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• 1. [Article] SmithRobertJ2017.pdf

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: SmithRobertJ2017.pdf Author: Smith, Robert J. Title: SmithRobertJ2017.pdf Author: Smith, Robert J. Close

• 2. [Article] SmithRobertJ_DataAndCode.zip

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: SmithRobertJ_DataAndCode.zip Author: Smith, Robert J. Title: SmithRobertJ_DataAndCode.zip Author: Smith, Robert J. Close

• 3. [Article] SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscape.pdf

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscape.pdf Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscape.pdf Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Close

• 4. [Article] SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S1.xlsx

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S1.xlsx Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S1.xlsx Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Close

• 5. [Article] SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S2.pdf

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S2.pdf Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Title: SmithRobertBotanyPlantPathologyRapidMethodLandscapeSupplementaryMaterialTable S2.pdf Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah Close

• 6. [Article] A rapid method for landscape assessment of carbon storage and ecosystem function in moss and lichen ground layers

  To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by American ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: A rapid method for landscape assessment of carbon storage and ecosystem function in moss and lichen ground layers Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by American Bryological and Lichenological Society and can be found at: http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.1639/0007-2745-118.1.032 Title: A rapid method for landscape assessment of carbon storage and ecosystem function in moss and lichen ground layers Author: Amacher, Michael, Smith, Robert J., McCune, Bruce, Benavides, Juan C., Jovan, Sarah To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by American Bryological and Lichenological Society and can be found at: http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.1639/0007-2745-118.1.032 Close

• 7. [Article] Realized and potential climate responses of lichen and bryophyte communities in a national forest inventory

  Climate and terrestrial vegetation have had mutual feedbacks for nearly five hundred million years, yet both are now departing from recent historical norms, with uncertain implications for forest ecosystems. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Realized and potential climate responses of lichen and bryophyte communities in a national forest inventory Author: Smith, Robert J. Climate and terrestrial vegetation have had mutual feedbacks for nearly five hundred million years, yet both are now departing from recent historical norms, with uncertain implications for forest ecosystems. This dissertation outlines the current and potential future climate responses of lichen and bryophyte communities in the United States as part of a national forest inventory. The first task was to identify influences on carbon and nitrogen storage of moss and lichen “ground layers” in subarctic interior Alaska. Nutrient stores were more sensitive to local vegetation and topography than regional macroclimate. Nutrients and biomass were greatest among apparently less disturbed stands. This suggests that climatic changes could diminish ground layer nutrient storage indirectly if they promote intensifying wildfire regimes or expansions of competitive vascular vegetation. Turning to focus on species diversity, the next task was to quantify the strength of relationship between epiphytic lichen community composition and macroclimate across the 4,000 km-long swath of the U.S. Pacific coastal states. The strongest fitting lichen response gradients involved precipitation, temperature, and a heat-moisture index. Lichen indicator species (diagnostic of ten defined climate zones) emerged as useful monitoring tools because their abundance changes could signal shifting climate zone boundaries. After establishing key present-day climatic relationships, the next task was to pinpoint nationwide locations where epiphytic lichen communities will be most vulnerable to species losses under current and future warming scenarios. Novel niche-based metrics revealed greatest vulnerability among supposedly “warm-adapted” communities in southern/lowland locations, contrary to usual assumptions centering on cooler northern/montane habitats. Vulnerability analyses can steer conservation and monitoring attention to specific locations where warming is most expected to affect ecological communities. The final task, to anticipate how warming will impact individual lichen performance, was addressed by quantifying how experimental climate treatments (whole-ecosystem warming and CO2 additions) affected growth of the boreal epiphytic lichen species Evernia mesomorpha. Over just one year, incremental warming and concurrent drying caused progressive growth declines and biomass losses among individual transplants. Such warming-induced biomass losses of epiphytic lichens could precede local population extinctions and regional range contractions. Overall, this dissertation weaves together multiple lines of evidence from nutrient, diversity and growth responses to indicate the ecological effects of climate and climatic changes on vegetation in a national forest inventory context. This work suggests a pathway for integrating lichen and bryophyte responses into nationwide climate monitoring to address emergent interactions between humans, vegetation, and the global climate commons. Title: Realized and potential climate responses of lichen and bryophyte communities in a national forest inventory Author: Smith, Robert J. Climate and terrestrial vegetation have had mutual feedbacks for nearly five hundred million years, yet both are now departing from recent historical norms, with uncertain implications for forest ecosystems. This dissertation outlines the current and potential future climate responses of lichen and bryophyte communities in the United States as part of a national forest inventory. The first task was to identify influences on carbon and nitrogen storage of moss and lichen “ground layers” in subarctic interior Alaska. Nutrient stores were more sensitive to local vegetation and topography than regional macroclimate. Nutrients and biomass were greatest among apparently less disturbed stands. This suggests that climatic changes could diminish ground layer nutrient storage indirectly if they promote intensifying wildfire regimes or expansions of competitive vascular vegetation. Turning to focus on species diversity, the next task was to quantify the strength of relationship between epiphytic lichen community composition and macroclimate across the 4,000 km-long swath of the U.S. Pacific coastal states. The strongest fitting lichen response gradients involved precipitation, temperature, and a heat-moisture index. Lichen indicator species (diagnostic of ten defined climate zones) emerged as useful monitoring tools because their abundance changes could signal shifting climate zone boundaries. After establishing key present-day climatic relationships, the next task was to pinpoint nationwide locations where epiphytic lichen communities will be most vulnerable to species losses under current and future warming scenarios. Novel niche-based metrics revealed greatest vulnerability among supposedly “warm-adapted” communities in southern/lowland locations, contrary to usual assumptions centering on cooler northern/montane habitats. Vulnerability analyses can steer conservation and monitoring attention to specific locations where warming is most expected to affect ecological communities. The final task, to anticipate how warming will impact individual lichen performance, was addressed by quantifying how experimental climate treatments (whole-ecosystem warming and CO2 additions) affected growth of the boreal epiphytic lichen species Evernia mesomorpha. Over just one year, incremental warming and concurrent drying caused progressive growth declines and biomass losses among individual transplants. Such warming-induced biomass losses of epiphytic lichens could precede local population extinctions and regional range contractions. Overall, this dissertation weaves together multiple lines of evidence from nutrient, diversity and growth responses to indicate the ecological effects of climate and climatic changes on vegetation in a national forest inventory context. This work suggests a pathway for integrating lichen and bryophyte responses into nationwide climate monitoring to address emergent interactions between humans, vegetation, and the global climate commons. Close