NSF Org:	DEB Division Of Environmental Biology
Recipient:	CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON
Initial Amendment Date:	August 6, 2012
Latest Amendment Date:	August 6, 2012
Award Number:	1249256
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Henry L. Gholz DEB  Division Of Environmental Biology BIO  Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:	August 1, 2012
End Date:	July 31, 2015 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$99,998.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$99,998.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2012 = $99,998.00
History of Investigator:	Christopher Field (Principal Investigator) cfield@dge.stanford.edu William Anderegg (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Carnegie Institution of Washington 5241 BROAD BRANCH RD NW WASHINGTON DC  US  20015-1305 (202)387-6400
Sponsor Congressional District:	00
Primary Place of Performance:	Carnegie Institution of Washington 260 Panama Street Stanford CA  US  94305-4101
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	16
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	ZQ12LY4L5H39
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	ECOSYSTEM STUDIES, MacroSysBIO & NEON-Enabled Sci
Primary Program Source:	01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	1181, 7914, 7959, 9169, EGCH
Program Element Code(s):	118100, 795900
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.074

ABSTRACT

This exploratory project examines how drought affects tree death across the continental United States. Research on drought and tree mortality is typically carried out at particular locations and on few species, in part because major droughts at the regional scale are relatively rare, hard to anticipate and hard to study. In contrast, this project uses a uniquely collaborative approach, referred to as open-source ecology, in order to develop a broader perspective of tree vulnerability to water stress based on the on-going major western regional drought of 2012. The project will document the physiological status, growth and annual mortality of trees across a number of different locations and species, leveraging data from national monitoring programs, such as the Forest Inventory and Analysis and NEON, and involving many institutions, investigators and students, to demonstrate how a coordinated continental measurement program could be fully implemented in the future.

Drought-induced tree mortality is an important but poorly understood process that leads to major uncertainties regarding the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, ecological communities, and the terrestrial carbon cycle. For example, current models of the carbon cycle either assume long-term background rates of mortality, or that mortality can be modeled in response to disturbances like fire, not in response to particular stressors that are well known to be important. In fact, no predictive model of drought-driven tree death across species or ecosystems currently exists. To carry out this pilot, more than 45 scientists have committed to work with many undergraduate and graduate students on field and lab measurements. A kick-off meeting at the 2012 Ecological Society of America Meeting will galvanize these commitments and enable recruitment of a more diverse national student group through the ESA program, Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability. The project will also lay the foundation for national and potentially international coordination across disciplines beyond ecology, including atmospheric modeling, physiology, hydrology, remote sensing, and biogeochemistry. Finally, broad support from multiple communities assembled by the project creates a unique intellectual forum for a shared, collaborative, and open approach to developing the understanding and tools necessary to predict and manage drought impacts on forest ecosystems.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The severe 2012 drought affected large swaths of the continental US and had manifold impacts on agriculture and ecosystems. Forests across the western US where the drought was most severe experienced high levels of stress and this triggered tree mortality in many locations. The goal of this project was to monitor forests across the US and examine what components of a tree’s physiology can predict which species and which forests are most at risk of dying during severe drought. This was a distributed project – around 30 research groups from across the US participated and monitored forests in their region. We saw substantial tree mortality, especially in Rocky Mountain forests, in response to the 2012 drought. We have also found that some elements of how trees conduct water – their water transport system – can predict which species are more at risk during drought. Scientists currently understand relatively little about how trees die during drought and this project has made a major contribution towards understanding which regions and trees are most vulnerable. The project produced a simple, repeatable, and clear protocol to assess the health of a forest location. The project also provided valuable training, mentorship, and education to numerous undergraduate and graduate students who collected data, participated in project meetings, and were exposed to field ecology research.

Last Modified: 10/22/2015
Modified by: William Anderegg

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