Divergent Last Century Tree Growth along An Altitudinal Gradient in A Pinus sylvestris Dry-edge Population

Research Highlights: This research highlights the importance of environmental gradients in shaping tree growth responses to global change drivers and the difficulty of attributing impacts to a single directional driver. Background and Objectives: Temperature increases associated with climate change might strongly influence tree growth and forest productivity in temperate forest species. However, the direction and intensity of these effects at the dry edge of species range are still unclear, particularly given the interaction between local factors and other global change drivers such as land use change, atmospheric CO2 increase and nitrogen deposition. While recent studies suggest that tree growth in cool temperate forests has accelerated during the last decades of the 20th century, other studies suggest a prevalence of declining growth, especially in dry-edge populations. Materials and Methods: Using historical forest inventories, we analyzed last century tree growth trends (1930–2010) along an elevation gradient (1350–1900 meters above sea level (m a.s.l.)) in a dry edge scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest in Central Iberian Peninsula. Growth was estimated as decadal volume increments in harvested trees of different size classes from 1930 to 2010 (1930–1940, 1939–1949, 1949–1959, 1959–1968, 1989–1999, 2000–2010). Results: Our results showed opposite growth trends over time depending on elevation. While tree growth has accelerated in the low end of the altitudinal gradient, tree growth slowed down at higher elevations (1624–1895 m a.s.l.). Moreover, the magnitude of growth reduction along the altitudinal gradient increased with tree age. Conclusions: Throughout the last 80 years, growth trends in a rear-edge Pinus. sylvestris forest has shown divergent patterns along an altitudinal gradient. Specifically, environmental conditions have become more adverse for growth at high altitudes and have improved at low altitudes. This suggests that local factors such as topography can modulate the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems.

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The impact of drought on tree growth in Mediterranean sites

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8635 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Giovanna Battipaglia ◽

Francesco Niccoli ◽

Arturo Pacheco-Solana

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Ring Width ◽

Limiting Factor ◽

Individual Tree ◽

Annual Growth Rings ◽

The Impact

Climate-induced forest mortality is a critical issue in the Mediterranean basin, with major consequences for the functioning of these key ecosystems. Indeed, in Mediterranean ecosystems, where water stress is already the most limiting factor for tree performance, climatic changes are expected to entail an increase in water deficit. In this context, annual growth rings can provide short- (e.g., years) and long-term (e.g., decades) information on how trees respond to drought events. With climate change, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea L. are expected to reduce their distribution range in the region, being displaced at low altitudes by more drought tolerant taxa such as sub Mediterranean Quercus spp.This study aims was to assess the physiological response of Pinus and Quercus species growing in the Vesuvio National park, located in Southern Italy and where an increase of temperature and drought events has been recorded in the recent years. Our preliminary results underlined the importance of temperature on the tree ring width of all the analyses species. The high temperatures can cause a change in the constant kinetics of the RuBisCo, leading to a consequent decrease in carboxylation rate and thus to a reduction in tree growth. On the other hand, also precipitation seemed to affect the growth of the sampled trees: indeed, in all the chronologies a reduction in growth was found after particular dry years: for example, the low rainfall in 1999 (455 mm/year) determined a drastic decline in growth in 2000 in all the species. In addition to the climatic factors, competition can also play an important role in the growth rate: dendrochronological analyzes have highlighted how stand specific properties (i.e. density, structure and composition) can influence individual tree responses to drought events. The knowledge of those researches should be integrated into sustainable forest management strategies to minimize the potential impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems.

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Interactions between Climate and Nutrient Cycles on Forest Response to Global Change: The Role of Mixed Forests

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10080609 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 609 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Ester González de Andrés

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Change ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Species Interactions ◽

N Deposition ◽

Elemental Ratios ◽

Nutrient Mineralization ◽

Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽

The Impact

Forest ecosystems are undergoing unprecedented changes in environmental conditions due to global change impacts. Modification of global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen, and the subsequent climate change are affecting forest functions at different scales, from physiology and growth of individual trees to cycling of nutrients. This review summarizes the present knowledge regarding the impact of global change on forest functioning not only with respect to climate change, which is the focus of most studies, but also the influence of altered nitrogen cycle and the interactions among them. The carbon dioxide (CO2) fertilization effect on tree growth is expected to be constrained by nutrient imbalances resulting from high N deposition rates and the counteractive effect of increasing water deficit, which interact in a complex way. At the community level, responses to global change are modified by species interactions that may lead to competition for resources and/or relaxation due to facilitation and resource partitioning processes. Thus, some species mixtures can be more resistant to drought than their respective pure forests, albeit it depends on environmental conditions and species’ functional traits. Climate change and nitrogen deposition have additional impacts on litterfall dynamics, and subsequent decomposition and nutrient mineralization processes. Elemental ratios (i.e., stoichiometry) are associated with important ecosystem traits, including trees’ adaptability to stress or decomposition rates. As stoichiometry of different ecosystem components are also influenced by global change, nutrient cycling in forests will be altered too. Therefore, a re-assessment of traditional forest management is needed in order to cope with global change. Proposed silvicultural systems emphasize the key role of diversity to assure multiple ecosystem services, and special attention has been paid to mixed-species forests. Finally, a summary of the patterns and underlying mechanisms governing the relationships between diversity and different ecosystems functions, such as productivity and stability, is provided.

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HETEROFOR 1.0: a spatially explicit model for exploring the response of structurally complex forests to uncertain future conditions. II. Phenology and water cycle

10.5194/gmd-2019-201 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louis de Wergifosse ◽

Frédéric André ◽

Nicolas Beudez ◽

François de Coligny ◽

Hugues Goosse ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Balance ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Leaf Development ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Spatially Explicit ◽

Model Assessment ◽

Pearson's R ◽

The Impact ◽

Pearson’S R

Abstract. Climate change affects forest growth in numerous and sometimes opposite ways and the resulting trend is often difficult to predict for a given site. Integrating and structuring the knowledge gained from the monitoring and experimental studies into process-based models is an interesting approach to predict the response of forest ecosystems to climate change. While the first generation of such models operates at stand level, we need now individual-based and spatially-explicit approaches in order to account for structurally complex stands whose importance is increasingly recognized in the changing environment context. Among the climate-sensitive drivers of forest growth, phenology and water availability are often cited as crucial elements. They influence, for example, the length of the vegetation period during which photosynthesis takes place and the stomata opening, which determines the photosynthesis rate. In this paper, we describe the phenology and water balance modules integrated in the tree growth model HETEROFOR and evaluate them on six Belgian sites. More precisely, we assess the ability of the model to reproduce key phenological processes (budburst, leaf development, yellowing and fall) as well as water fluxes. Three variants are used to predict budburst (Uniforc, Unichill and Sequential), which differ regarding the inclusion of chilling and/or forcing periods and the calculation of the coldness or heat accumulation. Among the three, the Sequential approach is the least biased (overestimation of 2.46 days) while Uniforc (chilling not considered) best accounts for the interannual variability (Pearson’s R = 0.68). For the leaf development, yellowing and fall, predictions and observation are in accordance. Regarding the water balance module, the predicted throughfall is also in close agreement with the measurements (Pearson’s R = 0.856, bias = −1.3 %) and the soil water dynamics across the year is well-reproduced for all the study sites (Pearson’s R comprised between 0.893 and 0.950, and bias between −1.81 and −9.33 %). The positive results from the model assessment will allow us to use it reliably in projection studies to evaluate the impact of climate change on tree growth and test how diverse forestry practices can adapt forests to these changes.

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Growth trends and stand dynamics in natural loblolly pine in the southeastern United States

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x92-088 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 660-666 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Paul C. Van Deusen

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Loblolly Pine ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Southeastern United States ◽

Tree Age ◽

Stand Age ◽

Stand Dynamics ◽

Individual Tree ◽

Growth Trends ◽

Individual Tree Growth

A number of recent studies have shown reduced stand-level and individual-tree growth in natural loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) stands in the southeastern United States. This study uses increment cores from dominant and codominant trees to determine if individual-tree growth has changed from 1915 to 1985. The cores are grouped for comparison by first sorting on the basis of median stand age and then further sorting these groups of cores by individual-tree age. These trees experienced increasing basal area increments from the mid-1940s into the mid-1970s, after which growth rates returned to preincrease levels. These data support recent findings of growth reductions, but also indicate previously unreported growth increases preceding the growth decreases. These and supplemental permanent plot data suggest that stand dynamics is a viable hypothesis for explaining these growth trends.

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Residual-tree growth responses to partial stand harvest in the black spruce (Picea mariana) boreal forestThis article is one of a selection of papers published in the Special Forum IUFRO 1.05 Uneven-Aged Silvicultural Research Group Conference on Natural Disturbance-Based Silviculture: Managing for Complexity.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x07-148 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (9) ◽

pp. 1563-1571 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

H. C. Thorpe ◽

S. C. Thomas ◽

J. P. Caspersen

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Picea Mariana ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Growth Response ◽

Black Spruce ◽

Tree Age ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Partial Harvest ◽

Partial Harvesting

Variants of partial harvesting are gaining favour as means to balance ecosystem management and timber production objectives on managed boreal forest landscapes. Understanding how residual trees respond to these alternative silvicultural treatments is a critical step towards evaluating their potential from either a conservation or a wood supply perspective. We used dendroecological techniques combined with a chronosequence approach to quantify the temporal radial growth response pattern of residual black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) trees to partial harvest in northeastern Ontario. At its peak, 8–9 years after harvest, radial growth of residual trees had doubled. The growth pattern was characterized by a 2-year phase of no response, a subsequent period of increase 3–9 years after harvest, and a stage of declining rates 10–12 years after harvest. The magnitude of tree growth response depended strongly on tree age: peak postharvest growth was substantially higher for young trees, while old trees displayed only modest growth increases. Both the large magnitude and the time delay in postharvest growth responses have important implications for the development of more accurate quantitative tools to project future yields and, more generally, for determining whether partial harvesting is a viable management option for the boreal forest.

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Intra-Annual Wood Formation of Cryptomeria fortunei and Cunninghamia lanceolata in Humid Subtropical China

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.733974 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Zhuangpeng Zheng ◽

Feifei Zhou ◽

Patrick Fonti ◽

Ping Ren ◽

Xiaoxia Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Boreal Forests ◽

Cambial Activity ◽

Cunninghamia Lanceolata ◽

Growth Monitoring ◽

Specific Information ◽

Summer Drought ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Xylem Growth

Monitoring cambial activity is important for a better understanding of the mechanisms governing xylem growth responses to climate change, providing a scientific basis for tree-ring-based climate reconstructions and projections about tree growth under future climate scenarios. It plays an even more important role in investigating evergreen tree growth in regions with less distinct seasonal cycles. Subtropical evergreen forests have been studied in recent years for their sensitivity to climate change, but it remains unclear how xylem growth is driven by subtropical climates. To further understand the climate-growth response strategies of subtropical conifers, we micro-cored Cryptomeria fortunei and Cunninghamia lanceolata weekly in 2016 and 2017 at the humid subtropical Gushan Mountain in southeastern China. Our weekly growth monitoring showed that the vegetation periods of these two species were both approximately 2–3 months longer than trees in temperate and boreal forests. The growth of C. fortunei in 2016 and 2017 and C. lanceolata in 2017 showed a bimodal pattern of xylogenesis, which was induced by summer drought. The results also indicated that the earlier end of the xylem formation was related to the yearly drought stress. These findings provide more specific information about tree growth and evidence of how climate influences wood production at the cellular level in subtropical regions.

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Population Structure of Rhododendron Campanulatum D. Don and Associated Tree Species along the Elevational Gradient of Manaslu Conservation Area, Nepal

Journal of Institute of Science and Technology ◽

10.3126/jist.v21i1.16058 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 95-102

Author(s):

Prabina Rana ◽

Madan Koirala ◽

Dinesh Raj Bhuju ◽

Chuenchit Boonchird

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Population Structure ◽

Altitudinal Gradient ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Importance Value Index ◽

Importance Value ◽

Conservation Area ◽

The Impact ◽

Rhododendron Campanulatum

Climate change is affecting the forest ecosystems worldwide. Impacts of climate change are more perceptible at higher altitudes and can be easily detected along the elevational gradient. The main aim is to study the impact of elevation on the population structure of Rhododendron campanulatum D. Don and associated trees species at Manaslu Conservation Area, central Nepal. A total of 30 quadrats were sampled from 3600-4100 meter above sea level (m asl.) at altitudinal difference of 100 m with 5 quadrates in each altitude. The present study showed that R. campanulatum, Betula utilis, Abies spectabilis and Sorbus microphylla are the treeline species. R. campanulatum was the most dominant species with highest importance value index (IVI) along the altitudinal gradient. At 4000 m asl. S. microphylla was the codominant species. B. utilis was the codominant species at 3600 -3900 m asl followed by S. microphylla and A. spectabilis. R. campanulatum and A. spectabilis showed a sustainable regeneration. No seedling of B. utilis was found along the altitudinal gradient indicating that the regeneration of this species might be affected by unfavourable micohabitat (eg. deep shade). R. campanulatum and S. microphylla were found above the treeline indicating that the climatic conditions were favourable for their growth. The height, diameter and density of the species differed along the elevational gradient and showed a species specific trend. Journal of Institute of Science and TechnologyVol. 21, No. 1, 2016, page:

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Competition alters tree growth responses to climate at individual and stand scales

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2016-0188 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 53-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Kevin R. Ford ◽

Ian K. Breckheimer ◽

Jerry F. Franklin ◽

James A. Freund ◽

Steve J. Kroiss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Tsuga Heterophylla ◽

Individual Growth ◽

Thuja Plicata ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Scale Growth ◽

Important Variation ◽

Hierarchical Bayesian Methods

Understanding how climate affects tree growth is essential for assessing climate change impacts on forests but can be confounded by effects of competition, which strongly influences tree responses to climate. We characterized the joint influences of tree size, competition, and climate on diameter growth using hierarchical Bayesian methods applied to permanent sample plot data from the montane forests of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, USA, which are mostly comprised of Abies amabilis Douglas ex Forbes, Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco, and Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don. Individual growth was sensitive to climate under low but not high competition, likely because tree ability to increase growth under more favorable climates (generally greater energy availability) was constrained by competition, with important variation among species. Thus, climate change will likely increase individual growth most in uncrowded stands with lower competition. However, crowded stands have more and (or) larger trees, conferring greater capacity for aggregate absolute growth increases. Due to these contrasting effects, our models predicted that climate change will lead to greater stand-scale growth increases in stands with medium compared with low crowding but similar increases in stands with medium and high crowding. Thus, competition will mediate the impacts of climate change on individual- and stand-scale growth in important but complex ways.

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Climate Warming Alters Age-Dependent Growth Sensitivity to Temperature in Eurasian Alpine Treelines

Forests ◽

10.3390/f9110688 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 688 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Raúl Sanchez-Salguero ◽

J. Camarero ◽

Emilia Gutiérrez ◽

Antonio Gazol ◽

Gabriel Sangüesa-Barreda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Warming ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

Tree Age ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Polar Urals ◽

Cold Environments ◽

Age Related ◽

Old Trees

Treeline ecotones are considered early-warning monitors of the effects of climate warming on terrestrial ecosystems, but it is still unclear how tree growth at treeline will track the forecasted temperature rise in these cold environments. Here, we address this issue by analysing and projecting growth responses to climate on two different cold-limited alpine treelines: Pinus uncinata Ram. in the Spanish Pyrenees and Larix sibirica Ledeb. in the Russian Polar Urals. We assess radial-growth changes as a function of tree age and long-term climate variability using dendrochronology and a process-based model of tree growth. Climate‒growth relationships were compared considering young (age < 50 years) and old trees (age > 75 years) separately. Warm summer conditions enhanced radial growth, particularly after the 1980s, in the Polar Urals sites, whereas growth was positively related to warm spring and winter conditions in the Pyrenees sites. These associations were stronger in young than in old trees for both tree species and regions. Forecasted warm conditions are expected to enhance growth rates in both regions, while the growing season is forecasted to lengthen in the Pyrenees treelines, mostly in young trees. The observed age-related responses to temperature also depend on the forecasted warming rates. Although the temperature sensitivity is overall increasing for young trees, those responses seem more divergent, or even reversed, throughout the contrasting emission scenarios. The RCP 8.5 emission scenario corresponding to the most pronounced warming and drier conditions (+4.8 °C) could also amplify drought stress in young trees from the Pyrenees treelines. Our modelling approach provides accessible tools to evaluate functional thresholds for tree growth in treeline ecotones under warmer conditions.

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Divergent Growth Responses to Warming between Stand-Grown and Open-Grown Trees in a Dryland Montane Forest in Northwestern China

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10121133 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1133 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lei Zhang ◽

Hao Shi ◽

Pengtao Yu ◽

Yanhui Wang ◽

Shufen Pan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Montane Forest ◽

Growth Patterns ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Northwestern China ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Internal Factors ◽

High Elevations

Dryland montane forests conserve water for people living in the fluvial plains. The fate of these forests under climate warming is strongly affected by local environmental factors. The question remains of how internal factors contribute to climate change impacts on forest growth in these regions. Here, we investigated tree ring records for similar-aged stand-grown trees and their neighboring open-grown trees at elevation in a dryland montane forest (Picea crassifolia Kom.) in northwestern China. The growth rate of open-grown trees is much higher than their neighboring stand-grown trees across the entire elevation gradient, and the lower the altitude, the greater the difference. Open-grown trees at different elevations showed similar growth patterns, as tree growth at all sites was accelerated over time. In contrast, growth patterns of stand-grown trees were divergent at different altitudes, as growth at high elevations (3100–3300 m a.s.l.) was accelerated, whereas growth at low elevations (2700–2900 m a.s.l.) became stable after the year 1990. Analysis of growth–climate relationships indicated that warming promoted open-grown tree growth across the entire altitude gradient, and also stand-grown tree growth at high elevations, but negatively affected the growth of stand-grown trees at low elevations. Water scarcity can be exacerbated by competition within forests, inhibiting the warming-induced benefits on tree growth. Moving window correlation analysis suggested the negative effect of warming on tree growth at low elevations was diminished after the late 1990s, as the drought stress was alleviated. Our research shows the divergent growth responses to warming of stand-grown and open-grown trees along elevation. It reveals effects of internal factors in determining tree growth response to warming and holds the potential to aid forest management and ecosystem models in responding to climate change.

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