, and current seedling regeneration limitations.