Robert’s Crystal Range Project – Year 2, 2020

[Robert]

Populus tremuloides, Quaking Aspen, has very beautiful white bark. I enjoy immensely the sound of their fluttering leaves as a breeze flows through them. This species is very difficult to grow at lower elevations. To achieve the same effect, I grow our native Fremont Cottonwood, Populus fremontii, in our Sacramento garden. The seeds just blow in from the Sacramento River and germinate in our garden. I maintain a small grove in a container as a giant “bonsai”.



Trisetum projectum is one of my favorite mountain grasses. I encounter it frequently at the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. Stipa occidentalis var. californica is another fairly common Poaceae in our portion of the Sierra Nevada. It is generally found in much drier terrain. Deschampsia ceaspitosa ssp. caespitosa, Hair Grass, and Glyceria elata, Manna Grass, were two other Poaceae I encountered on this trip. Both are moisture-loving species generally found near stream banks.



I was pleased to find some high elevation forms of Viola purpurea. They are not uncommon at the higher elevations, however they have a very strong preference for warmer sites, especially at the higher elevations.



This meadow was extremely drought stressed.



Artemisia douglasiana is a drought tolerant species, however these were very stressed by the dry conditions. Even if senescence sets in early, they are likely to survive for another season.

[Robert]

There are plants that I visit year-after-year. This is part of a large colony of Antennaria rosea that I survey each season. They are very drought stressed, responding as they did during the drought years of 2011 to 2015. I have an increasing amount of data that suggests that many of the mountain ecosystems in our area never recovered fully from the 2011 to 2015 drought. I will have more to report on this in future postings.



The flora changes dramatically as the trail ascends rapidly into the sub-alpine belt.



Juncus parryi is frequently encountered in these sunny, dry, rocky, high elevation habitats. I enjoy the brown late season color of this cespitose species.



With Cryptogramma acrostichoides, senescence sets in as the dry summer season progresses. This deciduous nature is one of the distinguishing characteristics of this species. Cryptogramma cascadensis is also seen in our area, however C. cascadensis is “evergreen” and is always found in mesic habitats.



Arctostaphylos nevadensis is often found creeping and scrambling over rocks.

[Robert]

When conditions become extremely dry Pellaea bridgesii dries and goes dormant for the remaining portion of the growing season.



This specimen of Pellaea bridgesii is not as drought stressed and is still “green”. It is sharing its space with Eriogonum incanum.



To end the postings of this outing, here is a last look at Eriogonum incanum. This species is quite common in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at least in our region.

Until next time…   

[Hoy]

Robert,

It really looks extremely dry! Is there no morning dew either? Do some of the plants rely on dew? I think of those stille a bit green among all the "dead"looking ones.

I am at the summerhouse now and here it is also dry (nothing like over there though). A few small showers have wetted the surface but below 4cm the soil is bone dry. This is in contrast to almost every other region in Norway were it is very wet!

[Maggi Young]

I am well aware , from personal contacts, of the  fires raging  in W California, Washington and  Oregon - where   half  a  million people  have  had  to  be  evacuated - and  at  last  our  UK news  is  mentioning the  fact   - I'd  have  thought  the  scale  of these  fires  was  such that it  might  be  further  up the  news  list ( though goodness  knows, the  criteria for  inclusion seems  odd  enough from around the  world,  most  days). I believe there  are  more than 100 fires  burning  in 12 States. This  must  constitute  an environmental disaster, surely?

[James Cheshire]

though goodness  knows, the  criteria for  inclusion seems  odd  enough from around the  world,  most  days

If it's not celebrity or political gossip, it goes to the bottom of the list. Panem et circenses.

[Robert]

Maggi,

I hope this posting addresses some of your comments.

Trond,

I will answer your questions in another posting. It is kind of a yes and no answer.



I was up on Peavine Ridge the other day. Day-after-day of dense smoke and ash has cast an eerie and unnerving feel to the land. We have been contending with long periods of dense smoke and ash for at least a month now.



The smoke is frequently extremely dense frequently turning day to evening and obscuring the sun.



New fires are breaking out even before existing fires can be contained. The devastation in Talent, Phoenix, and Detroit, Oregon is comparable to what occurred in Paradise, California during the 2018 Camp Fire. Towns near Portland, Oregon have been evacuated, as well as many towns in Northern California.

The extreme and destructive wildfires are just one of many indications of how anthropogenic climate change is impacting our region. The adverse and detrimental changes to our regional hydrological cycle, also initiated by anthropogenic climate change, will likely prove to be much more injurious to society and the environment. In addition, the cumulative effect of all the many small changes brought on by climate change will likely become overwhelming.



As I survey specific sites, I continuously record how various plant species are responding to a variety of stresses.




This Creeping Snowberry, Symphoricarpos mollis, is struggling to deal with the dry conditions and periods of extreme heat. Smoke too impacts many species. This is very apparent in our home garden, however this is also observed in some wild populations.

[Robert]

Another worrisome trend is the spread of invasive, noxious plant species. Skeleton Weed, Chondrilla juncea, is just one of many non-native detrimental species that continues to extend its range throughout our region. Many of these non-native species contribute greatly to increased wildfire danger. For example, non-native annual Poaceae have taken over much of the native bunch grass/native annual wildflower habitat throughout California. These non-native annual Poaceae create an immense fire danger and help fuel rapidly spreading wildfire. This is a huge problem with, currently, no easy solution.



Of course, many California native species are well adapted to dry summertime conditions and periodic cycles of extended drought. Here Lilium washingtonianum ssp. washingtonianum has set a good seed crop despite the dry conditions and periods of extreme heat.



This specimen is quite drought stressed. Despite the adversity it is producing a seed crop and will survive to bloom next season.



Acmispon americanus var. americanus is a native species that is undeterred by drought or extreme heat. This specimen, and its nearby companions, seemed quite vigorous and was blooming well.



Not all drought tolerant native species respond to dry conditions favorably under all circumstances. This example of Arctostaphylos mewukka ssp. mewukka is showing signs of drought stress. This situation is not unusual.

[Robert]

This specimen of Acrtostaphylos mewukka ssp. mewukka is much more stressed. This too is not an unusual situation. I continually monitor a number of specific sites repeatedly every year for unusual changes and patterns.



Arctostaphylos patula exhibits drought stress differently from other Manzanita species in our region.

Well, I have come to the end of this posting. Climate change is impacting our native plants and their habitats in many ways. For the most part, many changes appear to be transient in nature, however there is increasing evidence that this trend is shifting. In addition, there is also evidence that the pace of change is accelerating. Stay tuned.

Until next time…

[cohan]

I had lots of your posts to catch up on...lol-- lots of interesting plants, esp the Arctostaphylos, a very interesting genus to me... we have A uva-ursi, and I have some in the garden too, and the now Arctous species (in the mountains, maybe North, also) which I really like. I'd like to try some of the other species/natural hybrids that make it to at least z4, some day...

The fire situation in western  U.S. has been very sad to hear about, especially if those who say to expect more and more until many areas now forested re-establish as savannah, are right years of smoke and destruction to come... AB has not seen much fire this year, since it has been generally cool and wettish. The last couple of days have been chilly, overcast and hazy, no idea what the haze is composed of or where it is from.

[Robert]

Robert,

It really looks extremely dry! Is there no morning dew either? Do some of the plants rely on dew? I think of those stille a bit green among all the "dead"looking ones.

I am at the summerhouse now and here it is also dry (nothing like over there though). A few small showers have wetted the surface but below 4cm the soil is bone dry. This is in contrast to almost every other region in Norway were it is very wet!

Trond,

I found your question quite intriguing.

Do some of the plant species (xeric meadow species) rely on morning dew for survival? The simple answer is most likely no, however I truthfully do not know for sure. I have no doubt that whatever dew might form on their foliage, that a certain percentage is absorbed directly through their leaves. This cannot be much as during dry conditions the plants in the xeric meadows get extremely stressed. In addition, the atmosphere has less capacity to hold water vapor as altitude increases.

What especially intrigues me is that I am in a position to log the appropriate data and calculate how much potential moisture might collect as dew in xeric meadows, semi-xeric meadows, and mesic meadows. Using a modified form of the Ideal Gas Equation and solving for kg of water vapor per meter^-3 (obviously from the surface to a height of x number of cm above the surface of the ground) one could come up with a good estimate. I am finding that many plant species have very strong habitat/niche preferences and this might shed some light on these preferences. In addition, I see other useful applications for this relatively simple process.

Now that the basics have been established, I am getting a broad overview of the processes taking place at the various sites that I study in detail. The specifics will require much more time and effort to ferret out. However, even at this early stage of development in the project I see clear horticultural applications, especially if one is interested in plant breeding. Given the impacts of climate change in our region, for me this is a top priority – breeding superior, highly adaptable plants that can thrive in a home garden regardless of the changing environmental conditions.

The fire situation in western  U.S. has been very sad to hear about, especially if those who say to expect more and more until many areas now forested re-establish as savannah, are right years of smoke and destruction to come...

Cohan,

The wildfires are tragic, however in California the impacts of climate change on the hydrologic cycles will eventual create much more distress for society and the environment. Cape Town, South Africa was the first major city to (nearly) exhaust their water supply during drought conditions. I will not be surprised at all if cities in California are the next to experience such water shortages – and most likely this situation will be much worse.

[cohan]

Cohan,

The wildfires are tragic, however in California the impacts of climate change on the hydrologic cycles will eventual create much more distress for society and the environment. Cape Town South Africa was the first major city to (nearly) exhaust their water supply during drought conditions. I will not be surprised at all if cities in California are the next to experience such water shortages – and most likely this situation will be much worse.

I often think of an article some years ago in National Geographic, which suggested that the American West had been populated during an aberrantly wet period, which is ending, and the implication was that, barring some serious adjustments to lifestyle and water use/sourcing, it was simply going to become much too dry for the large populations now there...

[Robert]

Cohan,

All the climate scientists I know are, generally, alarmed by the climatic/environmental changes taking place in the American West. Climatic computer models have been forecasting these events for some time now. It is difficult to stay current with all the latest research, however there are indications that the rate of change may be accelerating. Water vapor is extremely abundant and could be a strong feedback, the oceans are absorbing and holding increasing amounts of heat (energy), and the emissivity of the atmosphere continues to increase. We could be in for a wild ride in the next few decades.

[Hoy]

Trond,

I found your question quite intriguing.

Do some of the plant species (xeric meadow species) rely on morning dew for survival? The simple answer is most likely no, however I truthfully do not know for sure. I have no doubt that whatever dew might form on their foliage, that a certain percentage is absorbed directly through their leaves. This cannot be much as during dry conditions the plants in the xeric meadows get extremely stressed. In addition, the atmosphere has less capacity to hold water vapor as altitude increases.

What especially intrigues me is that I am in a position to log the appropriate data and calculate how much potential moisture might collect as dew in xeric meadows, semi-xeric meadows, and mesic meadows. Using a modified form of the Ideal Gas Equation and solving for kg of water vapor per meter^-3 (obviously from the surface to a height of x number of cm above the surface of the ground) one could come up with a good estimate. I am finding that many plant species have very strong habitat/niche preferences and this might shed some light on these preferences. In addition, I see other useful applications for this relatively simple process.

Now that the basics have been established, I am getting a broad overview of the processes taking place at the various sites that I study in detail. The specifics will require much more time and effort to ferret out. However, even at this early stage of development in the project I see clear horticultural applications, especially if one is interested in plant breeding. Given the impacts of climate change in our region, for me this is a top priority – breeding superior, highly adaptable plants that can thrive in a home garden regardless of the changing environmental conditions.

I suppose it is possible to calculate the amount of water kept in the air, but worse to calculate the amount usable for plants! But I have observed especially at my summerhouse where the climate is much drier than at home that the plants can get quite moist during the nights even without rain. Also rocks get very moist, even wet sometimes. This happens after warm days when the night is significantly colder. The greater temperature difference between day and night the wetter plants and rocks. I am sure some plants survive of this dew when it doesn't rain for weeks. Although many plants are helped by the dew some are better to take up the moisture.

I am sure this species Senecio viscosus, rely on dew. It often grows where other plants don't and even small seedlings survive where other dies when it is dry.

[Robert]

Trond,

Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information. I hope that it helps readers (gardeners) understand the extreme contrast between the “dry” climate at your summer home and our xeric climate here in interior California. It is quite evident that, on average, the summertime dew point-relative humidity is much higher at your summer home than even our high elevation xeric meadows. I did a quick check of typical July dew points recorded on the edge of a semi-xeric meadow in the Lyons Creek Basin, elevation 2,000 meters. On average, during the coolest point in the morning the low temperature is still well above the dew point (2 meter temperature, 56 F, 13.3 C; dew point, 41 F, 5 C, 7:30 a.m.). Based on early morning observations this still, more or less, holds true within a few cm of the surface of the ground. When low temperatures do reach the dew point, the dew point is generally below 0 C. I also have hourly incoming short wave solar radiation data for this area. I did some quick math using the latent heat of sublimation in the case of frosty conditions and the latent heat of vaporization in the case of dew. During a typical morning, with frost or dew, in one our xeric meadows there would be little or no liquid water available to the plants. In addition, daytime ET (evapotranspiration) levels are extremely high. I have not calculated the Bowen ratio for this site, but it is most likely over 2.0 in the xeric meadows during the summertime. Of course, our mesic meadows are a whole different story and as one descends toward the Central Valley conditions become increasingly dry.

Cohan,

I have some information concerning our local Arctostaphylos species that I will share a bit later. The short of it is that without snow cover our two local high elevation species may not be cold hardy in your area. Forms of Arctostaphylos patula from Modoc County in eastern California may work. More information later...