Cumulative growth and stress responses to the 2018–2019 drought in a European floodplain forest

Droughts increasingly threaten the worlds forests and their potential to mitigate climate change. In 2018-2019, Central European forests were hit by two consecutive hotter drought years, an unprecedented phenomenon that is likely to occur more frequently with climate change. Here, we examine trees growth resistance and physiological stress responses (increase in carbon isotope composition; Δδ13C) to this consecutive drought based on tree-rings of dominant tree species in a Central European floodplain forest. Tree growth was not reduced for most species in 2018, indicating that water supply in floodplain forests can partly buffer meteorological water deficits. Drought stress in 2018 was comparable to former single drought years, but the cumulative drought stress in 2019 induced drastic decreases in growth resistance and increases in Δδ13C across all species. Consecutive hotter droughts pose a novel threat to forests under climate change, even in forest ecosystems with high levels of water supply.

show abstract

The principle of space-for-time substitution in predicting Picea spp. biomass change under climate shifts

Усольцев

Merganičová

Konôpka

et al. 2022

Central European Forestry Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although forest ecosystems play an essential role in climate stabilization, current climatic shifts might cause striking changes in their biological productivity, which, in turn, affects the biosphere function of forests. Studies of the relationship between the biomass of trees and stands and hydrothermal indicators (temperature and precipitation) have usually been carried out at local or regional levels. It is still unknown how climate changes affect tree and stand biomass along transcontinental gradients. Therefore, the goals of this study were (a) to test if the law of the limiting factor holds for tree and stand biomass of Picea spp. at the transcontinental level of Eurasia in relation to temperature and precipitation, and (b) to apply the principle of space-for-time substitution to document the use of the derived tree and stand biomass climate-sensitive models for predicting temporal biomass changes. The results revealed that at a tree level spruce aboveground biomass increased with a temperature increase in moisture-rich regions, whereas in moisture–deficient regions it was reduced. Similarly, precipitation reduction at a constant average January temperature caused a reduction in aboveground biomass in warm regions, while in cold regions its increase was revealed. At a stand level, we also revealed an increase in biomass with increased precipitation amount in warm regions. The study suggested that the principle of space-for-time substitution was clearly manifested on biomass quantity of spruce at both individual tree and forest stand levels.

show abstract

Cumulative growth and stress responses to the 2018–2019 drought in a European floodplain forest

Cited by 4 publications

References 79 publications

Species-specific growth and transpiration response to changing environmental conditions in floodplain forest

Species-specific growth and transpiration response to changing environmental conditions in floodplain forest

Cumulative growth and stress responses to the 2018–2019 drought in a European floodplain forest

The principle of space-for-time substitution in predicting Picea spp. biomass change under climate shifts

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About