Do Whitebark Pine - Lichen Ecosystems of West Central British Columbia Display Tipping Point Behaviour in Response to Cumulative Stress?

Introduction British Columbia is renowned for the outstanding diversity of its forest and rangeland ecosystems. The rugged topography and turbulent geological history of this province have created an exceptionally varied template of climate, soils, plant and animal life. Disturbances such wildfires, storms, geomorphic activity, and insect and disease outbreaks act upon this template to modify the pattern of ecosystems across a landscape both in the short term (successional dynamics within an ecosystem) and over longer time periods (state shifts from one type of ecosystem to another).