Divergent growth rates of alpine larch trees (Larix lyallii Parl.) in response to microenvironmental variability

ABSTRACT

In this study we explore radial growth rates and climatic responses of alpine larch trees (Larix lyallii Parl.) growing in high elevations of the northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, USA. We examine responses between two stands of alpine larch that are separated by less than one kilometer and are growing at similar elevations, but with different aspects. Radial growth rates from trees sampled on the southern aspect of Trapper Peak (TPS) were largely controlled by January snow-water equivalent, while summer maximum temperature was the principal radial-growth driver for trees sampled on the northern aspect of Trapper Peak (TPN). Following the coldest summer (1993) in the century-long instrumental climate record, the radial growth at TPN became greater than at TPS and was the reverse of what occurred pre-1993. We posit that an upward trend in maximum summer temperature is preferentially benefitting the trees growing on the north-facing TPN site by extending the growing season and causing earlier snowmelt, and this has caused the growth rate divergence during the past two decades. As such, our study illustrates that the growth-divergence phenomenon noted in other high-elevation species, whereby macroenvironmental changes are eliciting responses at the microenvironmental level, occurs within stands of alpine larch growing in western Montana.

KEYWORDS:

• Alpine larch
• aspect
• divergence problem
• growth divergence
• Montana

Acknowledgments

Logistical support was supplied by the USDA Forest Service. We thank Justin Maxwell for assistance with fieldwork and study design.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by internal grants from Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina–Greensboro and by an Appalachian State University Undergraduate Research Assistantship.