Transcript Restoring whitebark pine ecosystems in the face of climate change

Restoring whitebark pine
ecosystems in the face of
climate change pine
Bob Keane,
USDA Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Research Station
Fire Sciences Laboratory
Whitebark Pine Ecosystems
Keystone and Foundation Species
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Covers over 15 % landscape
Protects snowpack
Delays snowmelt
Provides high quality water
Provides critical habitat
Unique plant communities
Adds to landscape diversity
Provides important food
Glacier National Park
Whitebark Pine Decline
Decline a result from the complex
interactions of many factors
Our ability to address these interactions
will dictate rangewide restoration success
Great Burn Roadless Area, Idaho
Whitebark Pine Interactions
Mountain
Pine
Beetle
White Pine
Blister Rust
Whitebark
Pine
Climate
Clark’s
Nutcracker
Land
Management
Wildland
Fire
A rangewide restoration
strategy for whitebark pine
Keane, Robert E.; Tomback, D.F.; Aubry,
C.A.; Bower, A.D.; Campbell, E.M.; Cripps,
C.L.; Jenkins, M.B.; Mahalovich, M.F.;
Manning, M.; McKinney, S.T.; Murray, M.P.;
Perkins, D.L.; Reinhart, D.P.; Ryan, C.;
Schoettle, A.W.; Smith, C. M. 2012. A
range-wide restoration strategy for
whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). Gen.
Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-279. Fort Collins,
CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
108 p.
The WBP Rangewide Strategy:
Guiding Principles
Possible Actions
Whitebark Pine Decline
Climate Change
Why treat whitebark pine?
Consider the alternative
 Doing nothing will ensure whitebark
 Won’t it decline anyway?
pine’s demise
 Why invest the money?
 Whitebark pine forests may be the
 Won’t
disturbances
most resilient
underrender
future climates
treatments ineffective?
 Without assistance, the species will
find it difficult to remain on the
landscape
Rangewide restoration strategy
for whitebark pine
Missing important
information on
restoring whitebark
pine communities
under new climate and
management regimes
A new report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the
face of climate change”
• Funded by GNLCC
• Authors: Keane,
Holsinger, Tomback,
Mahalovich
• Due out next spring
Bitterroot National Forest
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
Companion document to the
Rangewide strategy
Management
recommendations
and climate change
considerations are
given for each of the
guiding principles and
management actions
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
Developed based on a integration of
literature syntheses and simulation
modeling
 Summarized research findings
 Simulated landscapes
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
Literature search and
expert evaluation
 Used existing knowledge and
data to make projections of
whitebark pine under future
climates
FireBGCv2: A research simulation platform for
exploring fire, vegetation, and climate dynamics
Keane, Robert E.; Loehman, Rachel A.; Holsinger, Lisa M. 2011. The
FireBGCv2 – a landscape fire and succession model: a research simulation
platform for exploring fire and vegetation dynamics. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRSGTR-255. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station. 137 p.
FireBGCv2 Simulation Experiment
Simulated levels of four important factors on three
landscapes
 Climate
 Historical
 RCP4.5-warm moist
 RCP8.5-hot, dry
 Fire management
 No suppression
 High suppression (92%)
 Restoration treatments
 None
 Low (10 ha/yr)
 High (100 ha/yr)
 Planting
 None
 Low (10 ha/yr)
 High (100 ha/yr)
Simulation results
EFBR upper subalpine landscape composition
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Historical climates
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PIAL gone if no action
Just a little action helps
Aspen increases
Future climate
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PIAL does better
Need restoration
Makes resilient forests
Simulation results
Whitebark pine basal area in EFBR upper subalpine
Simulation results
Subalpine fir basal area in EFBR upper subalpine
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
Document Structure
Management Action: Plan Activities
Recommendations:
1. Avoid treatments at the lower
elevational ranges in local areas
2. Prioritize mid- and upper elevational
stands in planning processes
3. Ensure fuel treatments minimize
damage to living whitebark pine trees
with increasing fires
4. Augment treatments with planting rustresistant pine to increase regeneration
potential with drier and warmer site
conditions
5. Allow longer times for site mediation
6. Create heterogeneous landscapes
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
Document Purpose
Reference document for
restoration activities
Other sources of interest:
NRAP Climate change
vulnerability assessment
New report…
“Restoring whitebark pine in the face of climate change”
What it doesn’t cover…
A clash of policies
Which endangered species is more important?
 Whitebark pine (Listed but precluded)
 Canadian Lynx
 Grizzly Bear
What FS policy is more important?
 Wilderness (48% whitebark range in wilderness)
 Wildfire Cohesive Strategy
 Ecosystem Restoration initiative
Restoring whitebark pine in the
face of climate change
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Collect putative rust-resistant seed
Grow rust-resistant seedlings
Allow wildfire and WFU to do most of the work
Plant as much as you can
Save the relics and rust-resistant individuals
Patch in the holes with proactive restoration
Measure and then measure again
Here we can make a difference