Climate Breakdown: Losing Our Aspen Forests in the West

Aspen in Sagebrush Steppe on Kiesha’s Preserve, Idaho. (No livestock grazing for 27 years) Photo: John Carter.

The Aspen Decline

What will our forests in the west be like in fall without those golden yellow leaves shining in the sun? Aspen forests in the Intermountain West support levels of biodiversity only exceeded by riparian (stream) communities. In this time of Climate Breakdown, aspen have been declining due to drought and temperature stress, with die-offs of large areas in the Western US in recent decades.