Sierra Nevada Global Change Program

The topographic and climatic diversity of the Sierra Nevada supports a wide
variety of ecosystems, ranging from dry oak woodland to alpine. Since the
distribution and abundance of plant and animal species are to a large degree
controlled by interactions of available energy and water, changes in
temperature and precipitation can be expected to lead to changes in habitat
distribution and ultimately to changes in the composition, structure, and
function of plant and animal communities. Potential climate-induced changes
include loss of biological diversity, increased frequency or severity of
wildfires, increased mortality of trees, shifts in treeline and other
vegetation boundaries, and increased stress on rare species. The objective of
the Sierra Nevada Global Change Program is to determine what changes are likely
to occur in the structure, compostion, and dynamics of Sierra Nevada forests as
a result of anticipated climatic change. As part of that program, this project
aims to improve understanding to parameterize a forest dynamics model to assess
potential forest response to environmental change.

Supplementary Information:

Some of the information for the abstract, purpose and keywords of this metadata
were taken in part from the Biological Resources Division Science Information
System.