Dry Land Belt of Northern Eurasia: Contemporary Environmental Changes

Groisman, P. Y.; Bulygina, Olga; Henebry, Geoffrey M.; Speranskaya, N. A.; Shiklomanov, A. I.; Chen, Yizhao; Tchebakova, Nadezhda M.; Parfenova, E. I.; Tilinina, Natalia; Zolina, Olga; Dufour, Ambroise; Chen, Jiquan; John, Ranjeet; Fan, Peilei

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30742-4_2

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…These impacts are manifold and can ultimately affect global biodiversity, the terrestrial carbon cycle and human well-being [3,4]. Regarding forests, symptoms of growth rate and vitality decline, insect calamities, as well as species abundance shifts in forest ecosystems are reported from various parts of the world, from Europe to North America, and from Amazonia to Siberia (e.g., [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]). Nevertheless, some studies postulate that forests may benefit from higher temperatures due to manifold compensating effects such as fertilization through rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration and N deposition, or improving water use efficiency [9,14].…”

Section: Introduction: Contrasting Opinions On Climate Impacts In Formentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For these reasons, the drought-prone, temperate-continental xeric limit of forests has up to now largely escaped the attention of international research, in spite of its global importance [16,26]. This transition zone, bordering on open grassland (steppe) extends across Eurasia [13,26], from Hungary to North China and also across North America, from the prairies of Canada to the arid lands of Northern Mexico [5]. The ecological, economic, and geophysical importance of this transition zone is obvious, while local awareness of threats and proactive adaptive strategies needs to be developed in many countries [26].…”

Section: Introduction: Contrasting Opinions On Climate Impacts In Formentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability of Forest Cover under Climate Change on the Temperate-Continental Xeric Limits

Mátyás

Berki

Bidló

et al. 2018

Forests

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Climate change particularly threatens the xeric limits of temperate-continental forests. In Hungary, annual temperatures have increased by 1.2 °C–1.8 °C in the last 30 years and the frequency of extreme droughts has grown. With the aim to gain stand-level prospects of sustainability, we have used local forest site variables to identify and project effects of recent and expected changes of climate. We have used a climatic descriptor (FAI index) to compare trends estimated from forest datasets with climatological projections; this is likely for the first time such a comparison has been made. Four independent approaches confirmed the near-linear decline of growth and vitality with increasing hot droughts in summer, using sessile oak as model species. The correlation between droughts and the expansion of pest and disease damages was also found to be significant. Projections of expected changes of main site factors predict a dramatic rise of future drought frequency and, consequently, a substantial shift of forest climate classes, especially at low elevation. Excess water-dependent lowland forests may lose supply from groundwater, which may change vegetation cover and soil development processes. The overall change of site conditions not only causes economic losses, but also challenges long-term sustainability of forest cover at the xeric limits.

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