Climate–human interactions contributed to historical forest recruitment dynamics in Mediterranean subalpine ecosystems

Sangüesa‐Barreda, Gabriel; Esper, Jan; Büntgen, Ulf; Camarero, J. Julio; Filippo, Alfredo Di; Baliva, Michele; Piovesan, Gianluca

doi:10.1111/gcb.15246

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(157 reference statements)

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“…Our results suggest the beginning of a long-term plague-related rewilding phase, beginning with the Black Death of 1346-1352 and finishing in coincidence with the Naples plague of 1656-1658, supported by a cooler wetter climate consistent with studies from across much of Europe (Ljungqvist et al, 2018;Mensing et al, 2020;Piovesan, Biondi, Baliva, Dinella, et al, 2019;Sangüesa-Barreda et al, 2020;van Hoof et al, 2006;Yeloff & van Geel, 2007) (Figure 5g-i). A steady increase in tree pollen influx along with the increased recruitment density of pine trees in the subalpine elevation belt (Figure 5a,b) supports the interpretation of expanded forest cover in the area of Lago del Pesce.…”

Section: To 1330 Ce: Establishment Of Silver Fir Forestsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Apart from the palynological survey, we reconstructed a tree recruitment history for Bosnian pine ( Pinus heldreichii H.Christ) of the subalpine belt in the Pollino National Park with the aim of comparing pollen‐based forest reconstruction with an independent proxy able to describe past vegetation dynamics and responses (Sangüesa‐Barreda et al, 2020). Details on the dendrochronological methods can be found the Appendix S1: Section S2, and in the original publication (Piovesan, Biondi, Baliva, Dinella, et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical ecology identifies long‐term rewilding strategy for conservingMediterranean mountain forests in southItaly

Palli

Mensing

Schoolman

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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In the context of global decline in old-growth forest, historical ecology is a valuable tool to derive insights into vegetation legacies and dynamics and develop new conservation and restoration strategies. In this cross-disciplinary study, we integrate palynology (Lago del Pesce record), history, dendrochronology, and historical and contemporary land cover maps to assess drivers of vegetation change over the last millennium in a Mediterranean mountain forest (Pollino National Park, southern Italy) and discuss implications in conservation ecology. The study site hosts a remnant beech-fir (Fagus sylvatica-Abies alba) mixed forest, a priority habitat for biodiversity conservation in Europe. In the 10th century, the pollen record showed an open environment that was quickly colonized by silver fir when sociopolitical instabilities reduced anthropogenic pressures in mountain forests. The highest forest cover and biomass was reached between the 14th and the 17th centuries following land abandonment due to recurring plague pandemics. This

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Section: To 1330 Ce: Establishment Of Silver Fir Forestsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical ecology identifies long‐term rewilding strategy for conservingMediterranean mountain forests in southItaly

Palli

Mensing

Schoolman

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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“…Understanding how complex human–climate interactions shape forest dynamics and impact tree longevity has a fundamental role in science‐based forest management and conservation (Sangüesa‐Barreda et al ., 2020). Tree longevity, when properly determined (Box 1), can be considered a fundamental feature of forest ecosystems, even becoming a super‐trait that defines the health and integrity of ecological processes.…”

Section: Old Trees In a Changing Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an example, historical landscape changes in central Italy caused by human impacts have driven the modern location of old‐growth forests in remote areas (Mensing et al ., 2020). Similarly, it has been possible to establish a direct link between the abundance of multicentury‐old Pinus heldreichii trees and the disappearance of anthropogenic impacts in southern European mountains during the late medieval plagues (Piovesan et al ., 2019b; Sangüesa‐Barreda et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Old Trees In a Changing Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

On tree longevity

Piovesan

Biondi

2021

New Phytologist

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Large, majestic trees are iconic symbols of great age among living organisms. Published evidence suggests that trees do not die because of genetically programmed senescence in their meristems, but rather are killed by an external agent or a disturbance event. Long tree lifespans are therefore allowed by specific combinations of life history traits within realized niches that support resistance to, or avoidance of, extrinsic mortality. Another requirement for trees to achieve their maximum longevity is either sustained growth over extended periods of time or at least the capacity to increase their growth rates when conditions allow it. The growth plasticity and modularity of trees can then be viewed as an evolutionary advantage that allows them to survive and reproduce for centuries and millennia. As more and more scientific information is systematically collected on tree ages under various ecological settings, it is becoming clear that tree longevity is a key trait for global syntheses of life history strategies, especially in connection with disturbance regimes and their possible future modifications. In addition, we challenge the long-held notion that shade-tolerant, late-successional species have longer lifespans than earlysuccessional species by pointing out that tree species with extreme longevity do not fit this paradigm. Identifying extremely old trees is therefore the groundwork not only for protecting and/or restoring entire landscapes, but also to revisit and update classic ecological theories that shape our understanding of environmental change.

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“…in Sierra de Cazorla (Jaén, Spain) in the framework of a research project evaluating the variability in the climate response of this species. Pinus nigra is a circummediteranean mountain species with a remarkable longevity with strong potential for microdensity analysis [35]. Increment cores were air dried and sawed obtaining uniform cross-sections of 2 mm thickness.…”

Section: Comparison With Commercial Softwarementioning

confidence: 99%

ρ-MtreeRing: A Graphical User Interface for X-ray Microdensity Analysis

García‐Hidalgo

García‐Pedrero

Caetano-Sánchez

et al. 2021

Forests

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Wood microdensitometry provides an integrated measurement of inter and intra-annual changes in wood anatomy and lignification. Although it can be acquired through a wide array of techniques, X-ray-based techniques are still the standard. Conversion of a grayscale X-ray image to density and annual ring boundaries delimitation is performed through image analysis software. Proprietary software has dominated these applications, albeit Free Open Source Software (FOSS) has been developed recently. We present ρ-MtreeRing, a user-friendly FOSS that streamlines the entire microdensitometry analysis process through a graphical user interface based on Shiny R Software without any programming knowledge. We compared the results of this program with the most widely used commercial software (WinDendro), showing the validity of the results. ρ-MtreeRing can be personalized and developed by the microdensitometry research community.

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Climate–human interactions contributed to historical forest recruitment dynamics in Mediterranean subalpine ecosystems

Abstract: Alpine and subalpine ecosystems are particularly sensitive to temperature changes (Holtmeier & Broll, 2005). As a result, recent climate warming has led to tree encroachment and upward treeline

Cited by 10 publications

References 71 publications

Historical ecology identifies long‐term rewilding strategy for conservingMediterranean mountain forests in southItaly

Historical ecology identifies long‐term rewilding strategy for conservingMediterranean mountain forests in southItaly

On tree longevity

ρ-MtreeRing: A Graphical User Interface for X-ray Microdensity Analysis

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