Drought and frost contribute to abrupt growth decreases before tree mortality in nine temperate tree species

Vanoni, Marco; Bugmann, Harald; Nötzli, Magdalena; Bigler, Christof

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.10.001

Cited by 82 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In contrast with the few examples of winter cold sensitivity of high altitude beech populations, impacts of cold events on beech are often reported in relation to growth reductions following damage of young leaves during frost events late in spring (Dittmar et al., ; Príncipe et al., ; Vanoni, Bugmann, Nötzli, & Bigler, ). Regarding the findings of these authors, the coherence seems clear: the above ground late frost event damages the above ground photoactive, carbon‐assimilating organs of a tree, which subsequently reduces the trunk increment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter matters: Sensitivity to winter climate and cold events increases towards the cold distribution margin of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Weigel

Muffler

Klisz

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim:The dominant forest tree in Europe, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), covers large areas of continental Europe and thus experiences diverse climatic conditions. In the face of predicted climate change and shifts of distribution ranges, it is important to understand the diverse climate-growth relationships towards distribution margins. Beech is generally reported to be sensitive to summer drought towards dry and continental regions; yet, few studies have investigated climate sensitivity towards the cold distribution margin of beech. We hypothesized that at colder sites (a) growth of beech is more sensitive to winter cold, (b) growth is less influenced by summer drought, and (c) stand-wide growth reductions (negative pointer years) are related to extreme winter cold events.Taxon: European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Location:A large gradient of decreasing winter temperature (ΔT >4 K along 500 km) from Rostock (Germany) to Gdańsk (Poland). Methods:We analysed climate-growth relationships and the nature of growth reductions of 11 beech stands from more central to cold marginal beech populations.Results: Towards the cold marginal populations, growth became increasingly sensitive to winter cold (February temperature) and less sensitive to summer water availability (June precipitation). Likewise, negative pointer years coincided with winter cold anomalies at the colder sites and with summer drought anomalies at the warmer sites. Thus, over the studied gradient, the general sensitivity of beech to summer drought transitions into sensitivity to winter cold. Main conclusions:A range shift of beech across the current cold distribution margin is often assumed to compensate for habitat and productivity losses of droughtprone southern and central populations. With respect to the winter cold sensitivity found in our study, such assumptions should be taken with caution. Since winter cold events are predicted to persist with similar frequency and magnitude even during predicted climate warming, beech populations in the newly colonized habitat might be significantly sensitive to winter cold.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter matters: Sensitivity to winter climate and cold events increases towards the cold distribution margin of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Weigel

Muffler

Klisz

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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“…We calculated SPEI from February to July -hereafter identified as SPEI 07 (Vanoni, Bugmann, Nötzli, & Bigler, 2016) -between 1995 and 2012 with R package SPEI (Vicente-Serrano et al, 2010). SPEI was computed from 1 km resolution maps of precipitations and potential evapotranspiration, interpolated from weather station data (Piedallu & Gégout, 2007;Piedallu, Gégout, Lebourgeois, & Seynave, 2016).…”

Section: Climate Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

How neighbourhood interactions control the temporal stability and resilience to drought of trees in mountain forests

2019

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Over the coming decades, the predicted increase in frequency and intensity of extreme events such as droughts is likely to have a strong effect on forest functioning. Recent studies have shown that species mixing may buffer the temporal variability of productivity. However, most studies have focused on temporal stability of productivity, while species mixing may also affect forest resilience to extreme events. Our understanding of mechanisms underlying species mixing effects on forest stability and resilience remains limited because we ignore how changes from intraspecific to interspecific interactions in the neighbourhood of a given tree might affect its stability and resilience to extreme drought (i.e. response during and after this drought). This is crucial to better understand forests’ response to climate change and how diversity may help maintain forest functioning. Here we analysed how local intra‐ or interspecific interactions may affect the temporal stability and resilience to drought of individual trees in French mountain forests, using basal area increment data over the previous 20 years for Fagus sylvatica, Abies alba and Quercus pubescens. We analysed the effect of interspecific competition on (a) the temporal stability and (b) the resilience to drought (resistance and recovery) of individual tree radial growth. We found no significant interspecific competition effect on temporal stability, but species‐specific effects on tree growth resilience to drought. There was a positive effect of heterospecific proportion on the drought resilience of Q. pubescens, a negative effect for A. alba and no effect for F. sylvatica. These differences may be related to interspecific differences in water use or rooting depth. Synthesis: In this study, we showed that stand composition influences individual tree growth resilience to drought, but this effect varied depending on the species and its physiological responses. Our study also highlighted that a lack of biodiversity effect on long‐term stability might hide important effects on short‐term resilience to extreme climatic events. This may have important implications in the face of climate change.

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“…[28,70], trees species characteristics and adaptation strategies [71,72], as well as local tree competition [14,22,27,34].…”

Section: Meteorological Drought Conditions and Forest Temporal Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Drought Impact on Phenology and Green Biomass Production of Alpine Mountain Forest—Case Study of South Tyrol 2001–2012 Inspected with MODIS Time Series

Lewińska

Ivits

Schardt

et al. 2018

Forests

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Ecological balance and biodiversity of the alpine forest is endangered by global and local climatic extremes. It spurs a need for comprehensive forest monitoring, including in depth analyses of drought impact on the alpine woodland ecosystems. Addressing an arising knowledge gap, we identified and analyzed 2002-2012 aridity related responses within the alpine mountain forest of South Tyrol. The study exploited a S-mode PCA (Principal Component Analysis) based synergy between meteorological conditions rendered by the scPDSI (self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index) and forest status approximated through MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) derived NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and NDII7 (Normalized Difference Infrared Index based on MODIS band 7) time series. Besides characterizing predominant forest temporal response to drought, we identified corresponding spatial footprints of drought impact, as well as examined aridity-related changes in forest phenology and biomass production. The latter was further evaluated in relation to forest type, elevation, aspect and slope. Recognized meteorological conditions highlighted: prolonged 2003-2007 mild to extreme drought, and overall regional drying tendencies. Arising remotely sensed forest responses accounted on localized decline in foliage water content and/or photosynthetic activity, but also indicated regions where forest condition improved despite the meteorological stress. Perceived variability in the forest response to drought conditions was governed by geographic location, species structure, elevation and exposition, and featured complexity of the alpine forest ecosystem. Among the inspected biophysical factors elevation had the strongest influence on forest phenology and green biomass production under meteorological stress conditions. Stands growing above 1400 m a.s.l. demonstrated initial increase in annual biomass growth at the beginning of the dry spell in 2003. Conversely, woodlands at lower altitudes comprising considerable share of hardwood species were more prone to biomass decline in 2003, but experienced an overall upturn in biomass production during the following years of the dry spell. Aspect showed moderate effect on drought-related phenology and green biomass production responses. Diverse forest ecosystem responses identified in this study were in line with known local and regional analyses, but also shed some new light on drought induced alternation of forest status.

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Drought and frost contribute to abrupt growth decreases before tree mortality in nine temperate tree species

Cited by 82 publications

References 68 publications

Winter matters: Sensitivity to winter climate and cold events increases towards the cold distribution margin of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

Winter matters: Sensitivity to winter climate and cold events increases towards the cold distribution margin of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)

How neighbourhood interactions control the temporal stability and resilience to drought of trees in mountain forests

Drought Impact on Phenology and Green Biomass Production of Alpine Mountain Forest—Case Study of South Tyrol 2001–2012 Inspected with MODIS Time Series

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