Dr. Sara Germain
University of Wyoming
Date: November 6th, 2026
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Location: Science Building 1111
Increasing Climate Stress in Whitebark Forests: Linking Form, Function, and Forest Futures
The loss of foundation species like whitebark pine is expected to restructure subalpine ecosystems. Measurements of forest demographic processes, species interactions, and their underlying mechanisms can improve understanding of which forests are most vulnerable to lasting change. This seminar focuses on three inter-related studies of whitebark pine growth, survival, and regeneration that together demonstrate how biotic and abiotic factors jointly mediate ecosystem resilience. Using a combination of tree-ring and quantitative wood anatomy methods, we show that climate-related stressors are fundamentally changing in subalpine environments, with the most drought-tolerant individuals emerging as most likely to survive mountain pine beetle attack. Importantly, field assessments of plant-soil feedbacks between these surviving whitebark pine and their mycorrhizal partners highlights that belowground mutualisms are required to promote whitebark pine regeneration, reducing resilience in forests with severe whitebark pine dieback.