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Abstract
The study of changing vegetation patterns within forested communities of the Sierra Nevada has had a long history, initiated by the great naturalist John Muir. More recently, paleoecologists, who study ecosystems of the past, have analyzed fossil plant remains recovered from lake and meadow sediments to understand the regional biogeography and disturbance history of Sierra Nevadan forests. This research on paleo-historical vegetation associations has increasingly attracted the attention of land managers and others for several reasons, including the potential that future climate changes will cause rapid and substantial changes in vegetation composition, fire occurrence, and insect infestation.
Parent Publication
Citation
Anderson, R. Scott. 2004. Response of Sierra Nevada vegetation and fire regimes to past climate changes. In: Murphy, Dennis D. and Stine, Peter A., editors. Proceedings of the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-193. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 47-50
