Radial growth responses of Pinus halepensis Mill. and Pinus pinea L. forests to climate variability in Western Albania

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvin Toromani ◽  
Edmond Pasho ◽  
Arben Q. Alla ◽  
Vasillaq Mine ◽  
Nehat Çollaku
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Pinus Pinea ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Early Autumn ◽  
Mediterranean Countries

Abstract In this study are presented chronologies of earlywood (EW), latewood (LW) and tree-ring widths (RW) of a Pinus halepensis (P. halepensis) and Pinus pinea (P. pinea) natural forest stand growing in western Albania. Bootstrapped correlations and pointer year analysis were combined in a dendroclimatological study to evaluate climate-growth relationships in both pine species as well as to assess the spatial outreach of our chronologies evaluating them with those of the same species from other Mediterranean countries. We found that both species responded positively to precipitation and Indexed Percentage Average Precipitation (%AvP) in late summer-early autumn, particularly the LW, whereas summer temperatures constrained the growth of P. halepensis tree-ring features. Current January temperature and Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) showed positive relationship with P. pinea LW and RW. The same association was observed when considering PET in spring and P. halepensis LW and RW. Pointer year analysis showed that inhibitory climatic drivers of radial growth for both species were low precipitation from previous winter and current summer, associated with low temperatures during autumn. Our P. halepensis chronology showed a wider spatial outreach than that of P. pinea when compared to those from other Mediterranean countries. We conclude that current January temperatures and September precipitation are very important for P. pinea growth influencing both EW and LW growth whereas P. halepensis is mostly affected by the summer-early autumn climate conditions.

scholarly journals Climate Differently Impacts the Growth of Coexisting Trees and Shrubs under Semi-Arid Mediterranean Conditions

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 381
Author(s):  
J. Julio Camarero ◽  
Cristina Valeriano ◽  
Antonio Gazol ◽  
Michele Colangelo ◽  
Raúl Sánchez-Salguero
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
High Soil Moisture ◽  
Semi Arid ◽  
Mediterranean Conditions

Background and Objectives—Coexisting tree and shrub species will have to withstand more arid conditions as temperatures keep rising in the Mediterranean Basin. However, we still lack reliable assessments on how climate and drought affect the radial growth of tree and shrub species at intra- and interannual time scales under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions. Materials and Methods—We investigated the growth responses to climate of four co-occurring gymnosperms inhabiting semi-arid Mediterranean sites in northeastern Spain: two tree species (Aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis Mill.; Spanish juniper, Juniperus thurifera L.) and two shrubs (Phoenicean juniper, Juniperus phoenicea L.; Ephedra nebrodensis Tineo ex Guss.). First, we quantified the intra-annual radial-growth rates of the four species by periodically sampling wood samples during one growing season. Second, we quantified the climate–growth relationships at an interannual scale at two sites with different soil water availability by using dendrochronology. Third, we simulated growth responses to temperature and soil moisture using the forward, process-based Vaganov‒Shashkin (VS-Lite) growth model to disentangle the main climatic drivers of growth. Results—The growth of all species peaked in spring to early summer (May–June). The pine and junipers grew after the dry summer, i.e., they showed a bimodal growth pattern. Prior wet winter conditions leading to high soil moisture before cambium reactivation in spring enhanced the growth of P. halepensis at dry sites, whereas the growth of both junipers and Ephedra depended more on high spring–summer soil moisture. The VS-Lite model identified these different influences of soil moisture on growth in tree and shrub species. Conclusions—Our approach (i) revealed contrasting growth dynamics of co-existing tree and shrub species under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions and (ii) provided novel insights on different responses as a function of growth habits in similar drought-prone regions.

scholarly journals Dendroclimatic Assessment of Ponderosa Pine Radial Growth along Elevational Transects in Western Montana, U.S.A.

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan E. Montpellier ◽  
Peter T. Soulé ◽  
Paul A. Knapp ◽  
Justin T. Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Drought Severity ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Differential Growth ◽  
Climate Conditions

Ponderosa pine (PP) is the most common and widely distributed pine species in the western United States, spanning from southern Canada to the United States–Mexico border. PP can be found growing between sea level and 3000 meters elevation making them an ideal species to assess the effects of changing climatic conditions at a variety of elevations. Here we compare PP standardized and raw growth responses to climate conditions along an elevational transect spanning 1000 meters in western Montana, U.S.A., a region that experienced a 20th century warming trend and is expected to incur much warmer (3.1–4.5 °C) and slightly drier summers (~0.3 cm decrease per month) by the end on the 21st century. Specifically, we assess if there are climate/growth differences based on relative (i.e., site-specific) and absolute (i.e., combined sites) elevation between groups of trees growing in different elevational classes. We find that values of the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) in July are most strongly related to radial growth and that within-site elevation differences are a poor predictor of the response of PP to either wet or dry climatic conditions (i.e., years with above or below average July PDSI values). These results suggest that any generalization that stands of PP occurring at their elevational margins are most vulnerable to changing climatic may not be operative at these sites in western Montana. Our results show that when using standardized ring widths, PP growing at the lowest and highest elevations within western Montana exhibit differential growth during extreme climatological conditions with lower-elevation trees outperforming higher-elevation trees during dry years and vice versa during wet years.

Age-dependent tree-ring growth responses of subarctic white spruce to climate

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian M. Szeicz ◽  
Glen M. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Response Function ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Growth Function ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Dependent Model ◽  
June July

We test one of the fundamental assumptions of most dendroclimatological research, that the radial growth response of trees to climate does not vary with age once the biological growth trend has been removed. Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss from three sites in the western Northwest Territories, Canada, are disaggregated into age-classes, and their response to climate examined through response function and linear regression analyses. These data are then used in multiple regression analyses to estimate June-July temperatures at Norman Wells, N.W.T., from 1909 to 1989 using both age-dependent and standard (age-independent) models. The response function and regression analyses suggest that the response of Piceaglauca radial growth to climate differs between trees greater than 200 years old and less than 200 years old. These results suggest that the assumption of an age-invariate climate–growth function is therefore invalid at these sites. These apparent age-dependent responses are site specific and may reflect physiological changes related to aging. One possible causal factor of age dependence is that the trees are becoming increasingly moisture stressed with age owing to a reduction in the efficiency of water and nutrient translocation mechanisms. The estimation of June–July temperatures based on an age-dependent model produced improved calibration and verification statistics as compared with a reconstruction based on standard dendroclimatic modelling. If present, age-dependent climate–growth relationships may result in less accurate reconstructions of past climate, particularly during the early portions. However, age-dependent responses could also be used to increase the number of tree-ring based predictor variables for dendroclimatic reconstructions.

scholarly journals Tree-Ring Analysis Reveals Density-Dependent Vulnerability to Drought in Planted Mongolian Pines

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
ShouJia Sun ◽  
Shuai Lei ◽  
HanSen Jia ◽  
Chunyou Li ◽  
JinSong Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Stand Density ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Tree Ring Width ◽  
Tree Ring Data

Population density influences tree responses to environmental stresses, such as drought and high temperature. Prolonged drought negatively affects the health of Mongolian pines in forests planted by the Three-North Shelter Forest Program in North China. To understand the relationship between stand density and drought-induced forest decline, and to generate information regarding the development of future management strategies, we analyzed the vulnerability to drought of planted Mongolian pines at three stand densities. A tree-ring width index for trees from each density was established from tree-ring data covering the period 1988–2018 and was compared for differences in radial growth. Resistance (Rt), recovery (Rc), resilience (Rs), and relative resilience (RRs) in response to drought events were calculated from the smoothed basal area increment (BAI) curves. The high-density (HDT) group showed a consistently lower tree-ring width than the border trees (BT) and low-density (LDT) groups. The BAI curve of the HDT group started to decrease five years earlier than the LDT and BT groups. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the radial growth of all of the groups was related to precipitation, relative humidity (RH), potential evapotranspiration (ET0), and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) in the previous October and the most recent July, indicating that Mongolian pine trees of different densities had similar growth–climate relationships. Over the three decades, the trees experienced three severe drought events, each causing reduced tree-ring width and BAI. All of the groups showed similar Rc to each drought event, but the HDT group exhibited significantly lower Rt, Rs, and RRs than the BT group, suggesting that the HDT trees were more vulnerable to repeated drought stress. The RRs of the HDT group decreased progressively after each drought event and attained <0 after the third event. All of the groups showed similar trends regarding water consumption under varying weather conditions, but the HDT group showed significantly reduced whole-tree hydraulic capability compared with the other two groups. From these results, HDT trees exhibit ecophysiological memory effects from successive droughts, including sap flux dysfunction and higher competition index, which may prevent recovery of pre-drought growth rates. HDT trees may be at greater risk of mortality under future drought disturbance.

scholarly journals Age, climate and intra-annual density fluctuations in Pinus halepensis in Spain

IAWA Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klemen Novak ◽  
Miguel Angel Saz Sánchez ◽  
Katarina Čufar ◽  
Josep Raventós ◽  
Martin de Luis
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Density Fluctuations ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Cambial Age ◽  
Cambial Reactivation

Intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) in tree rings of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) are considered to be among the most promising wood anatomical features in dendrochronological studies. They provide environmental information in addition to those obtained from tree-ring widths. We used a network of 35 sites in Spain, ranging from nearly desert to temperate climate. We analysed tree-ring series of 529 trees to study IADF frequencies, and their dependence on climatic factors and cambial age. The results showed that IADF frequency is age dependent, with its maximum at the cambial age of 27 years (evaluated at breast height). The frequencies varied across the network and at different sites we recorded that 0.3% to 33% of the analysed tree rings contained IADFs. They were more frequent where and when the temperatures were higher, summer drought was intense and autumn was the main precipitation season. IADF formation was particularly related to high minimum temperatures and wet conditions in late summer and autumn. These results suggest that IADF formation is not related to stressful conditions during summer but to favourable conditions during autumn. These conditions promote cambial reactivation and consequently formation of wider tree rings.

scholarly journals Climate impacts on radial growth and vegetation activity of two co-existing Mediterranean pine species

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1748-1756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmond Pasho ◽  
Arben Q. Alla
Keyword(s):  
Time Scales ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Drought Indices ◽  
Vegetation Activity ◽  
Earlywood Width ◽  
The Impact

Improved knowledge of the time scales at which drought stress mostly influences tree growth is crucial for the early detection of forest dieback. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of climate (temperature and precipitation) on vegetation activity (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI)) of Pinus halepensis Mill. and Pinus pinea L. mixed forest located in western Albania and to assess the drought impact (standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI)) calculated at different time scales (1–12 months) on radial growth (earlywood width, latewood width, and tree-ring width) and vegetation activity of these species. Both vegetation indices showed a negative response to August temperatures, and the EVI responded positively to September precipitation. NDVI and EVI were significantly affected by the SPI in spring and late summer. All tree-ring features in P. halepensis were positively related with EVI in August, whereas P. pinea latewood width showed a significant and positive relationship with NDVI in September. Radial growth of P. halepensis responded significantly to both drought indices in late summer and early autumn, particularly the latewood width. Contrastingly, in P. pinea, only earlywood width showed vulnerability, mostly to the summer SPEI drought indices. These results are relevant to understand the impacts of increased drought intensity and frequency on tree radial growth and vegetation activity in a region that is vulnerable to climate variability.

scholarly journals A dendrochronological analysis of Pinus pinea L. on the Italian mid-Tyrrhenian coast

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Piraino ◽  
Sergio Camiz ◽  
Alfredo Filippo ◽  
Gianluca Piovesan ◽  
Francesco Spada
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Pinus Pinea ◽  
Site Characteristics ◽  
Dendrochronological Analysis

AbstractIn order to assess the response of the radial growth of Pinus pinea L. to climatic variability in Central Italy, dendrochronological and dendroclimatological analyses were carried out on five different populations scattered along the Tyrrhenian coasts of the peninsula. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the ecological demands of this species, particularly in the study area.For each site total ring, early-, and late-wood width chronologies were developed.Multidimensional analyses were performed for the three tree-ring datasets in order to analyze the relations between sites chronologies. Both Principal Component Analyses and hierarchical classifications highlighted an important difference of one site in respect to the other, probably due to site characteristics.Correlation functions were performed to infer the main climatic factors controlling the radial growth of the species. For a comparative study, we limited our attention to the common interval 1926–2003 (78 years) in which the response of the tree-ring chronologies to climate at both local and regional scale was investigated.Positive moisture balance in the late spring-summer period of the year of growth is the climatic driver of P. pinea radial growth in the study area. Moreover, this study shows how low summer temperatures strongly favor the radial growth of the species.

Tree ring to climate relationships of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) in Greece

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Papadopoulos ◽  
Françoise Serre-Bachet ◽  
Lucien Tessier
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Aleppo Pine

scholarly journals Radial Growth Response of European Larch Provenances to Interannual Climate Variation in Poland

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 334
Author(s):  
Norbert Szymański ◽  
Sławomir Wilczyński
Keyword(s):  
Radial Growth ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
European Larch ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Provenance Trials ◽  
High Precipitation ◽  
Climatic Elements

The present study identified the similarities and differences in the radial growth responses of 20 provenances of 51-year-old European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees from Poland to the climatic conditions at three provenance trials situated in the Polish lowlands (Siemianice), uplands (Bliżyn) and mountains (Krynica). A chronology of radial growth indices was developed for each of 60 European larch populations, which highlighted the interannual variations in the climate-mediated radial growth of their trees. With the aid of principal component, correlation and multiple regression analysis, supra-regional climatic elements were identified to which all the larch provenances reacted similarly at all three provenance trials. They increased the radial growth in years with a short, warm and precipitation-rich winter; a cool and humid summer and when high precipitation in late autumn of the previous year was noted. Moreover, other climatic elements were identified to which two groups of the larch provenances reacted differently at each provenance trial. In the lowland climate, the provenances reacted differently to temperature in November to December of the previous year and July and to precipitation in September. In the upland climate, the provenances differed in growth sensitivity to precipitation in October of the previous year and June–September. In the mountain climate, the provenances responded differently to temperature and precipitation in September of the previous year and to precipitation in February, June and September of the year of tree ring formation. The results imply that both climatic factors and origin (genotype), i.e., the genetic factor, mediate the climate–growth relationships of larch provenances.

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