Fall colors fade in U.S. West as aspen trees die

[Barrett808]

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The American West is losing its autumn colors as global warming begins to bite and there is far more at stake than iconic scenery.

Aspen, the white-barked trees with golden leaves that gave their name to the famed Colorado ski resort, have been dying off across the Rocky Mountain states. The die-off is puzzling but some foresters point to climate change.

This disaster coincides with beetle outbreaks that have laid waste to millions of acres of pine and spruce forest in the American and Canadian west. They too have been linked to warmer winters since extremely cold temperatures are needed to kill the insects.

Recent droughts and other factors linked to global warming are seen as likely causes for "sudden aspen decline," or SAD, so named because it can strike a forest so quickly. ...

http://desdemonadespair.blogspot.com/2009/09/fall-color...

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. When we lived in Santa Fe,

I used to drive up to the ski basin in October, on a sunny day, and just lie on the ground, listening to the rustling of the golden aspens there. It's very densely treed, and very beautiful.

Not a sound in the world save for the whispering aspen leaves.

I am so lucky to have that beautiful memory........................

[Fotoware58]

17. I love the sound of...

Quaking Aspen (aka Populus tremuloides), so named for the movement of their leaves caused by a flat petiole.

I am sure that the Indians also enjoyed the sounds inside the aspen groves they tended so very well.

[Fotoware58]

2. Sadly...

no mention at all of the encroachment of conifers into aspen habitat, drying up the groundwater so desperately needed for the clones to thrive. Projects in the past have sought to establish buffer zones around aspen groves. However, these projects meant to encourage aspen growth and enhance their water supplies were met with opposition to cutting the water-stealing conifers, who are MUCH more drought-resistant than the aspen groves.

I got the chance to do aspen surveys last year in central Idaho and assess both the current health of clones and the possible treatments and protections needed to restore these clumps. EVERYTHING will chew on aspen and I did see plenty of grazing and browsing encroachment. They ARE resilient trees but, they DO have their limits. I also consider aspens to be essential components of our western forests and they are indeed at risk to global warming. A suite of measures will be needed in some groves, while others will be able to fend for themselves. Luckily, I didn't see a lot of group mortality but, I do believe that there is substantial danger.

The article also speaks of bark beetles but, again, makes no mention of how there are just too many conifers in our forests for the amount of annual rainfall. More trees in a forest isn't always a better thing, and too many conifers stress entire stands and the result is the 7 MILLION acres of completely dead trees in the West.

Once again, ACTIVE MANAGEMENT, using sound, sustainable science is what is necessary. Otherwise, we will continue to see this immense forest disaster to roll on over our western forests.

img src=

[Fotoware58]

3. Or....

people can just let them die, "hugging" them to death!

[joshcryer]

5. I wasn't aware of this conifer encroachment upon aspens. Have a preferred link that discusses this?

I found this: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/29475

Reading now.

[Fotoware58]

8. My observations...

form my own opinions. To me, it makes sense that encroaching conifers steal essential groundwater away from the aspen clones. The best way to enhance aspens is to increase the groundwater. The second best way is to fence off the stands and let the sprouting clones grow above browsing animals.

It is an easy fix but, are eco's willing to make the sacrifices needed?

[phantom power]

9. I don't think any amount of active forestry will save them from climate change.

I don't see anything particular wrong with active forestry measures. But preservation measures of almost any kind are a Maginot Line against climate change.

[Fotoware58]

13. Sooo

You're saying that doing nothing will save the aspens?? If so, you are so very wrong.

And, remember, that the Germans went right around the Maginot Line!......Ahhhhhh, the IRONY!!

[phantom power]

14. Well, no. I'm not saying "doing nothing" will save the aspens...

What I'm saying is that although I have absolutely nothing against your prescriptions for active forest management, I think all such activities will be insufficient in the long run.

And yes, the Germans went right around the Maginot line. That was exactly my point. Climate change is already going right around our attempts "on the ground" to preserve endangered plants and animals. We create wildlife preserves, and climate change continues to kill the wildlife. We create coral-reef preserves in the ocean, and warming oceans and pH decreases continue to kill them. There are some things that cannot be fenced out. Expect this trend to get worse and pick up speed.

What might save the old biosphere is a complete halt to human GHG emissions in the near term. I don't actually think that will happen. Even if it did happen, it might not work either now that we've kickstarted positive feedback mechanisms.

[Fotoware58]

15. OK

I misread your clever metaphor, bud. However, shouldn't we at least TRY to save them, as it is very clear to me that if we could magically-fix climate change, we'd still be stuck with dying aspen. You can't make a rainforest out of an arid pine/aspen forest. However, we CAN increase groundwater and restore aspen forests, in many cases.

Why not TRY?!?!

[phantom power]

16. I agree we ought to try.

If nothing else, it might buy a few decades of valuable time.

[joshcryer]

4. Last winter was the warmest I ever experienced here in Colorado.

There has been a lot of rainfall this year (most moist year since 2000), and it's been a relatively mild summer, but I dunno how that will bode well for our coming winter. Could go either way if you know Colorado weather. I could deal with an extra cold winter if it could abate the beetle outbreak.

[corkhead]

6. There's a Scooter Libby joke here somewhere

but this isn't funny.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. The aspen trees are dying. They are tied together by their roots.

It's like an ear worm.

[BrightKnight]

10. photos from my backpacking trip in the dead tree forest (RMNP)

I took these last year while backpacking in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I hiked through miles and miles of dead trees. Even the saplings were dead. There were a few dense ancient growth areas remaining but I doubt that the next generation will see them.

[joshcryer]

11. Did you at least lunch on some beetles?

Just to sorta get back at 'em, haha.

Terrible though. My hiking grounds (Old Coach Road, Rampart Range Road, Helen Hunt Falls, the whole Pikes Peak National Forest, etc) are fortunately untouched by these changes. For now.

[Fotoware58]

12. Sadly...

this is also happening to our National Forests, while efforts to preserve the brown forests persist. Seven MILLION acres of THIS! Meanwhile, the Obama Administration "fiddles".

[bhikkhu]

18. Historically, forests and grasslands have alternated

Over much of North America - when its colder and the ice and tundra head south, eliminating trees as it goes, while forests also head south, taking over grassland. When its warmer, as now, the opposite happens. Possibly beetles and fire have always played a role in the transition.

Not that I'm in any way happy about what is essentially a human-caused change, but at least the process is essentially natural, and it is the change from one viable condition to another.