Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T17:25:05.153Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Late Holocene forest dynamics, volcanism, and climate change at Whitewing Mountain and San Joaquin Ridge, Mono County, Sierra Nevada, CA, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Constance I. Millar*
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Sierra Nevada Research Center, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
John C. King
Affiliation:
Lone Pine Research, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA
Robert D. Westfall
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Sierra Nevada Research Center, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
Harry A. Alden
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, Center for Materials Research and Education, Suitland, MD 20746, USA
Diane L. Delany
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Sierra Nevada Research Center, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
*
Corresponding author. USDA Forest Service, Sierra Nevada Research Center, Pacific Southwest Research Station, P.O. Box 245 Berkeley, CA 94701, USA (street address: West Annex Bldg., 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710). Fax: +1 510 559 6499. E-mail address:[email protected] (C.I. Millar).

Abstract

Deadwood tree stems scattered above treeline on tephra-covered slopes of Whitewing Mtn (3051 m) and San Joaquin Ridge (3122 m) show evidence of being killed in an eruption from adjacent Glass Creek Vent, Inyo Craters. Using tree-ring methods, we dated deadwood to AD 815–1350 and infer from death dates that the eruption occurred in late summer AD 1350. Based on wood anatomy, we identified deadwood species as Pinus albicaulis, P. monticola, P. lambertiana, P. contorta, P. jeffreyi, and Tsuga mertensiana. Only P. albicaulis grows at these elevations currently; P. lambertiana is not locally native. Using contemporary distributions of the species, we modeled paleoclimate during the time of sympatry to be significantly warmer (+3.2°C annual minimum temperature) and slightly drier (−24 mm annual precipitation) than present, resembling values projected for California in the next 70–100 yr.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R.S. Holocene forest development and paleoclimates within the central Sierra Nevada, California. Journal of Ecology 78, (1990). 470489.Google Scholar
Arundel, S.T. Using spatial models to establish climatic limiters of plant species' distributions. Ecological Modeling 182, (2005). 159181.Google Scholar
Bailey, R.A., Dalrymple, G.B., and Lanphere, M.A. Volcanism, structure, and geochronology of Long Valley Calder, Mono County, California. Journal of Geophysical Research 81, (1976). 725744.Google Scholar
Benson, L., Kashgarian, M., Rye, R., Lund, S., Paillet, F., Smoot, J., Kester, C., Mensing, S., Meko, D., and Lindstrom, S. Holocene multidecadal and multicentennial droughts affecting northern California and Nevada. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 659682.Google Scholar
Clark, D.H., and Gillespie, A.R. Timing and significance of late-glacial and Holocene cirque glaciation in the Sierra Nevada, California. Quaternary Research 19, (1997). 117129.Google Scholar
Cook, E.R., and Holmes, R.L. Program CRONOL. Grissino-Mayer, H.D., Holmes, R.L., and Fritts, H.C. International Tree-Ring Data Bank Program Library, User's Manual. (1992). Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson (AZ).Google Scholar
Cook, E.R., and Kairukstis, L.A. Methods of Dendrochronology. (1990). Kluwer, Dordrecht, Netherlands. 394 pp. Google Scholar
Critchfield, W.B., and Little, E.L. Geographic distribution of pines of the world. USDA Forest Service. Miscellaneous Publication vol. 991, (1966). 97 pp. Google Scholar
Daly, C., Neilson, R.P., and Phillips, D.L. A statistical-topographic model for mapping climatological precipitation over mountainous terrain. Journal of Applied Meteorology 33, (1994). 140158. (http://www.orst.edu/prism/)Google Scholar
Davis, F.W., Stoms, D.M., Hollander, A.D., Thomas, K.A., Stine, P.A., Odion, D., Borchert, M.I., Thorne, J.H., Gray, M.V., Walker, R.E., Warner, K., and Graae, J. The California Gap Analysis Project-Final Report. (1998). University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. http://www.biogeog.ucsb.edu/projects/gap/gap_rep.html Google Scholar
Dettinger, M.D., Cayan, D.R., Meyer, M.K., and Jeton, A.E. Simulated hydrologic responses to climate variation and change in the Merced, Carson, and American River basins, Sierra Nevada, California, 1900–2099. Climatic Change 62, (2004). 283317.Google Scholar
Esper, J., Cook, E.R., and Schweingruber, F.H. Low-frequency signals in long tree-ring chronologies for reconstructing past temperature variability. Science 295, (2002). 22502253.Google Scholar
ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute), (2002). ArcINFO: Release 8.3. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California.Google Scholar
Fritts, H.C. Tree Rings and Climate. (1976). Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Graumlich, L.G. A 1000-yr record of temperature and precipitation in the Sierra Nevada. Quaternary Research 39, (1993). 249255.Google Scholar
Graumlich, L.J., and Lloyd, A.H. Dendroclimatic, ecological, and geomorphological evidence for long-term climatic change in the Sierra Nevada, USA. Radiocarbon (1996). 5159.Google Scholar
Griffin, J.R., and Critchfield, W.B. The distribution of forest trees in California. USDA Forest Service. Pacific Southwest Research Station Research Paper vol. PSW-82, (1976). 114 pp. Google Scholar
Hamann, A., and Wang, T.L. Models of climatic normals for genecology and climate change studies in British Columbia. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology 128, (2005). 211221.Google Scholar
Hayhoe, K., Cayan, D., and Field, C.B. Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 101, (2004). 1242212427.Google Scholar
Holmes, R.L., Adams, R.K., Fritts, H.C., (1986). Tree-ring chronologies of western North America: California, Eastern Oregon, and Northern Great Basin with procedures used in the chronology development work including user's manuals for computer programs COFECHA and ARSTAN. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Chronology Series VI.Google Scholar
IAWA List of microscopic features for softwood identification. International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal 25, (2004). 170.Google Scholar
ITRDB (International Tree-Ring Data Bank), 2005a. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Chronology numbers Ca505 (C.W. Ferguson and M.C. Parker); Ca 567, Ca579, Ca 580, Ca606, Ca633, (J.C. King).Google Scholar
ITRDB (International Tree-Ring Data Bank), (2005b). IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Chronology numbers Ca533 (D.A. Graybill and V.C. LaMarche); NV519, Ca605, Ca606, Ca633 (J.C. King).Google Scholar
ITRDB (International Tree-Ring Data Bank), (2005c). IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Chronology numbers Ca561, Ca562, Ca563, Ca564, Ca566, Ca 567, Ca 568, Ca 569, Ca 570, Ca 571, Ca 572, Ca 573, Ca 574, Ca 575, Ca 576, Ca 578, Ca 579, Ca 580, Ca 581, Ca 582, Ca583, Ca 584, Ca 585, Ca 586, Ca 587, Ca 588, Ca 589, Ca 590, Ca 591, Ca 592, Ca 593, Ca 595, Ca 596, Ca 597, Ca 602, Ca 603, Ca 604, Ca 605, Ca 606, Ca 607 (J.C. King).Google Scholar
ITRDB (International Tree-Ring Data Bank), (2005d). IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Chronology numbers Ca 528, Ca530, Ca535 (D.A. Graybill); Ca 533, (D.A. Graybill and V.C. LaMarche); Nv 519, Ca 605, Ca606, Ca633 (J.C. King); Ca630, Ca631 (D. Meko et al.).Google Scholar
Jackson, S.T., and Overpeck, J.T. Responses of plant populations and communities to environmental changes of the late Quaternary. Paleobiology 25, (2000). 194220.Google Scholar
Kellogg, R.M., Rowe, S., Koeppen, R.C., and Miller, R.B. Identification of the wood of the soft pines of western North America. International Association of Wood Anatomists Bulletin 3, (1982). 95101.Google Scholar
Kinloch, B.B., Scheuner, W.H., (1990). Sugar pine. In, Burns, Russell, M., Barbara, H. Honkala, (eds.), Silvics of North America: 1. Conifers; 2. Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC., vol.2, .Google Scholar
Kleppe, J.A. A study of ancient trees rooted 36.5 m (120′) below the surface level of Fallen Leaf Lake. Journal of Nevada Water Resources Association (2005). 113.Google Scholar
Konrad, S., and Clark, D.H. Evidence for an early Neoglacial advance from rock glaciers and lake sediments in the Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A.. Arctic and Alpine Research 30, (1998). 272284.Google Scholar
Kukachka, B.F. Identification of coniferous woods. Tappi 43, (1960). 887896.Google Scholar
Li, H.C., Bischoff, J.L., Ku, T.L., Lund, S.P., and Stott, L.D. Climate variability in East- Central California during the past 1000 years reflected by high-resolution geochemical and isotopic records from Owens Lake sediments. Quaternary Research 54, (2000). 189197.Google Scholar
Lloyd, A.H., and Graumlich, L.J. Holocene dynamics of the tree line forests in the Sierra Nevada. Ecology 78, (1997). 11991210.Google Scholar
Mann, M.E., Bradley, R.S., and Hughes, M.K. Northern hemisphere temperatures during the past millennium: inferences, uncertainties, and limitations. Geophysical Research Letters 26, (1999). 759762.Google Scholar
Meko, D.M., Therrell, M.D., Baisan, C.H., and Hughes, M.K. Sacramento River flow reconstructed to AD 869 from tree rings. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37, (2001). 10291040.Google Scholar
Millar, C.I., Westfall, R.D., Delany, D.L., King, J.C., and Graumlich, L.C. Response of subalpine conifers in the Sierra Nevada, California, U.S.A., to 20th-century warming and decadal climate variability. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 36, (2004). 181200.Google Scholar
Miller, C.D., (1984). Chronology and stratigraphy of recent eruptions at the Inyo volcanic chain. Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip Guide, October 12–14, 1983, 8996.Google Scholar
Miller, C.D. Holocene eruptions at the Inyo volcanic chain, California—Implications for possible eruptions in the Long Valley Caldera. Geology 13, 1 (1985). 1417.Google Scholar
Miller, R.B., and Wiedenhoeft, A.C. Microscopic wood identification of Pinus contorta Engelm. and Pinus ponderosa Dougl. Ex Laws. IUFRO Congress in Rotorua, New Zealand. Abstract. Journal 24, (2003). 99 Google Scholar
SAS Institute Inc., (2004). SAS OnlineDoc® 9.1.2. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc. JMP Statistics and Graphics Guide, version 5. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Scuderi, L. A 2,000-year record of annual temperatures in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Science 259, (1993). 14331436.Google Scholar
Sieh, K., and Bursik, M. Most recent eruption of the Mono Craters, Eastern Central California. Journal of Geophysical Research 91, B12 (1986). 12,53912,571.Google Scholar
Sorey, M.L., Evans, W.C., Kennedy, B.M., Farrar, C.D., Hainsworth, L.J., and Hausback, B. Carbon dioxide and helium emissions from a reservoir of magmatic gas beneath Mammoth Mountain, California. Journal of Geophysical Research 103, (1998). 1530315323.Google Scholar
Stine, S. Late Holocene fluctuations of Mono Lake, Eastern California. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 78, (1990). 333382.Google Scholar
Stine, S. Extreme and persistent drought in California and Patagonia during Medieval time. Nature 369, (1994). 546549.Google Scholar
Stine, S., Wood, S., Sieh, K., and Miller, C.D. Holocene paleoclimatology and tephrochronology east and west of the central Sierran crest. Fieldtrip Guidebook for Friends of the Pleistocene Pacific Cell. (Oct 12–14, 1984). Google Scholar
Stokes, M.A., and Smiley, T.L. An Introduction to Tree-Ring Dating. (1968). University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 73 pp. Google Scholar
Wiedenhoeft, A.C., Miller, R.B., and Theim, T.J. Analysis of three microscopic characters for separating the wood of Pinus contorta Engelm. and Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws. Journal 24, (2003). 257267.Google Scholar
Wiedenhoeft, A.C., Miller, R.B., Knight, M., and Berry, P.E. Crystals in the resin canal complexes of Pinus as a character for pine systematics and wood identification [Abstract]. International Association of Wood Anatomists Journal 24, (2003). 333334.Google Scholar
Wolfram Research, Inc., (2004). Mathematica. A system for doing mathematics by computer. Vs. 5.1. Champaign, IL.Google Scholar
Wood, S.H. Distribution, correlation, and radiocarbon dating of late Holocene tephra, Mono and Inyo craters, eastern California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 88, (1977). 8995.Google Scholar
Woolfenden, W.B. Quaternary vegetation history. Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final Report to Congress vol. II, (1996). University of California, Center for Water and Wildland Research, 4770.Google Scholar
WRCC (Western Regional Climate Center), (2005). Instrumental weather databases for western climate stations. data archived at: http://wrcc.dri.edu.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, D.K. More on estimating the statistical significance of cross-dating positions for “floating” tree-ring series. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 24, (1994). 427429.Google Scholar
Yamaguchi, D.K., and Allen, G.A. A new computer program for estimating the statistical significance of cross-dating positions for “floating” tree-ring series. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 22, (1992). 12151221.Google Scholar
Yuan, F., Linsley, B.K., Lund, S.P., and McGeehin, J.P. A 1200-year record of hydrologic variability in the Sierra Nevada from sediments in Walker Lake, Nevada. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 5, (2004). 113.Google Scholar