Large and Fine Scale Resiliency: Alder Disease in Alaska
Lori Trummer, USFSChrista Mulder, UAFBarbara Roy, U of OregonRoger Ruess, UAFGerald Adams, MSUGlen Stanosz, U of WisconsinLori Winton, USDA
Jennifer Rohrs-Richey
Alders (Alnus spp.)
Alnus crispa (uplands)
Alnus tenuifolia (floodplain)
Comments About Alders
“Are alders weeds?”
“Nobody really cares about alders in DNP. There are so many other cool things to study here.”
“I hate alders!”
Forest Service Investigating Dying AldersWed, April 29, 2009
Posted in Alaska News
For the past few years the U-S Forest Service has been investigating the cause of a massive die off of Alders across much of Alaska stretching from Nome down to Skagway.Mike Mason, KDLG - Dillingham
Download Audio (MP3)
Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN)
SoilNitrogenBank
N
Why are alders essential to ecosystem health?
N-fixing bacteria
N2
Dieback and Mortality
Chena River
Canker Fungi: Cytospora canker (Valsa melanodiscus)
Natural Injuries for Pathogen Entry
River Ice Hare Browsing
RubbingSnow Loading
Colonization of Stem
Resilience on the Landscape
Fine scale resilience: Host control, physiology
Resiliency: Large vs. fine scale
Large scale resilience: Location on the landscape (siltbar, stand density, age)
Ecosystem resilience requires both large and fine scales
Physiological Damage to Alder
Local symptom with systemic affects
Pink– healthy tissue
Tan– dead tissue
Canker blocks water and nutrient transport
H2O
CO2
H2O
CO2
Leaf Surface: Strategy for Coping with Stress
OpenClosing
Optimum: conserve water AND maintain positive carbon balance
Can we influence resilience at both of these levels?
Can we reduce vulnerability (stresses)?
Degrading Resilience on the Landscape
Less destructive clearing practices
Reducing Vulnerability to Disease
Human perception of alders works against maintaining resilience
How to bring the social and ecological dynamics into conversation?
Research Support
National Institute for Global Environmental Change
U.S. Forest Service
Alder Physiology
2003 20041930 2005
Photo credit:Lori Trummer
BeginMonitoring
Cytospora canker isolated
Valsa alnichecklists
Timeline
2007
Forest Health Report
Experimental Inoculations
2006
Generating working hypotheses about disease
Quantifying Fine-Scale Resilience
Research Results:
Water Loss
Pho
tosy
nthe
is
(Car
bon
Upt
ake)
Agenda
Canker disease
Fine-scale resilience in alders
Disease on the landscape (Interior)
Alders in Alaska
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