Conclusion

          As foresters plant whitebark pine further north, they may be planting outside the range of the Clark’s nutcracker (Figure 9). The interesting thing here, though, is that the two species are operating on drastically different temporal scales. The oldest recorded age for a Clark’s nutcracker is 17 years (NWPS), whereas “Whitebark Pine is a long-lived species, often living to more than 500 years and sometimes more than 1000 years” (COSEWIC, 2010, p. v). Additionally, the pine begins to produce cones after only thirty years (COSEWIC, 2010, p. v). This means that for the foresters to be able to plant the tree far enough north for it to live such a long life, the Clark’s nutcracker will have to be able to live in the area not long after the trees are planted. Thus, while in the long term research about the niche modeling of the two species under future climate change scenarios will be necessary, at the moment, whitebark pine should be being planted fairly close to the area identified as good habitat for the Clark’s nutcracker by our species distribution model. This means, however, that the tree should not be planted too much further North than its current range.