Scots pine’s capacity to adapt to climate change in hemi-boreal forests in relation to dominating tree increment and site condition

Abstract

Biogeosciences and Forestry Biogeosciences and Forestry Scots pine's capacity to adapt to climate change in hemi-boreal forests in relation to dominating tree increment and site condition Marius Mikalajūnas (1) , Hans Pretzsch (2) , Gintautas Mozgeris (1) , Edgaras Linkevičius (1) , Ingrida Augustaitienė (1) , Algirdas Augustaitis (1) Forest site (FS) and meteorological conditions are recognized as the main factors affecting tree growth and whole-stand sustainability. This study aims to detect the combined effects of FS and meteorological conditions on tree ring formation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), the most common tree species in Lithuania and hemi-boreal forests of northeastern Europe. We used data on stand structure and productivity from the Lithuanian National Forest Inventory (NFI) and stem radial increment series of dominating trees during the period 1993-2012 collected since 2013. Pine stem basal area increment (BAI) was chosen as the response variable, while temperature in March (°C) and precipitation in June (mm) were used as predictor variables, as they best express the effect of climate change on Lithuanian forests. We simulated the effects on dominating pine annual increment of deciduous tree species, mainly Betula sp. and the level of soil moisture and fertility, accounting in addition for the random effects of NFI network tract, plot direction, and tree number. A nonlinear mixed-effects model explained up to 68% of the variation in the BAI of pine trees. The annual pine trees BAI increased with the increase in the proportion of deciduous trees in pine stands. Increases in temperature and precipitation in considered months reinforced this positive effect on pine BAI, especially in mature pine stands in temporarily waterlogged meso-eutrophic FSs on mineral soils. A negative effect of deciduous trees on pine stem increment was observed only in nutrient-rich eutrophic and drained peatland FSs. Forestry treatments directed towards the increase in deciduous tree proportion in the most common normal or temporarily waterlogged meso-eutrophic and oligotrophic pine stands might increase the biodiversity and productivity of pine stands, and their sustainability in future climate change scenarios.

Diameter Growth of Silver Fir (Abies alba Mill.), Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and Black Pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) in Central European Forests: Findings from Slovenia

“…Therefore, our results indicate an increase in the diameter growth of both pine species as the number of precipitation increases. In hemi-boreal forests, water availability is known as the key parameter of Scots pine productivity [43]. In contrast to our results, the basal area increment of Scots pine in hemiboreal forests increases with higher mean temperature, and the effect of temperature on basal area increment is greater than that of an increased amount of precipitation [43].…”

“…In hemi-boreal forests, water availability is known as the key parameter of Scots pine productivity [43]. In contrast to our results, the basal area increment of Scots pine in hemiboreal forests increases with higher mean temperature, and the effect of temperature on basal area increment is greater than that of an increased amount of precipitation [43]. Many studies have reported that black pine growth responds to precipitation and temperature in the previous and current years [50][51][52].…”

“…On the other hand, the proportion of other broadleaved tree species (e.g., European hornbeam, oaks) has a positive complementary effect on the diameter growth of fir, probably due to their lower height compared to fir. In hemi-boreal forests, the proportion of birch in forest stands also has a positive effect on the diameter growth of Scots pine [43]. This indicates that deciduous tree species may have a contrasting effect on the diameter growth of conifer tree species.…”

Coat Colour Grading of the Scots Pine Seeds Collected from Faraway Provenances Reveals a Different Germination Effect

“…Improvement of quality indicators and competitiveness of forest seeds is one of the promising directions of the development of forest seed production. This direction assumes the active interaction of private forest users with forest seed producers, which is consistent with the realities in Seeds 2022, 1 the forest legislation and the basic provisions of Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology [6] for use in global reforestation initiatives [7][8][9].…”

“…Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) has a wide range of habitat [1] and is one of the primary sources of wood raw materials in boreal countries. The seeds of Scots pine as integral components of forest reproductive material (FRM) [2] are valuable products, moved by trade operations, as shown in [3], for significant distances, and to some extent determining the rate of forest landscape restoration technology (FLR technology) [4,5].…”