Browsing by Author "Shanahan, Erin Kathleen"

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Trends in whitebark pine health in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2015) Shanahan, Erin Kathleen; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David Roberts; Kathryn M. Irvine, Dave Roberts, Andrea R. Litt, Kristin Legg and Rob Daley were co-authors of the article, 'Status of whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; a step-trend analysis comparing 2004-2007 to 2008-2011' in the journal 'Natural resource technical report NPS/GRYN/NRTR' which is contained within this thesis.; Dave Roberts, Kathryn M. Irvine and Andrea R. Litt were co-authors of the article, 'White pine blister rust in whitebark pine stands: infection and infection transition probability' submitted to the journal 'Natural areas journal' which is contained within this thesis.; Kathryn M. Irvine, Dave Roberts and Andrea R. Litt were co-authors of the article, 'Objective 4 of the interagency whitebark pine protocol: assessment of regeneration/recruitment protocol' submitted to the journal 'Interagency whitebark pine monitoring protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, version 1.1' which is contained within this thesis.
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) occurs at high elevations and in subalpine communities in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountains. It is a key component in the upper ranges of these ecosystems where it provides a variety of ecological roles, including regulating snowpack and providing high-energy food sources to birds and mammals. As a stone pine species, it produces indehiscent cones and relies primarily on birds for seed dispersal. In mixed and dominant stands, whitebark pine occurs in over two million acres within the six national forests and two national parks that comprise the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Currently, whitebark pine is impacted by multiple ecological disturbances. White pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), wildfires, and warming temperature all pose significant threats to the persistence of healthy whitebark pine populations on the landscape. Substantial declines in whitebark pine populations have been documented throughout its range. In 2004, an interagency whitebark pine long-term monitoring program was established. The objectives of the whitebark pine monitoring program are to detect and monitor changes in the health and status of whitebark pine populations across the GYE due to infection by white pine blister rust, attack by mountain pine beetle, and damage by other environmental and anthropogenic agents. Here we present work done in three areas of whitebark pine ecology; trends in white pine blister rust infection and overall health status, infection and infection transition probability, and methods for monitoring understory (< or = 1.4-m tall) populations of whitebark pine.