We examined the threat status of the low tree Pittosporum patulum throughout its range in eastern South Island, based on plot-based sampling of habitat, defoliation by mammalian herbivores, demographic and dieback characteristics. Using environmental modelling (Land Environments of New Zealand), we found no explanation for the ‘gap’ in its disjunct distribution from Nelson–Marlborough–north Can...

Beyond the direct influence of climate change on species distribution and phenology, indirect effects may also arise from perturbations in species interactions. Infectious diseases are strong biotic forces that can precipitate population declines and lead to biodiversity loss. It has been shown in forest ecosystems worldwide that at least 10% of trees are vulnerable to extinction and pathogens ...

Forest dieback is a high risk factor for the sustainability of these ecosystems in climate change context. Productivity losses and increased defoliation mortality rates have already been recorded many tree species worldwide. However, process that depends on complex interactions between biotic environmental factors acting at different scales, thus difficult to address predict. Our aim was build ...

UNLABELLED Phytophthora ramorum is an oomycete plant pathogen classified in the kingdom Stramenopila. P. ramorum is the causal agent of sudden oak death on coast live oak and tanoak as well as ramorum blight on woody ornamental and forest understorey plants. It causes stem cankers on trees, and leaf blight or stem dieback on ornamentals and understorey forest species. This pathogen is managed i...

A five-year drought in California led to a significant increase in tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada forests from 2012 to 2016. Landscape level monitoring of forest health and tree dieback is critical for vegetation and disaster management strategies. We examined the capability of multispectral imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in detecting and explaining ...

Many sea level rise adaptation plans emphasize the protection of adjacent uplands to allow for inland salt marsh migration, but little empirical information exists on this process. Using aerial photos from 1930 and 2006 of Delaware Estuary coastal habitats in New Jersey, I documented the rate of coastal forest retreat and the rate of inland salt marsh migration across 101.1 km of undeveloped sa...

Warming temperatures and droughts are driving widespread forest dieback growth decline worldwide. In forests experiencing dieback, declining trees may exhibit altered climate memory of growth, indicative physiological impairment. Thus, we evaluated climate-growth responses in four drought-disturbed dominated either by gymnosperms (Abies alba, Pinus sylvestris) or angiosperms (Fagus sylvatica, Q...

The only fully coupled land-atmosphere global climate model predicts a widespread dieback of Amazonian forest cover through reduced precipitation. Although these predictions are controversial, the structural and compositional resilience of Amazonian forests may also have been overestimated, as current vegetation models fail to consider the potential role of fire in the degradation of forest eco...

In 2001 and 2002, Georgia salt marshes experienced a dieback event that affected more than 800 ha throughout the coastal zone. The dieback event was unprecedented in the state and affected both Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus. A transplant study was conducted from May to October 2003 to determine if healthy plants could survive in dieback areas. Transplants were carried out at two ...