Tree death rate in Pacific Northwest doubled in 17 years

Trees are dying twice as fast as they did three decades ago in older forests of the western United States and scientists suspect warming temperatures are a contributing factor.

In the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia, the rate of tree death in older coniferous forests doubled in 17 years. That rate of increase is about 1.5 times faster than California forests, where mortality rates took 25 years to double. California, however, still had the highest tree mortality rates at the end of the study. Mortality has been lowest for forests in the interior states and the rate of change was slower, taking 29 years to double.

Sandra Hines [email protected]

Full Story: http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=46597

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