Monitoring the effects of air pollution on forest condition in Europe: is crown defoliation an adequate indicator?

Johnson, James; Jacob, Miró

doi:10.3832/ifor0538-003

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…However, climatic factors seem the most plausible cause of country-wide synchronized defoliation patterns since pollution, nitrogen and sulphur deposition, elevated ozone levels, and pests play local and minor roles as defoliation drivers [59][60][61]. In addition, crown condition poses some limitations to assess changes in forest vitality since defoliation estimates depend on site conditions (e.g., soil texture), disturbance history (e.g., storms), forest management (e.g., thinning), tree features (e.g., tree size and dominance), and defoliation estimates may be biased by methodological uncertainties (e.g., different crown assessment between countries or field teams) [62][63][64]. After considering these shortcomings, we argue that crown defoliation in Spanish forests reflects climatic factors (spring temperatures, drought as represented by the SPEI) rather than air pollution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing Atmospheric Processes and Climatic Drivers of Tree Defoliation to Determine Forest Vulnerability to Climate Warming

Sánchez‐Salguero

Camarero

Grau

et al. 2016

Forests

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Abstract:Crown defoliation is extensively monitored across European forests within the International Co-operative Programme (ICP) as a proxy of forest health. Climate warming and drought are assumed to be the major drivers of tree growth and crown defoliation, particularly in seasonally dry areas such as the Mediterranean Basin. Here we analyse how climate, drought, and atmospheric processes are related to defoliation time series of five oak and five pine species that are dominant across Spanish ICP monitoring forest plots. We found that warmer and drier conditions during April were linked to enhanced defoliation. Warm April conditions were also related to high values of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), thereby indicating large-scale links between atmospheric processes, temperature, and defoliation patterns. The temperature-defoliation association was species-specific since some tree species from wet sites showed a weak association (e.g., Quercus robur L.) whereas others from dry sites (e.g., Quercus ilex L.) presented the strongest associations. The latter tree species could be considered vulnerable to heat stress in terms of leaf shedding. We also explored if defoliation was related to radial growth and found negative associations in relatively dry areas. Warmer and drier conditions linked to increasing AMO values are connected to the post-1990s rise of defoliation in Spanish ICP forest plots. Combined incorporation of defoliation and growth into mortality models can provide insights into assessments of forest vulnerability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing Atmospheric Processes and Climatic Drivers of Tree Defoliation to Determine Forest Vulnerability to Climate Warming

Sánchez‐Salguero

Camarero

Grau

et al. 2016

Forests

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“…This guaranteed the use of harmonized criteria in all the European plots for the spatiotemporal evaluation of the defoliation data collected in the field. In addition, to avoid subjectivity in the visual evaluation of defoliation (Ferretti, 1998;Johnson and Jacob, 2010), quality controls were performed by independent teams, whose members compared and verified estimations from the sampled plots.…”

Section: Defoliation Data Selection and Quality Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defoliation triggered by climate induced effects in Spanish ICP Forests monitoring plots

Cruz

Gil

Fernández-Cancio

et al. 2014

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…Finally, in order to ensure the reliability of data, calibration and quality test of the monitoring program must be in place. EU/ICP Forests and FHM have devoted great efforts in these aspects [28][29][30] while the SFA protocol still needs to develop a more detailed procedure for calibration and quality testing.…”

Section: The Strength and Limitations Of China's Monitoring Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

China’s National Monitoring Program on Ecological Functions of Forests: An Analysis of the Protocol and Initial Results

Yang

Dai

Wang

2015

Forests

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Information on the ecological functions of forests is important for sustainable forest management. In this study, we introduced the national monitoring program which has been used in China to evaluate the overall health status and ecological functions of forests. We also compared it to similar monitoring programs operating in Europe and the United States of America. We revealed the strength and drawbacks of China's monitoring program by analyzing the initial evaluation results. Our analysis showed that among the three programs, the European program gives the most detailed measurements of conditions of forests while the U.S. program generates the most detailed information on individual trees. In comparison, China's monitoring program has a higher spatial resolution but is narrowly focused on trees and uses coarse classifications of indicators. The health status of forests in China suggested that more resources should be invested to improve the health of existing forests, especially plantations. The limitations in China's monitoring program need to be addressed to improve the accuracy of future assessments.

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Monitoring the effects of air pollution on forest condition in Europe: is crown defoliation an adequate indicator?

Cited by 15 publications

References 12 publications

Analysing Atmospheric Processes and Climatic Drivers of Tree Defoliation to Determine Forest Vulnerability to Climate Warming

Analysing Atmospheric Processes and Climatic Drivers of Tree Defoliation to Determine Forest Vulnerability to Climate Warming

Defoliation triggered by climate induced effects in Spanish ICP Forests monitoring plots

China’s National Monitoring Program on Ecological Functions of Forests: An Analysis of the Protocol and Initial Results

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