Climate Influence on the Expansion and Tree-Ring Growth of Pinus nigra L. at High Altitude in the Central Apennines

Extreme drought events are becoming increasingly frequent and extended, particularly in Mediterranean drought-prone regions. In this sense, atmospheric oscillations patterns, such as those represented by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and the Westerly Index (WI) have been widely proven as reliable proxies of drought trends. Here, we used the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), as a reliable indicator of drought, to investigate the drought sensitivity of tree-ring width data (TRW) from several long-lived tree species (Abies borisii-regis, Abies cilicica, Abies pinsapo, Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus libanii, Pinus nigra, Pinus heldreichii). NAO and WI relations with TRW were also investigated in order to identify potential non-stationary responses among those drought proxies. Our temporal and spatial analyses support contrasting Mediterranean dipole patterns regarding the drought sensitivity of tree growth for each tree species. The spatial assessment of NAO and WI relationships regarding SPEI and TRW showed on average stronger correlations westward with non-stationary correlations between annual WI index and TRW in all species. The results indicate that the drought variability and the inferred drought-sensitive trees species (e.g., C. atlantica) are related to the NAO and the WI, showing that TRW is a feasible proxy to long-term reconstructions of Westerly Index (WI) variability in the Western Mediterranean region. Spatial variability of drought severity suggests a complex association between NAO and WI, likely modulated by an east–west Mediterranean climate dipole.

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Influences of mature Pinus nigra plantations on the floristic-vegetational composition along an altitudinal gradient in the central Apennines, Italy

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry ◽

10.3832/ifor3215-013 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 279-285

Author(s):

M Allegrezza ◽

S Pesaresi ◽

S Ballelli ◽

G Tesei ◽

C Ottaviani

Keyword(s):

Altitudinal Gradient ◽

Pinus Nigra ◽

Central Apennines

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Syntaxonomy of Pinus nigra s.l. communities in the Erico-Pinetea class and their distribution in the central Apennines and Balkan province

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology ◽

10.1080/11263504.2019.1701128 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 154 (2) ◽

pp. 248-258

Author(s):

Edoardo Biondi ◽

Marina Allegrezza

Keyword(s):

Pinus Nigra ◽

Central Apennines

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Regression Model for the 22-year Hale Solar Cycle Derived from High Altitude Tree-ring Data

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia ◽

10.1017/s1323358000019822 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 157-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. O. Murphy ◽

H. Sampson ◽

T. T. Veblen ◽

R. Villalba

Keyword(s):

Solar Cycle ◽

Regression Model ◽

High Altitude ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Magnetic Cycle ◽

Tree Ring Data ◽

Highly Correlated ◽

Successive Maximum ◽

Index Time Series ◽

Past 300 Years

AbstractInitially some simple analytical properties based on the annual Zürich relative sunspot number are established for the 22-year Hale solar magnetic cycle. Since about AD1850, successive maximum sunspot numbers in a Hale cycle are highly correlated. Also, a regression model for the reconstruction of the 22-year Hale cycle has been formulated from proxy tree-ring data, obtained from spruce trees growing at a high altitude site in White River National Forest in Colorado. Over a considerable fraction of the past 300 years to AD1986, the ring-index time series power spectrum exhibits a strong 22-year periodicity, and more recently a significant spectral peak (at the 95% confidence level) at approximately 11 years. The model shows that the greatest variation in ‘amplitude’ in the magnetic cycle occurs over the early decades of the eighteenth century, when the sample size is small. Thereafter, a nearly constant amplitude is maintained until about AD1880 when a break occurs in both phase correspondence and amplitude, extending over the next three cycles. From AD1950 the signal recovers phase with the solar cycle, with reduced but increasing amplitude.

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Metabolism is the major driver of hydrogen isotope fractionation recorded in tree-ring glucose of Pinus nigra

10.1101/2021.07.22.453377 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Wieloch ◽

Michael Grabner ◽

Angela Augusti ◽

Henrik Serk ◽

Ina Ehlers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Hydrogen Isotope ◽

Pinus Nigra ◽

Widespread Application ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Environmental Controls ◽

Main Driver ◽

Leaf Level ◽

Response Change ◽

Isotope Variation

- Stable isotope abundances convey valuable information about plant physiological processes and underlying environmental controls. Central gaps in our mechanistic understanding of hydrogen isotope abundances impede their widespread application within the plant and Earth sciences. - To close these gaps, we analysed intramolecular deuterium abundances in glucose of Pinus nigra extracted from an annually resolved tree-ring series (1961 to 1995). - We found fractionation signals at glucose H1 and H2 introduced by closely related metabolic processes. These signals (and thus metabolism) respond to drought and atmospheric CO2 concentration beyond a response change point. They explain ≈60% of the whole-molecule deuterium variability. Altered metabolism is associated with below-average yet not exceptionally low growth. - We propose the signals are introduced at the leaf-level by changes in sucrose-to-starch carbon partitioning and anaplerotic carbon flux into the Calvin-Benson cycle. In conclusion, metabolism can be the main driver of hydrogen isotope variation in plant glucose.

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Are young trees suitable for climate-growth analysis? A trial with Pinus nigra in the central Apennines treeline

Dendrochronologia ◽

10.1016/j.dendro.2020.125720 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 62 ◽

pp. 125720

Author(s):

Enrico Tonelli ◽

Alessandro Vitali ◽

Alma Piermattei ◽

Carlo Urbinati

Keyword(s):

Growth Analysis ◽

Pinus Nigra ◽

Central Apennines

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Tree-ring evidence for a combined influence of defoliators and extreme climatic events in the dynamics of a high-altitude balsam fir forest, Mount Mégantic, southern Quebec

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x04-025 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 34 (7) ◽

pp. 1436-1443 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Chantal Lemieux ◽

Louise Filion

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Abies Balsamea ◽

Balsam Fir ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Growth Anomalies ◽

Extreme Climatic Events ◽

Ice Storms ◽

The Impact ◽

Tree Development

Most mature balsam fir trees (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) growing at the top of Mount Mégantic (Quebec) exhibit multiple leaders in the upper crown section, an indication of stressful conditions for tree development in this high-altitude stand. We report here on a detailed dendroecological analysis of windthrown trees showing that multiple stem development was linked to spruce budworm activity during the 1970s. In spite of severe defoliation, damaged trees temporarily restored their vegetative structure by forming reiterated axes. About 9% of all leaders sampled died during a 3-year period (1996-1998), which represents 60% of dead leaders sampled, with tree morbidity and mortality also peaking in 1996. Tree-ring dating of growth anomalies indicated the impact of major snow and (or) ice storms during the 1996 and 1998 winters, two events validated by field observations from the Mount Mégantic conservation area authorities. Biotic (defoliators) and extreme climatic events have a combined influence in the dynamics of high-altitude balsam fir forests.

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