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• 1. [Article] Climate Change Effects on Northern Great Lake (USA) Forests: A Case for Preserving Diversity

  Under business as usual (BAU) management, stresses posed by climate change may exceed the ability of Great Lake forests to adapt. Temperature and precipitation projections in the Great Lakes region are ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Climate Change Effects on Northern Great Lake (USA) Forests: A Case for Preserving Diversity Author: Duveneck, Matthew Joshua, Scheller, Robert M., White, Mark A., Handler, Stephen D., Ravenscroft, Catherine Year: 2014 Under business as usual (BAU) management, stresses posed by climate change may exceed the ability of Great Lake forests to adapt. Temperature and precipitation projections in the Great Lakes region are expected to change forest tree species composition and productivity. It is unknown how a change in productivity and/or tree species diversity due to climate change will affect the relationship between diversity and productivity. We assessed how forests in two landscapes (i.e., northern lower Michigan and northeastern Minnesota, USA) would respond to climate change and explored the diversityproductivity relationship under climate change. In addition, we explored how tree species diversity varied across landscapes by soil type, climate, and management. We used a spatially dynamic forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II, to simulate BAU forest management under three climate scenarios (current climate, low emissions, and high emissions) in each landscape. We found a positive relationship between diversity and productivity only under a high emissions future as productivity declined. Within landscapes, climate change simulations resulted in the highest diversity in the coolest climate regions and lowest diversity in the warmest climate region in Minnesota and Michigan, respectively. Simulated productivity declined in both landscapes under the high emissions climate scenario as species such as balsam fir (Abies balsamea) declined in abundance. In the Great Lakes region, a high emissions future may decrease forest productivity creating a more positive relationship between diversity and productivity. Maintaining a diversity of tree species may become increasingly important to maintain the adaptive capacity of forests. Title: Climate Change Effects on Northern Great Lake (USA) Forests: A Case for Preserving Diversity Author: Duveneck, Matthew Joshua, Scheller, Robert M., White, Mark A., Handler, Stephen D., Ravenscroft, Catherine Year: 2014 Under business as usual (BAU) management, stresses posed by climate change may exceed the ability of Great Lake forests to adapt. Temperature and precipitation projections in the Great Lakes region are expected to change forest tree species composition and productivity. It is unknown how a change in productivity and/or tree species diversity due to climate change will affect the relationship between diversity and productivity. We assessed how forests in two landscapes (i.e., northern lower Michigan and northeastern Minnesota, USA) would respond to climate change and explored the diversityproductivity relationship under climate change. In addition, we explored how tree species diversity varied across landscapes by soil type, climate, and management. We used a spatially dynamic forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II, to simulate BAU forest management under three climate scenarios (current climate, low emissions, and high emissions) in each landscape. We found a positive relationship between diversity and productivity only under a high emissions future as productivity declined. Within landscapes, climate change simulations resulted in the highest diversity in the coolest climate regions and lowest diversity in the warmest climate region in Minnesota and Michigan, respectively. Simulated productivity declined in both landscapes under the high emissions climate scenario as species such as balsam fir (Abies balsamea) declined in abundance. In the Great Lakes region, a high emissions future may decrease forest productivity creating a more positive relationship between diversity and productivity. Maintaining a diversity of tree species may become increasingly important to maintain the adaptive capacity of forests. Close

• 2. [Article] Increased Habitat Connectivity Homogenizes Freshwater Communities: Historical and Landscape Perspectives

  Increases in habitat connectivity can have consequences for taxonomic, functional, and genetic diversity of communities. Previously isolated aquatic habitats were connected with canals and pipelines in ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Increased Habitat Connectivity Homogenizes Freshwater Communities: Historical and Landscape Perspectives Author: Strecker, Angela L., Brittain, Jeffrey Thomas Year: 2017 Increases in habitat connectivity can have consequences for taxonomic, functional, and genetic diversity of communities. Previously isolated aquatic habitats were connected with canals and pipelines in the largest water development project in the US history, the Columbia Basin Project (CBP; eastern Washington, USA), which also altered environmental conditions; however, the ecological consequences are largely unknown. Using a historical dataset, we examined long-term patterns in zooplankton communities, water chemistry and clarity, testing the hypothesis that increased connectivity will result in taxonomic homogenization. Further, we tested contemporary drivers of communities using a comprehensive set of environmental and landscape variables. Waterbodies were sampled for zooplankton community composition as well as physical and chemical variables inside and outside the CBP using methods consistent with historical studies. We found significant declines in salinity inside the CBP, whereas changes in water clarity were prevalent across all waterbodies. Increased connectivity via canals homogenized zooplankton communities over time, as well as increasing regional richness. Other long-term changes in zooplankton communities may be related to climate change, invasive species, and land-use changes. Synthesis and applications. Though canals may offer species spatial refugia, homogenization may decrease resilience to environmental stressors. These new hybrid aquatic landscapes, or hydroscapes, should be considered carefully in future water development, including specific plans for monitoring of species and environmental conditions, as well as mitigation of undesirable conditions and/or non-native species. Title: Increased Habitat Connectivity Homogenizes Freshwater Communities: Historical and Landscape Perspectives Author: Strecker, Angela L., Brittain, Jeffrey Thomas Year: 2017 Increases in habitat connectivity can have consequences for taxonomic, functional, and genetic diversity of communities. Previously isolated aquatic habitats were connected with canals and pipelines in the largest water development project in the US history, the Columbia Basin Project (CBP; eastern Washington, USA), which also altered environmental conditions; however, the ecological consequences are largely unknown. Using a historical dataset, we examined long-term patterns in zooplankton communities, water chemistry and clarity, testing the hypothesis that increased connectivity will result in taxonomic homogenization. Further, we tested contemporary drivers of communities using a comprehensive set of environmental and landscape variables. Waterbodies were sampled for zooplankton community composition as well as physical and chemical variables inside and outside the CBP using methods consistent with historical studies. We found significant declines in salinity inside the CBP, whereas changes in water clarity were prevalent across all waterbodies. Increased connectivity via canals homogenized zooplankton communities over time, as well as increasing regional richness. Other long-term changes in zooplankton communities may be related to climate change, invasive species, and land-use changes. Synthesis and applications. Though canals may offer species spatial refugia, homogenization may decrease resilience to environmental stressors. These new hybrid aquatic landscapes, or hydroscapes, should be considered carefully in future water development, including specific plans for monitoring of species and environmental conditions, as well as mitigation of undesirable conditions and/or non-native species. Close

• 3. [Article] Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape

  Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape Author: Cantarello, Elena, Newton, Adrian C., Martin, Phillip A., Evans, Paul M., Gosal, Arjan, Lucash, Melissa S. Year: 2017 Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. Faced with novel disturbances, forests may be able to sustain existing ecosystem services and biodiversity by exhibiting resilience, or alternatively these attributes may undergo either a linear or nonlinear decline. Here we provide a novel quantitative approach for assessing forest resilience that focuses on three components of resilience, namely resistance, recovery, and net change, using a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Under the pulse set scenarios, we explored the resilience of nine ecosystem services and four biodiversity measures following a one-off disturbance applied to an increasing percentage of forest area. Under the pulse + press set scenarios, the six disturbance intensities explored during the pulse set were followed by a continuous disturbance. We detected thresholds in net change under pulse + press scenarios for the majority of the ecosystem services and biodiversity measures, which started to decline sharply when disturbance affected >40% of the landscape. Thresholds in net change were not observed under the pulse scenarios, with the exception of timber volume and ground flora species richness. Thresholds were most pronounced for aboveground biomass, timber volume with respect to the ecosystem services, and ectomycorrhizal fungi and ground flora species richness with respect to the biodiversity measures. Synthesis and applications. The approach presented here illustrates how the multidimensionality of stability research in ecology can be addressed and how forest resilience can be estimated in practice. Managers should adopt specific management actions to support each of the three components of resilience separately, as these may respond differently to disturbance. In addition, management interventions aiming to deliver resilience should incorporate an assessment of both pulse and press disturbances to ensure detection of threshold responses to disturbance, so that appropriate management interventions can be identified. Title: Quantifying Resilience of Multiple Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest Landscape Author: Cantarello, Elena, Newton, Adrian C., Martin, Phillip A., Evans, Paul M., Gosal, Arjan, Lucash, Melissa S. Year: 2017 Resilience is increasingly being considered as a new paradigm of forest management among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. However, metrics of resilience to environmental change are lacking. Faced with novel disturbances, forests may be able to sustain existing ecosystem services and biodiversity by exhibiting resilience, or alternatively these attributes may undergo either a linear or nonlinear decline. Here we provide a novel quantitative approach for assessing forest resilience that focuses on three components of resilience, namely resistance, recovery, and net change, using a spatially explicit model of forest dynamics. Under the pulse set scenarios, we explored the resilience of nine ecosystem services and four biodiversity measures following a one-off disturbance applied to an increasing percentage of forest area. Under the pulse + press set scenarios, the six disturbance intensities explored during the pulse set were followed by a continuous disturbance. We detected thresholds in net change under pulse + press scenarios for the majority of the ecosystem services and biodiversity measures, which started to decline sharply when disturbance affected >40% of the landscape. Thresholds in net change were not observed under the pulse scenarios, with the exception of timber volume and ground flora species richness. Thresholds were most pronounced for aboveground biomass, timber volume with respect to the ecosystem services, and ectomycorrhizal fungi and ground flora species richness with respect to the biodiversity measures. Synthesis and applications. The approach presented here illustrates how the multidimensionality of stability research in ecology can be addressed and how forest resilience can be estimated in practice. Managers should adopt specific management actions to support each of the three components of resilience separately, as these may respond differently to disturbance. In addition, management interventions aiming to deliver resilience should incorporate an assessment of both pulse and press disturbances to ensure detection of threshold responses to disturbance, so that appropriate management interventions can be identified. Close