Document Type
Newsletter
Volume
14
Issue
1
Editor
Paul Rogers
Publisher
Western Aspen Alliance
Publication Date
2-2023
First Page
1
Last Page
4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
It's cold out there! Frost: An overlooked aspen disturbance
Joseph D. Birch
If you have ever decried the arrival of a frost in May or June, you are not alone. As it turns out, late-spring frost is also a problem for aspen. Our recent research details the damaging history of defoliating frost on aspen over nearly two centuries. Early in the growing season aspen are undergoing budburst and are particularly vulnerable to frost. When a frost arrives shortly after budburst, the buds and leaves may be so seriously damaged that the aspen is partially or fully defoliated. This disturbance disproportionately impacts aspen while largely sparing frost-tolerant conifers. The immense resource expenditure to re-flush leaves after defoliation may lead to elevated mortality rates. For example, a severe frost in May 1919 caused a temperature drop of 107 °F (41 °C) over four days resulting in widespread defoliation and mortality across Utah.
Recommended Citation
Western Aspen Alliance, "Tremblings, February 2023" (2023). Tremblings. Paper 3.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/tremblings/3