Riparian Forest Age Structure and Past Hydroclimatic Variability, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
Lukas J, Woodhouse C, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado-Boulder. 2006. Riparian Forest Age Structure and Past Hydroclimatic Variability, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Boulder, CO
A dendrochronological analysis of the riparian cottonwood stands at Sand Creek Massacre NHS was undertaken to (1) identify trees that may have been alive at the time of the massacre (1864); (2) describe the overall age and spatial structure of the stands; and (3) attempt to link these patterns of tree establishment with hydroclimatic variability over the last century and longer. While no trees were definitively dated to 1864, the collective evidence suggests that multiple trees were alive at that time, probably as seedlings or saplings. Overall, the current stands can be grouped into three age classes: c. 1865-1885, c. 1908-1925, and c. 1949-1960, the last of which comprises most of the main gallery forest along Big Sandy Creek. There has been very little establishment of trees since c. 1965. The temporal and spatial patterns of tree establishment are consistent with the prevailing flood-driven model of cottonwood establishment in western North America. The initiation dates of the three age classes coincide with probable flood events on Big Sandy Creek inferred from historical, meteorological, and hydrologic data. The paucity of tree establishment in recent decades is typical of natural fluctuations in similar riparian ecosystems, but land use cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Lukas, Jeff; Woodhouse, Connie; Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado-Boulder
- Date of Issue
- 2006-10
- Units
- SAND
- Keywords
- Cottonwood, Dendrochronology, forest age structure, hydroclimatic variability, Riparian, tree ring