Influences of Shifted Vegetation Phenology on Runoff Across a Hydroclimatic Gradient

Climate warming has changed vegetation phenology, and the phenology-associated impacts on terrestrial water fluxes remain largely unquantified. The impacts are linked to plant adjustments and responses to climate change and can be different in different hydroclimatic regions. Based on remote sensing data and observed river runoff of hydrological station from six river basins across a hydroclimatic gradient from northeast to southwest in China, the relative contributions of the vegetation (including spring and autumn phenology, growing season length (GSL), and gross primary productivity) and climatic factors affecting the river runoffs over 1982–2015 were investigated by applying gray relational analysis (GRA). We found that the average GSLs in humid regions (190–241 days) were longer than that in semi-humid regions (186–192 days), and the average GSLs were consistently extended by 4.8–13.9 days in 1982–2015 period in six river basins. The extensions were mainly linked to the delayed autumn phenology in the humid regions and to advanced spring phenology in the semi-humid regions. Across all river basins, the GRA results showed that precipitation (r = 0.74) and soil moisture (r = 0.73) determine the river runoffs, and the vegetation factors (VFs) especially the vegetation phenology also affected the river runoffs (spring phenology: r = 0.66; GSL: r = 0.61; autumn phenology: r = 0.59), even larger than the contribution from temperature (r = 0.57), but its relative importance is climatic region-dependent. Interestingly, the spring phenology is the main VF in the humid region for runoffs reduction, while both spring and autumn growth phenology are the main VFs in the semi-humid region, because large autumn phenology delay and less water supply capacity in spring amplify the effect of advanced spring phenology. This article reveals diverse linkages between climatic and VFs, and runoff in different hydroclimatic regions, and provides insights that vegetation phenology influences the ecohydrology process largely depending on the local hydroclimatic conditions, which improve our understanding of terrestrial hydrological responses to climate change.

Mögliche künftige Trends der Lufttemperatur und des Blattaustriebs der Schwarzerle (Alnus glutinosa) in Deutschland

<p>Eine direkte Auswirkung des rezenten Klimawandels auf die Vegetation ist die Verfrühung phänologischer Stadien, besonders im Frühjahr (WALDAU & CHMIELEWSKI, 2018; CHMIELEWSKI et al., 2004; WOLFE et al., 2005). Diese Trends wurden weltweit beobachtet und sind hauptsächlich auf den Anstieg der Lufttemperatur zurückzuführen, was den engen Zusammenhang zwischen Pflanzenentwicklung und Temperatur belegt. Dieser stetige Temperaturanstieg wird sich in Zukunft fortsetzen und zu zeitlichen und räumlichen Verschiebungen in der Vegetationsentwicklung führen. Um diese Veränderungen abschätzen zu können, sind plausible phänologische Modelle erforderlich, wobei das Kältebedürfnis, das für die Überwindung der Dormanz erforderlich ist, hierbei eine der Schlüsselgrößen ist. <br />Ziel dieser Studie war es die zukünftigen Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die natürliche Vegetation in Deutschland abzuschätzen. In einer dreijährigen Studie (Winter 2015/16 – 2017/18) wurde der Zeitpunkt der Dormanzbrechung für verschiedene Baumarten experimentell in Klimakammerversuchen bestimmt. Im Rahmen dieses Vortrages sollen die Ergebnisse für die Schwarzerle (Alnus glutinosa) dargestellt werden. Nach der Ermittlung des für den Blattaustrieb der Schwarzerle notwendigen Kältereizes wurde ein Chilling/Forcing Modell parametrisiert und anschließend an den phänologischen Beobachtungdaten des Deutschen Wetterdienstes (1951-2015) validiert. Für die Abschätzung der künftigen klimatischen Entwicklung wurde ein Klimaensemble aus sieben verschieden Klimamodellrechnungen für zwei Klimaszenarien (RCP 2.6 & 8.5) verwendet. Für den Zeitraum 2010-2100 werden neben den zeitlichen Trends der Lufttemperatur und der Phänologie zusätzlich die regionalen Unterschiede in Deutschland (Nord-Ost/Nord-West/Süd-Ost/Süd-West) aufgezeigt.</p> <p> </p> <p>Literatur:</p> <p>CHMIELEWSKI, F. M., MÜLLER, A. & BRUNS, E. (2004): Climate changes and trends in phenology of fruit trees and field crops in Germany, 1961–2000. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 121 (1), 69-DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1923(03)00161-8.</p> <p>WALDAU, T. & CHMIELEWSKI, F. M. (2018): Spatial and temporal changes of spring temperature, thermal growing season and spring phenology in Germany 1951–2015. Meteorol. Z. 27 (4), 335-342.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1127/metz/2018/0923.</p> <p>WOLFE, D. W., SCHWARTZ, M. D., LAKSO, A. N., OTSUKI, Y., POOL, R. M. & SHAULIS, N. J. (2005): Climate change and shifts in spring phenology of three horticultural woody perennials in northeastern USA. International Journal of Biometeorology 49 (5), 303-309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-004-0248-9.</p>

The European Forest Condition Monitor: Using Remotely Sensed Forest Greenness to Identify Hot Spots of Forest Decline

Forest decline, in course of climate change, has become a frequently observed phenomenon. Much of the observed decline has been associated with an increasing frequency of climate change induced hotter droughts while decline induced by flooding, late-frost, and storms also play an important role. As a consequence, tree mortality rates have increased across the globe. Despite numerous studies that have assessed forest decline and predisposing factors for tree mortality, we still lack an in-depth understanding of (I) underlying eco-physiological mechanisms, (II) the influence of varying environmental conditions related to soil, competition, and micro-climate, and (III) species-specific strategies to cope with prolonged environmental stress. To deepen our knowledge within this context, studying tree performance within larger networks seems a promising research avenue. Ideally such networks are already established during the actual period of environmental stress. One approach for identifying stressed forests suitable for such monitoring networks is to assess measures related to tree vitality in near real-time across large regions by means of satellite-borne remote sensing. Within this context, we introduce the European Forest Condition monitor (EFCM)—a remote-sensing based, freely available, interactive web information tool. The EFCM depicts forest greenness (as approximated using NDVI from MODIS at a spatial resolution of roughly 5.3 hectares) for the pixel-specific growing season across Europe and consequently allows for guiding research within the context of concurrent forest performance. To allow for inter-temporal comparability and account for pixel-specific features, all observations are set in relation to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) records over the monitoring period beginning in 2001. The EFCM provides both a quantile-based and a proportion-based product, thereby allowing for both relative and absolute comparison of forest greenness over the observational record. Based on six specific examples related to spring phenology, drought, late-frost, tree die-back on water-logged soils, an ice storm, and windthrow we exemplify how the EFCM may help identifying hotspots of extraordinary forest greenness. We discuss advantages and limitations when monitoring forest condition at large scales on the basis of moderate resolution remote sensing products to guide users toward an appropriate interpretation.