scholarly journals The influence of soil properties and nutrients on conifer forest growth in Sweden, and the first steps in developing a nutrient availability metric

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 3475-3496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Van Sundert ◽  
Joanna A. Horemans ◽  
Johan Stendahl ◽  
Sara Vicca
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Forest Productivity ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Soil Factors ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Soil C

Abstract. The availability of nutrients is one of the factors that regulate terrestrial carbon cycling and modify ecosystem responses to environmental changes. Nonetheless, nutrient availability is often overlooked in climate–carbon cycle studies because it depends on the interplay of various soil factors that would ideally be comprised into metrics applicable at large spatial scales. Such metrics do not currently exist. Here, we use a Swedish forest inventory database that contains soil data and tree growth data for > 2500 forests across Sweden to (i) test which combination of soil factors best explains variation in tree growth, (ii) evaluate an existing metric of constraints on nutrient availability, and (iii) adjust this metric for boreal forest data. With (iii), we thus aimed to provide an adjustable nutrient metric, applicable for Sweden and with potential for elaboration to other regions. While taking into account confounding factors such as climate, N deposition, and soil oxygen availability, our analyses revealed that the soil organic carbon concentration (SOC) and the ratio of soil carbon to nitrogen (C : N) were the most important factors explaining variation in “normalized” (climate-independent) productivity (mean annual volume increment – m3 ha−1 yr−1) across Sweden. Normalized forest productivity was significantly negatively related to the soil C : N ratio (R2 = 0.02–0.13), while SOC exhibited an empirical optimum (R2 = 0.05–0.15). For the metric, we started from a (yet unvalidated) metric for constraints on nutrient availability that was previously developed by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA – Laxenburg, Austria) for evaluating potential productivity of arable land. This IIASA metric requires information on soil properties that are indicative of nutrient availability (SOC, soil texture, total exchangeable bases – TEB, and pH) and is based on theoretical considerations that are also generally valid for nonagricultural ecosystems. However, the IIASA metric was unrelated to normalized forest productivity across Sweden (R2 = 0.00–0.01) because the soil factors under consideration were not optimally implemented according to the Swedish data, and because the soil C : N ratio was not included. Using two methods (each one based on a different way of normalizing productivity for climate), we adjusted this metric by incorporating soil C : N and modifying the relationship between SOC and nutrient availability in view of the observed relationships across our database. In contrast to the IIASA metric, the adjusted metrics explained some variation in normalized productivity in the database (R2 = 0.03–0.21; depending on the applied method). A test for five manually selected local fertility gradients in our database revealed a significant and stronger relationship between the adjusted metrics and productivity for each of the gradients (R2 = 0.09–0.38). This study thus shows for the first time how nutrient availability metrics can be evaluated and adjusted for a particular ecosystem type, using a large-scale database.

scholarly journals The influence of soil properties and nutrients on conifer forest growth in Sweden, and the first steps in developing a nutrient availability metric

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Van Sundert ◽  
Joanna A. Horemans ◽  
Johan Stendahl ◽  
Sara Vicca
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Soil Factors ◽  
Ecosystem Responses ◽  
Soil C ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. The availability of nutrients regulates terrestrial carbon cycling and modifies ecosystem responses to environmental changes. Nonetheless, nutrient availability is often overlooked in climate-carbon cycle studies because it depends on the interplay of various soil factors that would ideally be comprised into one metric. Such a metric does not currently exist. Here, we used a Swedish forest inventory database that contains soil and tree growth data for > 2500 forests across Sweden to test which combination soil factors best explains variation in plant growth, and to take the first steps in developing a nutrient availability metric. For the latter, we started from a (yet unvalidated) metric for constraints on nutrient availability that was previously developed by IIASA (Laxenburg, Austria). This IIASA-metric was developed for crops and uses only indirect indicators of nutrient availability. Our analyses revealed that soil organic carbon content (SOC) and the soil carbon to nitrogen (C : N) ratio were the most important factors explaining variation in normalized (climate-independent) productivity. Normalized productivity increased with decreasing soil C : N ratio (R2 = 0.02–0.13), while SOC exhibited an empirical optimum (R2 = 0.05–0.15). The IIASA-metric was unrelated to normalized productivity (R2 = 0.00–0.01), because the soil factors under consideration were not well implemented, and because the C : N ratio was not included. We upgraded this metric by incorporating soil C : N and adjusting the relationship between SOC and nutrient availability in view of the observed relationship across our database. This upgraded metric explained a significant fraction of the variation (R2 = 0.03–0.21; depending on the applied method) and thus opens up new opportunities to further validate and improve it with other datasets, from forests and from other ecosystem types, to ultimately develop a generic global nutrient availability metric.

Tree growth across the Nepal Himalaya during the last four centuries

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
UK Thapa ◽  
S St. George ◽  
DK Kharal ◽  
NP Gaire
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Tree Ring Width ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Instrumental Records

The climate of Nepal has changed rapidly over the recent decades, but most instrumental records of weather and hydrology only extend back to the 1980s. Tree rings can provide a longer perspective on recent environmental changes, and since the early 2000s, a new round of field initiatives by international researchers and Nepali scientists have more than doubled the size of the country’s tree-ring network. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the current tree-ring width network for Nepal, and use this network to estimate changes in forest growth nation-wide during the last four centuries. Ring-width chronologies in Nepal have been developed from 11 tree species, and half of the records span at least 290 years. The Nepal tree-ring width network provides a robust estimate of annual forest growth over roughly the last four centuries, but prior to this point, our mean ring-width composite fluctuates wildly due to low sample replication. Over the last four centuries, two major events are prominent in the all-Nepal composite: (i) a prolonged and widespread growth suppression during the early 1800s; and (ii) heightened growth during the most recent decade. The early 19th century decline in tree growth coincides with two major Indonesian eruptions, and suggests that short-term disturbances related to climate extremes can exert a lasting influence on the vigor of Nepal’s forests. Growth increases since AD 2000 are mainly apparent in high-elevation fir, which may be a consequence of the observed trend towards warmer temperatures, particularly during winter. This synthesis effort should be useful to establish baselines for tree-ring data in Nepal and provide a broader context to evaluate the sensitivity or behavior of this proxy in the central Himalayas.

scholarly journals Impact of regional climatic conditions on tree growth on mainland Greece

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis P. Koulelis ◽  
Evangelia N. Daskalakou ◽  
Kostas E. Ioannidis
Keyword(s):  
Tree Growth ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Tree Vitality ◽  
Intensive Monitoring

AbstractForest growth is commonly used to explore tree vitality and ability to resist to environmental changes or climatic fluctuations. This paper illustrates and examines how regional climatic conditions can be related to the decline of tree growth, which were found to be more distinct in Quercus frainetto Ten. (Hungarian oak) and Fagus sylvatica L. (European beech) and less pronounced in Abies borissi-regis Matt f. (Bulgarian fir) on three long-term intensive monitoring plots (ICP Forests-Level II) in Greece during the period 1996–2009. Relative basal area increment and volume increment were calculated, expressing tree growth in terms of mean relative annual periodic increment. A decline in the growth of basal area and volume was observed after hot and dry periods, where annual temperatures and precipitation were far from the mean of the analyzed period. This observation was statistically confirmed in oak and beech plots regarding summer precipitation only and are in agreement with the findings of previous studies in Europe. The representativeness of the results at a national scale needs further investigation, although our results provide a good basis for further and more intensive monitoring programs to address various forest management scenarios against the background of potential climatic changes in the Mediterranean area.

scholarly journals Impacts of climate change on the potential forest productivity based on a climate-driven biophysical model in northeastern China

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 2273-2286
Author(s):  
Wen-Qiang Gao ◽  
Xiang-Dong Lei ◽  
Li-Yong Fu
Keyword(s):  
Forest Productivity ◽  
Northeastern China ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Jilin Province ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Biophysical Model ◽  
Climate Scenarios ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Index Model

AbstractClimate warming is expected to influence forest growth, composition and distribution. However, accurately estimating and predicting forest biomass, potential productivity or forest growth is still a challenge for forest managers dealing with land-use at the stand to regional levels. In the present study, we predicted the potential productivity (PP) of forest under current and future climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) in Jilin province, northeastern China by using Paterson’s Climate Vegetation and Productivity (CVP) index model. The PP was validated by comparing it with the mean and maximum net primary production calculated from light energy utilization (GLM_PEM). Our results indicated that using the CVP index model is partially valid for predicting the potential forest productivity in northeastern China. PP exhibited obvious spatial heterogeneity varying from 4.6 to 8.9 m3 ha−1 year−1with an increasing tendency from northwest to southeast driven by the precipitation across the region. The number of vegetation-active months, precipitation and insolation coefficient were identified as the primary factors affecting PP, but no significant relationship was found for warmest temperature or temperature fluctuation. Under future climate scenarios, PP across the Jilin Province is expected to increase from 1.38% (RCP2.6 in 2050) to 15.30% (RCP8.5 in 2070), especially in the eastern Songnen Plain (SE) for the RCP8.5 scenarios.

How do soil properties affect alpine treelines? General principles in a global perspective and novel findings from Rolwaling Himal, Nepal

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Müller ◽  
Udo Schickhoff ◽  
Thomas Scholten ◽  
Simon Drollinger ◽  
Jürgen Böhner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Treeline Shift

Little is known about how soil properties control tree growth at its upper limit. This paper reviews the state of knowledge and discusses the results specifically related to ecozones, to the scale-dependent importance of single factors, and to new findings from a near-natural treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal. This paper identifies gaps in literature and shows where new research is needed, both conceptual and geographical. The review shows that at a global scale and throughout diverse ecozones, growing season soil temperature is considered a key factor for tree growth. Soil temperatures differ greatly at a local scale, and are mainly determined by local climatic, edaphic, and topographic conditions. Our result of 7.6 ± 0.6°C for growing season mean soil temperature at treeline in Rolwaling is 1.2 K higher compared to the postulated 6.4 ± 0.7°C for alpine treelines. We suggest a broadening of the ±0.7°C error term to cover the wide range at a local scale. The role of major soil nutrients and soil moisture for treeline shift has been underestimated by far. In Rolwaling, significantly decreasing nutrient availability (N, K, Mg) in soils and foliage with elevation might explain why treeline shift and global warming are decoupled. Further, soil moisture deficits early in the year impede seedling and sapling establishment, which could be an important mechanism that controls treeline position. These findings question previous results which argue that alpine treelines are unaffected by soil nutrient availability and soil moisture. We assume that specific combinations of soil properties as well as single soil properties limit tree growth even below climatic treelines.

Mapping and imputing potential productivity of Pacific Northwest forests using climate variables

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1197-1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Latta ◽  
Hailemariam Temesgen ◽  
Tara M. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forest Productivity ◽  
Forest Growth ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Moisture Index ◽  
Annual Increment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Spatial Autoregressive ◽  
Mean Annual Increment

Regional estimation of potential forest productivity is important to diverse applications, including biofuels supply, carbon sequestration, and projections of forest growth. Using PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) climate and productivity data measured on a grid of 3356 Forest Inventory and Analysis plots in Oregon and Washington, we evaluated four possible imputation methods to estimate potential forest productivity: nearest neighbour, multiple linear regression, thin plate spline functions, and a spatial autoregressive model. Productivity, measured by potential mean annual increment at culmination, is explained by the interaction of annual temperature, precipitation, and climate moisture index. The data were randomly divided into 2237 reference plots and 1119 target plots 30 times. Each imputation method was evaluated by calculating the coefficient of determination, bias, and root mean square error of both the target and reference data set and was also tested for evidence of spatial autocorrelation. Potential forest productivity maps of culmination potential mean annual increment were produced for all Oregon and Washington timberland.

scholarly journals Three representative UK moorland soils show differences in decadal release of dissolved organic carbon in response to environmental change

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 3661-3675 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. I. Stutter ◽  
D. G. Lumsdon ◽  
A. P. Rowland
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Organic Carbon ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Doc Concentration ◽  
Mineral Soils

Abstract. Moorland carbon reserves in organo-mineral soils may be crucial to predicting landscape-scale variability in soil carbon losses, an important component of which is dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Surface water DOC trends are subject to a range of scaling, transport and biotic processes that disconnect them from signals in the catchment's soils. Long-term soil datasets are vital to identify changes in DOC release at source and soil C depletion. Here we show, that moorland soil solution DOC concentrations at three key UK Environmental Change Network sites increased between 1993–2007 in both surface- and sub- soil of a freely-draining Podzol (48 % and 215 % increases in O and Bs horizons, respectively), declined in a gleyed Podzol and showed no change in a Peat. Our principal findings were that: (1) considerable heterogeneity in DOC response appears to exist between different soils that is not apparent from the more consistent observed trends for streamwaters, and (2) freely-draining organo-mineral Podzol showed increasing DOC concentrations, countering the current scientific focus on soil C destabilization in peats. We discuss how the key solubility controls on DOC associated with coupled physico-chemical factors of ionic strength, acid deposition recovery, soil hydrology and temperature cannot readily be separated. Yet, despite evidence that all sites are recovering from acidification the soil-specific responses to environmental change have caused divergence in soil DOC concentration trends. The study shows that the properties of soils govern their specific response to an approximately common set of broad environmental drivers. Key soil properties are indicated to be drainage, sulphate and DOC sorption capacity. Soil properties need representation in process-models to understand and predict the role of soils in catchment to global C budgets. Catchment hydrological (i.e. transport) controls may, at present, be governing the more ubiquitous rises in river DOC concentration trends, but soil (i.e. source) controls provide the key to prediction of future C loss to waters and the atmosphere.

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