Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability
<p>A declining spring snowpack is expected to have widespread effects on montane and subalpine forests in western North America and across the globe. The way that tree water demands respond to this change will have important impacts on forest health and downstream water subsidies. Here, we p...
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Copernicus Publications
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/29/701/2025/hess-29-701-2025.pdf |
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| author | M. Berkelhammer G. F. M. Page G. F. M. Page F. Zurek C. Still C. Still M. S. Carbone M. S. Carbone W. Talavera L. Hildebrand J. Byron K. Inthabandith A. Kucinski M. Carlson K. Foss W. Brown R. W. H. Carroll A. Simonpietri M. Worsham I. Breckheimer I. Breckheimer A. Ryken R. Maxwell R. Maxwell D. Gochis M. S. Raleigh E. Small K. H. Williams K. H. Williams |
| author_facet | M. Berkelhammer G. F. M. Page G. F. M. Page F. Zurek C. Still C. Still M. S. Carbone M. S. Carbone W. Talavera L. Hildebrand J. Byron K. Inthabandith A. Kucinski M. Carlson K. Foss W. Brown R. W. H. Carroll A. Simonpietri M. Worsham I. Breckheimer I. Breckheimer A. Ryken R. Maxwell R. Maxwell D. Gochis M. S. Raleigh E. Small K. H. Williams K. H. Williams |
| author_sort | M. Berkelhammer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>A declining spring snowpack is expected to have widespread effects on montane and subalpine forests in western North America and across the globe. The way that tree water demands respond to this change will have important impacts on forest health and downstream water subsidies. Here, we present data from a network of sap velocity sensors and xylem water isotope measurements from three common tree species (<i>Picea engelmannii</i>, <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> and <i>Populus tremuloides</i>) across a hillslope transect in a subalpine watershed in the Upper Colorado River basin. We use these data to compare tree- and stand-level responses to the historically high spring snowpack but low summer rainfall of 2019 against the low spring snowpack but high summer rainfall amounts of 2021 and 2022. From the sap velocity data, we found that only 40 % of the trees showed an increase in cumulative transpiration in response to the large snowpack year (2019), illustrating the absence of a common response to interannual spring snowpack variability. The trees that increased water use during the year with the large spring snowpack were all found in dense canopy stands – irrespective of species – while trees in open-canopy stands were more reliant on summer rains and, thus, more active during the years with modest snow and higher summer rain amounts. Using the sap velocity data along with supporting measurements of soil moisture and snow depth, we propose three mechanisms that lead to stand density modulating the tree-level response to changing seasonality of precipitation: </p><ol><li>
<p id="d2e396"><span id="page702"/>Topographically mediated convergence zones have consistent access to recharge from snowmelt which supports denser stands with high water demands that are more reliant and sensitive to changing snow.</p></li><li>
<p id="d2e400">Interception of summer rain in dense stands reduces the throughfall of summer rain to surface soils, limiting the sensitivity of the dense stands to changes in summer rain.</p></li><li>
<p id="d2e404">Shading in dense stands allows the snowpack to persist deeper into the growing season, providing high local reliance on snow during the fore-summer (early-summer) drought period.</p></li></ol><p> Combining data generated from natural gradients in stand density, like this experiment, with results from controlled forest-thinning experiments can be used to develop a better understanding of the responses of forested ecosystems to futures with reduced spring snowpack.</p> |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-89f90f3ad30441d8b33b2af2071cd9dd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1027-5606 1607-7938 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-89f90f3ad30441d8b33b2af2071cd9dd2025-02-05T09:55:10ZengCopernicus PublicationsHydrology and Earth System Sciences1027-56061607-79382025-02-012970171810.5194/hess-29-701-2025Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variabilityM. Berkelhammer0G. F. M. Page1G. F. M. Page2F. Zurek3C. Still4C. Still5M. S. Carbone6M. S. Carbone7W. Talavera8L. Hildebrand9J. Byron10K. Inthabandith11A. Kucinski12M. Carlson13K. Foss14W. Brown15R. W. H. Carroll16A. Simonpietri17M. Worsham18I. Breckheimer19I. Breckheimer20A. Ryken21R. Maxwell22R. Maxwell23D. Gochis24M. S. Raleigh25E. Small26K. H. Williams27K. H. Williams28Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USASchool of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, AustraliaForest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USAForest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USARocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USARocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USACenter for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USADepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USARocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USADivision of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USACenter for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USAEnergy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USARocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USAClark Family School of Environment and Sustainability, Western Colorado University, Gunnison, CO 81231, USAHydrologic Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USAHigh Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USADepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USAResearch Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80305, USACollege of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USADepartment of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USARocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USALawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA<p>A declining spring snowpack is expected to have widespread effects on montane and subalpine forests in western North America and across the globe. The way that tree water demands respond to this change will have important impacts on forest health and downstream water subsidies. Here, we present data from a network of sap velocity sensors and xylem water isotope measurements from three common tree species (<i>Picea engelmannii</i>, <i>Abies lasiocarpa</i> and <i>Populus tremuloides</i>) across a hillslope transect in a subalpine watershed in the Upper Colorado River basin. We use these data to compare tree- and stand-level responses to the historically high spring snowpack but low summer rainfall of 2019 against the low spring snowpack but high summer rainfall amounts of 2021 and 2022. From the sap velocity data, we found that only 40 % of the trees showed an increase in cumulative transpiration in response to the large snowpack year (2019), illustrating the absence of a common response to interannual spring snowpack variability. The trees that increased water use during the year with the large spring snowpack were all found in dense canopy stands – irrespective of species – while trees in open-canopy stands were more reliant on summer rains and, thus, more active during the years with modest snow and higher summer rain amounts. Using the sap velocity data along with supporting measurements of soil moisture and snow depth, we propose three mechanisms that lead to stand density modulating the tree-level response to changing seasonality of precipitation: </p><ol><li> <p id="d2e396"><span id="page702"/>Topographically mediated convergence zones have consistent access to recharge from snowmelt which supports denser stands with high water demands that are more reliant and sensitive to changing snow.</p></li><li> <p id="d2e400">Interception of summer rain in dense stands reduces the throughfall of summer rain to surface soils, limiting the sensitivity of the dense stands to changes in summer rain.</p></li><li> <p id="d2e404">Shading in dense stands allows the snowpack to persist deeper into the growing season, providing high local reliance on snow during the fore-summer (early-summer) drought period.</p></li></ol><p> Combining data generated from natural gradients in stand density, like this experiment, with results from controlled forest-thinning experiments can be used to develop a better understanding of the responses of forested ecosystems to futures with reduced spring snowpack.</p>https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/29/701/2025/hess-29-701-2025.pdf |
| spellingShingle | M. Berkelhammer G. F. M. Page G. F. M. Page F. Zurek C. Still C. Still M. S. Carbone M. S. Carbone W. Talavera L. Hildebrand J. Byron K. Inthabandith A. Kucinski M. Carlson K. Foss W. Brown R. W. H. Carroll A. Simonpietri M. Worsham I. Breckheimer I. Breckheimer A. Ryken R. Maxwell R. Maxwell D. Gochis M. S. Raleigh E. Small K. H. Williams K. H. Williams Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |
| title | Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| title_full | Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| title_fullStr | Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| title_short | Canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| title_sort | canopy structure modulates the sensitivity of subalpine forest stands to interannual snowpack and precipitation variability |
| url | https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/29/701/2025/hess-29-701-2025.pdf |
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