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A case study of forest decline in Western Canada and the adjacent United States

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Abstract

A comparison of declining forests in Alaska, British columbia, and the Pacific Northwest United States to forest declines in eastern North America indicated that strong similarities existed and justified the use of the western forest region as an ‘acid rain’ control. The current level of wet acidic deposition over the western region was one-quarter that of eastern Canada and the United States. The onset of crown dieback on Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (1900) and Pinus monticola (1936) did not relate to the incidence of regional air pollution but to extreme climatic variation. The injury mechanism differentiating persistent decline on Pinus monticola from sporadic but transient dieback, which was observed on a larger number of conifer and deciduous tree species, was believed to be cavitation. This dysfunction of the xylem was induced by anomalous winter thaw-freeze conditions in 1936 followed by high summer temperatures and evapotranspiration stress in that and subsequent years. Similar extreme climatic conditions were present at the onset of forest declines in eastern North America and central Europe which suggests that the climate-cavitation-forest decline mechanism may be universal.

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Author notes

  1. Allan N. D. Auclair

    Present address: Science and Policy Associates, Inc., Suite 400, West Tower, 1333 H Street NW, 20005, Washington, DC, USA

  2. Hans C. Martin & Sherry L. Walker

    Present address: Atmospheric Environment Service, Environment Canada, 4905 Dufferin Street, M3H 5T4, Downsview, Ontario, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quebec Region and Atmospheric Environment Service, Environment, Forestry Canada, Canada

    Allan N. D. Auclair, Hans C. Martin & Sherry L. Walker

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Auclair, A.N.D., Martin, H.C. & Walker, S.L. A case study of forest decline in Western Canada and the adjacent United States. Water Air Soil Pollut 53, 13–31 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00154989

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00154989

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