{"id":17556,"date":"2011-12-14T16:37:31","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T00:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=17556"},"modified":"2018-02-01T23:56:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T23:56:49","slug":"csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/","title":{"rendered":"CSI Colorado: Sudden Aspen Decline Post-Mortem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Droughts kill trees — but until now scientists didn’t know the root of the problem<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Aspens live at high elevations in the Western United States, including in California’s White Mountains and Sierra Nevada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout the West, aspens are quaking for good reason.<\/p>\n

About 17% of the aspen in the Colorado Rockies have died in the last decade. That’s about one in every six trees. The widespread die-off, called sudden aspen decline, began after a severe drought and heat wave. So people studying the trees knew that’s what triggered the deaths, but they didn’t know what exactly killed the trees.<\/p>\n

William Anderegg, a grad student at Stanford, with help from a team of scientists there and at the University of Utah, has zeroed in on the culprit, and describes the work in a paper published this week<\/a>. There were two working theories: failures in photosynthesis, which would mean less food for the tree; or damage to the roots, which would mean less water. Anderegg found it was the roots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Our study provides a snapshot of what future droughts could hold for the emblematic tree of the American West,” Anderegg said in a press release. “Our results indicate an impaired ability to transport water due to drought damage plays an important role in the recent die-off of aspens,” .<\/p>\n

With this research, scientists will be able to better understand and predict how forests will respond to rising temperatures and drier conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Droughts kill trees. 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But until now scientists didn't know exactly what made the trees die.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-15T00:37:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-01T23:56:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2011\/12\/CW20111214aspens.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly Samuel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly Samuel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/\",\"name\":\"CSI Colorado: Sudden Aspen Decline Post-Mortem | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-15T00:37:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-01T23:56:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/75519ba3e4f9a37e4c2cb8b5a06cb1b2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2011\/12\/14\/csi-colorado-sudden-aspen-decline-post-mortem\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CSI Colorado: Sudden Aspen Decline Post-Mortem\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/75519ba3e4f9a37e4c2cb8b5a06cb1b2\",\"name\":\"Molly Samuel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/643ef9e6608b35e89a5fe132a953bfe7\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6abd3b949a89fe5109fa9917631d0b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a6abd3b949a89fe5109fa9917631d0b6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Molly Samuel\"},\"description\":\"Molly Samuel joined KQED as an intern in 2007, and since then has worked here as a reporter, producer, director and blogger. 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