Below-ground response of Norway spruce to climate conditions at Mt. Brocken (Germany)—A re-assessment of Central Europe's northernmost treeline

Hertel, Dietrich; Schöling, Dorothea

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2010.05.001

Cited by 37 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…The four other stands were located within the protected area of Harz National Park and were natural spruce forests ranging in age from~100 years at lower elevation to~260 years at the treeline according to forest history archives (National Park Administration, pers. (Hertel and Schöling, 2011b). ; see also Firbas and Preuss, 1934;Firbas et al, 1939).…”

Section: Stand Structurementioning

confidence: 96%

Cloud water interception and element deposition differ largely between Norway spruce stands along an elevation transect in Harz Mountains, Germany

et al. 2014

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Cloud deposition can contribute a significant amount of water and elements to montane forests and thus play an important role in the hydrological and biochemical cycles of these ecosystems. However, elevational pattern in cloud and throughfall input to forest ecosystems and the associated chemical element fluxes are poorly understood so far. We studied gross precipitation, throughfall and cloud water deposition, and the associated fluxes of elements (N, P, Ca, K, Mg and Na) in five mature stands of Norway spruce along an elevation transect from lowlands to the alpine treeline (420-1060 m) at Mt Brocken (Harz Mountains, Germany). We tested the hypotheses that water input increases with elevation despite a reduction in intercepting plant surfaces, leading to higher inputs of nitrogen and other elements to high-elevation forests than in lower-elevation stands. Gross precipitation (only snow-free period) rose by 75% towards the treeline, but water input with throughfall increased by 350% because of a large increase in cloud water deposition (from 2 mm at 420 m to 160-200 mm at 1000 m in the study period). Element fluxes with gross precipitation were not uniformly related to elevation across all six elements. However, element fluxes via throughfall showed a positive correlation with elevation for all elements. Thus, the upper montane spruce forests received 50-150% higher atmospheric inputs of base cations and inorganic N and~200% higher P inputs than lower-elevation forests. We conclude that elevation does have a large influence on the atmospheric water and element inputs in temperate mountain forests. N ti = total inorganic nitrogen. Significant correlations (p < 0·05) are indicated by bold numbers. N = 5 for every element. Italic numbers indicate simple non-linear regressions; all other regressions are linear.

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Section: Stand Structurementioning

confidence: 96%

Cloud water interception and element deposition differ largely between Norway spruce stands along an elevation transect in Harz Mountains, Germany

et al. 2014

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“…Six of the squares were randomly selected and analyzed under the stereomicroscope for even the smallest dead fine root fragments. The total mass of small dead rootlets was extrapolated by regression analysis from the ratio of small rootlets to large dead roots (>10 mm in length) recorded in the same subsample (Praag et al, 1988;Hertel and Sch€ oling, 2011). Sorted samples were dried at 70 C for 48 h and weighed.…”

Section: Fine Root Sampling and Morphological Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic properties and fine root mass of Larix sibirica along forest edge-interior gradients

et al. 2015

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“…In mountains, tree height generally decreases with increasing elevation (e.g., Wilson et al, 1987; Young, 1993; Kessler et al, 2007), but, especially near the upper (alpine) treeline, a wide range of tree height-elevation relationships can be found (Holtmeier, 2009; Körner, 2012). Some studies have documented linear decreases with elevation (e.g., Paulsen et al, 2000; Kessler et al, 2007), while others have found increasingly steep declines in tree height close to treeline elevation (e.g., Barrera et al, 2000; Hertel and Wesche, 2008; Hertel and Schöling, 2011b) or even abrupt treelines (e.g., Miehe et al, 2007). Furthermore, treelines may be formed by closed stands of trees or by increasingly scattered tree individuals (Miehe et al, 2007; for a review of treeline physiognomy see Holtmeier, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevational patterns of Polylepis tree height (Rosaceae) in the high Andes of Peru: role of human impact and climatic conditions

et al. 2014

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We studied tree height in stands of high-Andean Polylepis forests in two cordilleras near Cuzco (Peru) with respect to variations in human impact and climatic conditions, and compared air and soil temperatures between qualitatively defined dry and humid slopes. We studied 46 forest plots of 100 m2 of five Polylepis species at 3560–4680 m. We measured diameter at breast height (dbh) and tree height in the stands (1229 trees in total), as well as air and soil temperatures in a subset of plots. The data was analyzed combining plots of given species from different sites at the same elevation (±100 m). There was no elevational decrease of mean maximum tree height across the entire data set. On humid slopes, tree height decreased continuously with elevation, whereas on dry slopes it peaked at middle elevations. With mean maximum tree heights of 9 m at 4530 m on the humid slopes and of 13 m at 4650 m on the dry slopes, we here document the tallest high-elevation forests found so far worldwide. These highest stands grow under cold mean growing season air temperatures (3.6 and 3.8°C on humid vs. dry slopes) and mean growing season soil temperatures (5.1 vs. 4.6°C). Mean annual air and soil temperature both decreased with elevation. Dry slopes had higher mean and maximum growing season air temperatures than humid slopes. Mean annual soil temperatures did not significantly differ and mean annual air temperatures only slightly differed between slopes. However, maximum air temperatures differed on average by 6.6 K between dry and humid slopes. This suggests that the differences in tree height between the two slopes are most likely due to differences in solar radiation as reflected by maximum air temperatures. Our study furthermore provides evidence that alpine Polylepis treelines grow under lower temperature conditions than global high-elevation treelines on average, suggesting that Polylepis species may have evolved special physiological adaptations to low temperatures.

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Below-ground response of Norway spruce to climate conditions at Mt. Brocken (Germany)—A re-assessment of Central Europe's northernmost treeline

Cited by 37 publications

References 77 publications

Cloud water interception and element deposition differ largely between Norway spruce stands along an elevation transect in Harz Mountains, Germany

Cloud water interception and element deposition differ largely between Norway spruce stands along an elevation transect in Harz Mountains, Germany

Hydraulic properties and fine root mass of Larix sibirica along forest edge-interior gradients

Elevational patterns of Polylepis tree height (Rosaceae) in the high Andes of Peru: role of human impact and climatic conditions

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