The contrasting effects of short-term climate change on the early recruitment of tree species

A better understanding of how climate affects growth in tree species is essential for improved predictions of forest dynamics under climate change. Long-term climate averages (mean climate) and short-term deviations from these averages (anomalies) both influence tree growth, but the rarity of long-term data integrating climatic gradients with tree censuses has so far limited our understanding of their respective role, especially in tropical systems. Here, we combined 49 years of growth data for 509 tree species across 23 tropical rainforest plots along a climatic gradient to examine how tree growth responds to both climate means and anomalies, and how species functional traits mediate these tree growth responses to climate. We showed that short-term, anomalous increases in atmospheric evaporative demand and solar radiation consistently reduced tree growth. Drier forests and fast-growing species were more sensitive to water stress anomalies. In addition, species traits related to water use and photosynthesis partly explained differences in growth sensitivity to both long-term and short-term climate variations. Our study demonstrates that both climate means and anomalies shape tree growth in tropical forests, and that species traits can be leveraged to understand these demographic responses to climate change, offering a promising way forward to forecast tropical forest dynamics under different climate trajectories.

Download Full-text

A Comparative Assessment of Climate Change Effect on Some of the Important Tree Species of Hindu-Kush Himalayas, Using Predictive Modelling Techniques

International Conference on Agricultural, Ecological and Medical Sciences (AEMS-2015) April 7-8, 2015 Phuket (Thailand) ◽

10.15242/iicbe.c0415015 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Species ◽

Predictive Modelling ◽

Comparative Assessment ◽

Change Effect ◽

Hindu Kush ◽

Climate Change Effect ◽

Modelling Techniques

Download Full-text

Identifying Habitat Holdouts for High Elevation Tree Species Under Climate Change

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change ◽

10.3389/ffgc.2019.00094 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Charles J. Maxwell ◽

Robert M. Scheller

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Species ◽

High Elevation

Download Full-text

The legacy of climate change effects: previous drought increases short-term litter decomposition rates in a temperate mixed grass- and shrubland

Plant and Soil ◽

10.1007/s11104-016-2913-2 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 408 (1-2) ◽

pp. 183-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Merian Skouw Haugwitz ◽

Anders Michelsen ◽

Anders Priemé

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Litter Decomposition ◽

Decomposition Rates ◽

Short Term ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Mixed Grass

Download Full-text

Disentangling the interactive effects of climate change and Phytophthora cinnamomi on coexisting Mediterranean tree species

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology ◽

10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108295 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 298-299 ◽

pp. 108295

Author(s):

María Socorro Serrano ◽

Francisco José Pérez ◽

Lorena Gómez-Aparicio

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Species ◽

Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽

Interactive Effects

Download Full-text

Characterizing Growing Season Length of Subtropical Coniferous Forests with a Phenological Model

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12010095 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

Yuan Gong ◽

Christina L. Staudhammer ◽

Susanne Wiesner ◽

Gregory Starr ◽

Yinlong Zhang

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Water ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Water Availability ◽

Longleaf Pine ◽

Growing Season ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Short Term ◽

Phenological Model

Understanding plant phenological change is of great concern in the context of global climate change. Phenological models can aid in understanding and predicting growing season changes and can be parameterized with gross primary production (GPP) estimated using the eddy covariance (EC) technique. This study used nine years of EC-derived GPP data from three mature subtropical longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States with differing soil water holding capacity in combination with site-specific micrometeorological data to parameterize a photosynthesis-based phenological model. We evaluated how weather conditions and prescribed fire led to variation in the ecosystem phenological processes. The results suggest that soil water availability had an effect on phenology, and greater soil water availability was associated with a longer growing season (LOS). We also observed that prescribed fire, a common forest management activity in the region, had a limited impact on phenological processes. Dormant season fire had no significant effect on phenological processes by site, but we observed differences in the start of the growing season (SOS) between fire and non-fire years. Fire delayed SOS by 10 d ± 5 d (SE), and this effect was greater with higher soil water availability, extending SOS by 18 d on average. Fire was also associated with increased sensitivity of spring phenology to radiation and air temperature. We found that interannual climate change and periodic weather anomalies (flood, short-term drought, and long-term drought), controlled annual ecosystem phenological processes more than prescribed fire. When water availability increased following short-term summer drought, the growing season was extended. With future climate change, subtropical areas of the Southeastern US are expected to experience more frequent short-term droughts, which could shorten the region’s growing season and lead to a reduction in the longleaf pine ecosystem’s carbon sequestration capacity.

Download Full-text

The Effects of Biotic and Abiotic Factors on the Community Dynamics in a Mountain Subtropical Forest

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12040427 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 427

Author(s):

Tianyang Zhou ◽

Jiaxin Zhang ◽

Yunzhi Qin ◽

Mingxi Jiang ◽

Xiujuan Qiao

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Forest Dynamics ◽

Community Dynamics ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Subtropical Forest ◽

Above Ground Biomass ◽

Short Term ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services ◽

Number Of Individuals

From supporting wood production to mitigating climate change, forest ecosystem services are crucial to the well-being of humans. Understanding the mechanisms that drive forest dynamics can help us infer how to maintain forest ecosystem services and how to improve predictions of forest dynamics under climate change. Despite the growing number of studies exploring above ground biomass (AGB) dynamics, questions of dynamics in biodiversity and in number of individuals still remain unclear. Here, we first explored the patterns of community dynamics in different aspects (i.e., AGB, density and biodiversity) based on short-term (five years) data from a 25-ha permanent plot in a subtropical forest in central China. Second, we examined the relationships between community dynamics and biodiversity and functional traits. Third, we identified the key factors affecting different aspects of community dynamics and quantified their relative contributions. We found that in the short term (five years), net above ground biomass change (ΔAGB) and biodiversity increased, while the number of individuals decreased. Resource-conservation traits enhanced the ΔAGB and reduced the loss in individuals, while the resource-acquisition traits had the opposite effect. Furthermore, the community structure contributed the most to ΔAGB; topographic variables and soil nutrients contributed the most to the number of individuals; demographic process contributed the most to biodiversity. Our results indicate that biotic factors mostly affected the community dynamics of ΔAGB and biodiversity, while the number of individuals was mainly shaped by abiotic factors. Our work highlighted that the factors influencing different aspects of community dynamics vary. Therefore, forest management practices should be formulated according to a specific protective purpose.

Download Full-text