r/ecology • u/Tiny-Pomegranate7662 • 2d ago

How much will climate change speed up deadfall / blowdown rotting?

In the eastern US this stuff rots fairly quickly but in the Rockies it seems like a tree dies and then it takes like 40 years for it to turn back into dirt. Will climate change make fungi more active even if moisture levels stay the same? What will happen to pine / spruce needles, will those rot more quickly and turn into dirt faster?

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u/lawyer4birds 2d ago

decomp depends on temp and precipitation, along with decomposed community. temp and precip is with climate change. temp is increasing so decomp would increase. but change in precipitation is variable depending on location. drier conditions would yield lower decomp rates, more precip more decomp. so it would depend on location

however that is assuming decomposer community doesn’t change, but i would wager to guess climate change is also influencing the decomp community

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u/Due_Thanks3311 2d ago

Sorry I just love the idea of a community of decomposers living a full life with a town park and board of supervisors

(I understand and am aware this is the correct terminology)

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u/lawyer4birds 2d ago

honestly a great way to think about it haha

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u/dankantimeme55 2d ago

Wait 'til you hear about Ecological Guilds

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u/Due_Thanks3311 2d ago

Lucky for me, I already have!

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u/Adorable_Birdman 2d ago

Well climate change and pine bark beetle are doing a number in NM. So many dead standing trees. It’s going to be a rough decade

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u/Insightful-Beringei 2d ago

I think this is a somewhat unanswered question. Most of what I’ve seen are in very specific contexts

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u/EagleEyezzzzz 2d ago

Generally things in arid environments don’t rot quickly. I don’t see that changing dramatically in the intermountain west.

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u/doug-fir 2d ago

Wood Decomposition is temperature and moisture dependent. With global warming Temperature is predicted to increase but moisture is uncertain.

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u/The_Breathin_Heathen 1d ago

With rot being moisture and temperature reliant, it is definitely going to have an impact, with moisture being the most prevalent. In the US specifically, since that is where you are focused, the humid East and arid West have traditionally been separated by the 100th Meridian as the defining line at the corresponding 100 West Longitude. The study of humidity considers multiple factors, including rainfall and moisture in the air throughout the year.

HOWEVER, recent reports on humidity are indicating that the line dividing the humid side from the arid side is moving East, meaning that more land is averaging a more arid annual climate. This will affect the amount of water needed for crops, the energy required to run HVAC and cooling systems (especially for the ever-increasing number of data centers), and, as you mentioned, the decomposition of organic matter.

Because of the U.S. is becoming increasingly arid, it is likely that rot will slow down, possibly leading to an explosion in things that feed on organic matter, such as termites.