Host-parasite distributions under changing climate: Tsuga heterophylla and Arceuthobium tsugense in Alaska

Tara M. Barrett; Greg Latta; Paul Hennon; Bianca N.I. Eskelson; Hailemariam Temesgen

Treesearch

Host-parasite distributions under changing climate: Tsuga heterophylla and Arceuthobium tsugense in Alaska

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Tara M. Barrett, Greg Latta, Paul Hennon, Bianca N.I. Eskelson, Hailemariam Temesgen

Year:

2012

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Pacific Northwest Research Station

Source:

Canadian Journal of Forestry Research. 42: 642-656

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Abstract

Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium species) influence many processes within forested ecosystems, but few studies have examined their distribution in relation to climate. An analysis of 1549 forested plots within a 14.5 million ha region of southeast Alaska provided strong indications that climate currently limits hemlock dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium tsugense (Rosendahl) G.N. Jones) to a subset of the range of its primary tree host, western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), with infection varying from a high of 20% of trees at sea level to only 5% by 200 m elevation. Three types of modeling approaches (logistic, most similar neighbor, and random forests) were tested for the ability to simultaneously predict abundance and distribution of host and pathogen as a function of climate variables.

Keywords

climate envelope models, species distribution modeling, climate niche, climate change, dispersal

Citation

Barrett, Tara M.; Latta, Greg; Hennon, Paul E.; Eskelson, Bianca N.I.; Temesgen, Hailemariam. 2012. Host-parasite distributions under changing climate: Tsuga heterophylla and Arceuthobium tsugense in Alaska. Canadian Journal of Forestry Research. 42: 642-656.