Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Understanding community and ecophysiology of plant species on the Colorado Plateau

Auteur : Yokum, Hannah Elizabeth

Université de soutenance : Brigham Young University

Grade : Master of Science (MS) 2017

Résumé
The intensification of aridity due to anthropogenic climate change is likely to have a large impact on the growth and survival of plant species in the southwestern U.S. where species are already vulnerable to high temperatures and limited precipitation. Global climate change impacts plants through a rising temperature effect, CO2 effect, and land management. In order to forecast the impacts of global climate change, it is necessary to know the current conditions and create a baseline for future comparisons and to understand the factors and players that will affect what happens in the future. The objective of Chapter 1 is to create the very first high resolution, accurate, park-wide map that shows the distribution of dominant plants on the Colorado Plateau and serves as a baseline for future comparisons of species distribution. If we are going to forecast what species have already been impacted by global change or will likely be impacted in the future, we need to know their physiology. Chapter 2 surveys the physiology of the twelve most abundant non-tree species on the Colorado Plateau to help us forecast what climate change might do and to understand what has likely already occurred

Présentation (BYU Library