Height growth rate of Scots pine in Central Europe increased by 29% between 1900 and 2000 due to changes in site productivity

Abstract Background: Site productivity remains a fundamental concern in forestry as a significant driver of resource availability. The site index (SI) reflects the overall impact of all environmental parameters that determine tree height growth and is the most commonly used indirect proxy for forest site productivity estimated using stand age and height. One of the most critical challenges in the site index (SI) concept are local variations in climate, soil, and genotype-environmental interactions that lead to variable height growth patterns among ecoregions and cause inappropriate estimation of site productivity. Developing regional models can solve this problem and allow us to determine forest growth and SI appropriately.Results: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop regional height growth models (RMs) for the Scots pine in Poland. For height growth modelling, we used the growth trajectory data of 855 sample trees, representing the entire range of geographic locations and site conditions of the Scots pine in Poland. Collected growth trajectories were used for the development of the global height growth model (GM) for Poland and RMs for six natural forest regions, which were adopted as the spatial unit for the model regionalisation. Height prediction errors by the global model were found to be significantly larger than those obtained with regional models in all regions. The results showed significant differences between growth trajectories in natural forest regions I, II, and III located in northern Poland compared to stands in natural forest regions IV, V, and VI in southern Poland.Conclusions: The presented study showed differences in height growth patterns of Scots pines in Poland and revealed that the use of local models could improve the growth prediction and quality of the SI estimation. Developed RMs show better fit statistics and predictive validity than the GM developed for the countrywide scale. Differences in climate and soil conditions which distinguish natural forest regions affect height growth patterns of Scots pine. Therefore, extending this research to models which directly describe the interactions of height growth with site variables, such as climate, soil properties, and topography, can provide additional valuable forest management information.

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Regional height growth models for Scots pine in Poland

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-89826-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jarosław Socha ◽

Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska ◽

Karol Bronisz ◽

Stanisław Zięba ◽

Paweł Hawryło

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Growth Models ◽

Height Growth ◽

Growth Patterns ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Natural Forest ◽

Trajectory Data ◽

Site Productivity ◽

Forest Regions ◽

Modelling Approaches

AbstractSite productivity remains a fundamental concern in forestry as a significant driver of resource availability for tree growth. The site index (SI) reflects the overall impact of all environmental factors that determine tree height growth and is the most commonly used indirect proxy for forest site productivity estimated using stand age and height. The SI concept challenges are local variations in climate, soil, and genotype-environmental interactions that lead to variable height growth patterns among ecoregions and cause inappropriate estimation of site productivity. Developing regional models allow us to determine forest growth and SI more appropriately. This study aimed to develop height growth models for the Scots pine in Poland, considering the natural forest region effect. For height growth modelling, we used the growth trajectory data of 855 sample trees, representing the Scots pine entire range of geographic locations and site conditions in Poland. We compared the development of regional height growth models using nonlinear-fixed-effects (NFE) and nonlinear-mixed-effects (NME) modelling approaches. Our results indicate a slightly better fit to the data of the model built using NFE approach. The results showed significant differences between Scots pine growth in natural forest regions I, II, and III located in northern Poland and natural forest regions IV, V, and VI in southern Poland. We compared the development of regional height growth models using NFE and NME modelling approaches. Our results indicate a slightly better fit to the data of the model built using the NFE approach. The developed models show differences in height growth patterns of Scots pines in Poland and revealed that acknowledgement of region as the independent variable could improve the growth prediction and quality of the SI estimation. Differences in climate and soil conditions that distinguish natural forest regions affect Scots pine height growth patterns. Therefore, extending this research to models that directly describe height growth interactions with site variables, such as climate, soil properties, and topography, can provide valuable forest management information.

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Seed mass effects on germination and growth of diverse European Scots pine populations

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x94-044 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 306-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

P.B. Reich ◽

J. Oleksyn ◽

M.G. Tjoelker

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Relative Growth Rate ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Seed Mass ◽

Growing Season ◽

Turkish Population ◽

Dry Mass ◽

Relative Growth ◽

Mass Effects

Seedlings of 24 European Scots pine (Pinussylvestris L.) populations were grown in controlled environment chambers under simulated photoperiodic conditions of 50 and 60°N latitude to evaluate the effect of seed mass on germination and seedling growth characteristics. Seeds of each population were classified into 1-mg mass classes, and the four classes per population with the highest frequencies were used. Photoperiod had minimal influence on seed mass effects. Overall, seed mass was positively related to the number of cotyledons and hypocotyl height. Populations differed significantly in seed mass effect on biomass. In northern populations (55–61°N), dry mass at the end of the first growing season was little affected by seed mass. However, dry mass in 9 of 15 central populations (54–48°N) and all southern (<45°N) populations correlated positively with seed mass. Relative growth rate was not related to seed mass within or across populations, and thus early growth is largely determined by seed mass. Relative growth rate also did not differ among populations, except for a geographically isolated Turkish population with the highest seed mass and lowest relative growth rate. After one growing season, height was positively correlated (r2 > 0.6) with seed mass in 15 populations. To check the duration of seed mass effects, height growth of 1- to 7-year-old field experiments established with the same seed lots were compared. Seed mass effects on height were strongest for 1-year-old seedlings and declined or disappeared by the age of 5–7 years among central and southern populations, but remained stable over that time in northern populations.

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Modelling crown width–diameter relationship for Scots pine in the central Europe

Trees ◽

10.1007/s00468-017-1593-8 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 1875-1889 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Ram P. Sharma ◽

Lukáš Bílek ◽

Zdeněk Vacek ◽

Stanislav Vacek

Keyword(s):

Central Europe ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Crown Width

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Height growth rate tradeoffs determine northern and southern range limits for trees

Journal of Biogeography ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2699.1998.2540735.x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 735-742 ◽

Cited By ~ 204

Author(s):

Craig Loehle

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Height Growth ◽

Range Limits

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Effect of soil physical properties on the long-term performance of planted Scots pine in Finnish Lapland

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss08070 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. 451-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

K. Mäkitalo ◽

V. Alenius ◽

J. Heiskanen ◽

K. Mikkola

Keyword(s):

Physical Properties ◽

Water Content ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Soil Physical Properties ◽

Height Growth ◽

Site Preparation ◽

Preparation Methods ◽

Finnish Lapland

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) forests dominate in Finnish Lapland. This study examined the long-term effects of soil physical properties and conditions measured in intact intermediate areas, as well as site preparation, on the survival and height growth of planted pine on eight experimental sites, 25-27 yr after reforestation. On the four originally spruce-dominated sites, pine survival was the highest on sites with a high soil air-filled porosity (AFP) near saturation (at -1 kPa), a high van Genuchten parameter, and a low soil water content (SWC) in situ, and height growth was the fastest on sites with a high soil AFP in situ and a high van Genuchten parameter n, and on sites reaching a soil AFP of ca. 0.20 m3 m-3 at a high matric potential after saturation. Survival, but not mean height, was enhanced on the spruce sites by intensive site preparation methods such as ploughing instead of lighter site preparation methods. On the four originally pine-dominated sites, site preparation affected the mean height but not survival. The use of SWC as a sole criterion for sites suitable for pine reforestation was tested and found to be uncertain. Key words: Boreal forest soils, soil water content, air-filled porosity, van Genuchten function, site preparation, reforestation, Scots pine

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Corrigendum to “Height growth–rate at a given height: A mathematical perspective for forest productivity”. Ecological Modelling 431 (2020) 109198.

Ecological Modelling ◽

10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109311 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 438 ◽

pp. 109311

Author(s):

Christian Salas-Eljatib

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Forest Productivity ◽

Height Growth ◽

Ecological Modelling

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Factors related to seedling growth in a boreal Scots pine stand: a spatial analysis of a vegetation–soil system

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x93-262 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 23 (10) ◽

pp. 2101-2109 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Timo Kuuluvainen ◽

Timo J. Hokkanen ◽

Erkki Järvinen ◽

Timo Pukkala

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Seedling Growth ◽

Mineral Soil ◽

Height Growth ◽

Understory Vegetation ◽

Small Scale ◽

Theory Approach ◽

Seedling Height ◽

Canopy Trees

The spatial structure of vegetation and soil properties of a patchy Scots pine (Pinussylvestris L.) forest of 1 ha was described and examined in relation to the height growth of pine seedlings in the understory. Measured ecosystem properties included the distribution and sizes of canopy trees, within-stand radiation regime, composition of understory vegetation, and topsoil and mineral soil properties. The joint distance dependent effects of large trees were described as the influence potential, derived from the ecological field theory approach. The variation in understory vegetation and soil characteristics was described as score values, derived from multivariate analyses, summarizing the variation of multiple measured variables; factor analysis was used for topsoil and mineral soil properties and canonical correspondence analysis was used for understory species composition. The spatial variation of variables was examined and mapped using geostatistical techniques. The influence potential of canopy trees, as determined by their size and spatial distribution, correlated most strongly with seedling growth, so that the height growth of seedlings was retarded in the vicinity of trees. Correlations suggest that canopy trees also affected seedlings indirectly through their dominating effect on the properties of understory vegetation and humus layer. The mineral soil nutrient content showed a weak positive correlation with seedling height growth. All the factors related to seedling growth showed substantial small-scale variation across the 1-ha study site. The analysis suggests that the variation in seedling height growth in the understory of the studied Scots pine stand is largely caused by the spatial heterogeneity of both above- and below-ground factors and by the joint effect of their complex interaction.

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Effects of pruning on heartwood formation in Scots pine trees

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/4595-jfs ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 50 (No. 1) ◽

pp. 11-16

Author(s):

B. Bergström ◽

R. Gref ◽

A. Ericsson

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Pinus Sylvestris ◽

Scots Pine ◽

Heartwood Formation ◽

Growth Rings ◽

Significant Negative Effect ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Pine Trees ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Proportional Increase

The object of this study was to investigate the effect of pruning on heartwood formation in mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees. Fifty trees were treated by three different intensive pruning regimes: 42, 60 and 70 percentage of defoliation. After five growing seasons numbers of growth rings were counted and the width and the area of sapwood and heartwood were calculated. The results did not show any proportional increase or decrease in the heartwood area or in the number of growth rings in heartwood associated with the pruning. A statistically significant negative effect of pruning was found on the width of the five most recently formed sapwood growth rings. This decreased growth rate did not influence the ratio of sapwood and heartwood. However, it cannot be excluded that the proportion of heartwood may increase during a longer period. It is concluded that pruning is not a practicable silvicultural method for regulating heartwood formation in mature Scots pine trees.

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