Richard Pelltier
Richard Pelltier is a Geographer with the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Science and Products
Understanding long-term drivers of vegetation change and stability in the Southern Rocky Mountains with paleoecological data and ecological models
Drought and fire are powerful disturbance agents that can trigger rapid and lasting changes in the forests of western North America. Over the last decade, increases in fire size and severity coincided with warming, drought, and earlier snowmelt, factors that projected climatic changes are likely to exacerbate. However, recent observations are brief relative to the lifespans of trees and include...
Past Perspectives of Water in the West
In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
Exploring Future Flora, Environments, and Climates Through Simulations (EFFECTS)
Future climate change will alter the distribution of vegetation in North America and affect related ecosystem processes. This research uses state-of-the-art climate model simulations and vegetation models to simulate vegetation changes from 127 ka (127,000 years ago) to 2100 CE. We investigate the magnitude, rate, and drivers of vegetation responses to climate change across paleo to future time...
Science and Products
Understanding long-term drivers of vegetation change and stability in the Southern Rocky Mountains with paleoecological data and ecological models
Drought and fire are powerful disturbance agents that can trigger rapid and lasting changes in the forests of western North America. Over the last decade, increases in fire size and severity coincided with warming, drought, and earlier snowmelt, factors that projected climatic changes are likely to exacerbate. However, recent observations are brief relative to the lifespans of trees and include...
Past Perspectives of Water in the West
In the intermountain west, seasonal precipitation extremes, combined with population growth, are creating new challenges for the management of water resources, ecosystems, and geologic hazards. This research contributes a comprehensive long-term context for a deeper understanding of past hydrologic variability, including the magnitude and frequency of drought and flood extremes and ecosystem...
Exploring Future Flora, Environments, and Climates Through Simulations (EFFECTS)
Future climate change will alter the distribution of vegetation in North America and affect related ecosystem processes. This research uses state-of-the-art climate model simulations and vegetation models to simulate vegetation changes from 127 ka (127,000 years ago) to 2100 CE. We investigate the magnitude, rate, and drivers of vegetation responses to climate change across paleo to future time...