Correction: Climate Change Induces Shifts in Abundance and Activity Pattern of Bacteria and Archaea Catalyzing Major Transformation Steps in Nitrogen Turnover in a Soil from a Mid-European Beech Forest

In this study, different approaches were used to investigate the vulnerability of beech forests, located at the eastern limit of their natural range, to climate change. To accomplish this, six 2500 m2 plots were sampled in four European beech forest genetic resources, located in Romania at different altitudinal levels, varying from 230 to 580 m in the BacÄƒu hills and between 650 and 1300 m in the Curvature Carpathian (BraÅŸov region). The analysis of trees phenotypic traits, their radial growth, and the regeneration, did not indicate a vulnerability of the sampled stands to the fluctuations of the environmental factors from the 1950-2014 period. The growth indices of all three populations of BacÄƒu hills are negatively correlated with both June air temperature of current year and September of the previous year. The precipitation amount of September previous year positively influenced the growth indices. The radial growth of plots in BraÅŸov region is slightly linked to the climate. The temperature during the growing season represents a limiting factor for stands that are located outside of the optimal altitudinal species distribution (600-1200 m, in Romania), especially at low altitudes. Our results indicated that a rise of the temperature accompanied by a possible reduction of the precipitations (as is predicted for the coming years) could increase the sensibility of beech forests at lower altitude.

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Impact of European Beech Forest Diversification on Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Stocks–A Meta-Analysis

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change ◽

10.3389/ffgc.2021.606669 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Author(s):

Stephanie Rehschuh ◽

Mathieu Jonard ◽

Martin Wiesmeier ◽

Heinz Rennenberg ◽

Michael Dannenmann

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Tree Species ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

European Beech ◽

Beech Forest ◽

Beech Forests ◽

Soc Stocks

Drought-sensitive European beech forests are increasingly challenged by climate change. Admixing other, preferably more deep-rooting, tree species has been proposed to increase the resilience of beech forests to drought. This diversification of beech forests might also affect soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks that are relevant for a wide range of soil functions and ecosystem services, such as water and nutrient retention, filter functions and erosion control. Since information of these effects is scattered, our aim was to synthesize results from studies that compared SOC/TN stocks of beech monocultures with those of beech stands mixed with other tree species as well as monocultures of other tree species. We conducted a meta-analysis including 38 studies with 203, 220, and 160 observations for forest floor (i.e., the organic surface layer), mineral soil (0.5 m depth) and the total soil profile, respectively. Monoculture conifer stands had higher SOC stocks compared to monoculture beech in general, especially in the forest floor (up to 200% in larch forests). In contrast, other broadleaved tree species (oak, ash, lime, maple, hornbeam) showed lower SOC stocks in the forest floor compared to beech, with little impact on total SOC stocks. Comparing mixed beech-conifer stands (average mixing ratio with regard to number of trees 50:50) with beech monocultures revealed significantly higher total SOC stocks of around 9% and a smaller increase in TN stocks of around 4%. This equaled a SOC accrual of 0.1 Mg ha−1 yr−1. In contrast, mixed beech-broadleaved stands did not show significant differences in total SOC stocks. Conifer admixture effects on beech forest SOC were of additive nature. Admixing other tree species to beech monoculture stands was most effective to increase SOC stocks on low carbon soils with a sandy texture and nitrogen limitation (i.e., a high C/N ratio and low nitrogen deposition). We conclude that, with targeted admixture measures of coniferous species, an increase in SOC stocks in beech forests can be achieved as part of the necessary adaptation of beech forests to climate change.

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Carbon Stock of European Beech Forest; A Case at M. Pizzalto, Italy

APCBEE Procedia ◽

10.1016/j.apcbee.2012.03.026 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 159-168 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Aida Taghavi Bayat ◽

Hein van Gils ◽

Michael Weir

Keyword(s):

Carbon Stock ◽

European Beech ◽

Beech Forest

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Disentangling the Legacies of Climate and Management on Tree Growth

Ecosystems ◽

10.1007/s10021-021-00650-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Marqués ◽

Drew M. P. Peltier ◽

J. Julio Camarero ◽

Miguel A. Zavala ◽

Jaime Madrigal-González ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Forest Management ◽

Tree Growth ◽

European Beech ◽

Ring Formation ◽

Silver Fir ◽

Past Climate ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Ecological Memory ◽

Historical Forest

AbstractLegacies of past climate conditions and historical management govern forest productivity and tree growth. Understanding how these processes interact and the timescales over which they influence tree growth is critical to assess forest vulnerability to climate change. Yet, few studies address this issue, likely because integrated long-term records of both growth and forest management are uncommon. We applied the stochastic antecedent modelling (SAM) framework to annual tree-ring widths from mixed forests to recover the ecological memory of tree growth. We quantified the effects of antecedent temperature and precipitation up to 4 years preceding the year of ring formation and integrated management effects with records of harvesting intensity from historical forest management archives. The SAM approach uncovered important time periods most influential to growth, typically the warmer and drier months or seasons, but variation among species and sites emerged. Silver fir responded primarily to past climate conditions (25–50 months prior to the year of ring formation), while European beech and Scots pine responded mostly to climate conditions during the year of ring formation and the previous year, although these responses varied among sites. Past management and climate interacted in such a way that harvesting promoted growth in young silver fir under wet and warm conditions and in old European beech under drier and cooler conditions. Our study shows that the ecological memory associated with climate legacies and historical forest management is species-specific and context-dependent, suggesting that both aspects are needed to properly evaluate forest functioning under climate change.

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Forestry of Serbia - achievement of Millenium Goals in the era of climate change and globalization

Glasnik Sumarskog fakulteta ◽

10.2298/gsf14s1089o ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 89-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sasa Orlovic ◽

Milan Drekic ◽

Bratislav Matovic ◽

Leopold Poljakovic-Pajnik ◽

Mirjana Stevanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Climate Change ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

European Beech ◽

Novi Sad ◽

Experimental Trials ◽

Level 2 ◽

Term Monitoring ◽

Forest Institutions

This paper is a review presenting research results on the forest ecosystems of Serbia that are carried out at the Institute of Lowland Forestry and Environment (University of Novi Sad, Serbia) in the context of climate change and globalisation. The review displays results of the long-term monitoring of the forest ecosystems, where the data were obtained at the permanent experimental trials of IPC-Forests (level 2) and the iLTER's network. All findings are systematically divided according to the research disciplines and the most important tree species (poplar, willow, oak, wild cherry and European beech). Also the aspects of social sciences are included (meaning evaluating forest institutions in the first place). This review is meant to contribute inputs to the ongoing discussion about the achievement of the Millenium Goals of Sustainable Development in the context of Serbian forestry.

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Belowground biomass and its annual increment in a montane beech forest in Mavrovo National Park, north-west Macedonia

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/131/2010-jfs ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 58 (No. 4) ◽

pp. 152-164

Author(s):

S. Hristovski ◽

L. Melovski ◽

M. Šušlevska ◽

L. Grupče

Keyword(s):

Fine Roots ◽

Root Biomass ◽

National Park ◽

European Beech ◽

Belowground Biomass ◽

Beech Forest ◽

Volume Index ◽

Annual Increment ◽

North West ◽

Trees And Shrubs

The aim of this paper is to present the results of the investigation on belowground biomass and its annual increment in a beech ecosystem (Calamintho grandiflorae-Fagetum) in Mavrovo National Park, Republic of Macedonia. Belowground biomass was estimated in three layers of the ecosystem (tree, shrub and herb layers) for seven years during the period 1997–2005. Allometric regressions were established for the relationship of root biomass from volume index (D2H, diameter squared × height) on a sample of 10 model trees and 13 model shrubs of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Fine root biomass of trees and shrubs was estimated in soil samples to a depth of 145 cm and divided into live and dead fine roots and subdivided into thickness classes. Belowground biomass of the herb layer was assessed in 20 herb species. It was estimated that the total belowground biomass in the ecosystem was 57.75 ·ha–1. The contribution of shrub and herb layers was insignificant (less than 0.2%). Biomass of the live fine roots was 10.16 t·ha–1, i.e. 18% of the total belowground biomass. Annual increment of trees and shrubs was 1.03 t·ha–1·y–1 and 4.6 kg·ha–1·y–1, respectively.

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