Stand Structure and Recent Climate Change Constrain Stand Basal Area Change in European Forests: A Comparison Across Boreal, Temperate, and Mediterranean Biomes

Ruiz‐Benito, Paloma; Madrigal‐González, Jaime; Ratcliffe, Sophia; Coomes, David A.; Kändler, Gerald; Lehtonen, Aleksi; Wirth, Christian; Zavala, Miguel Á.

doi:10.1007/s10021-014-9806-0

Cited by 54 publications

(75 citation statements)

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“…Human‐mediated modifications of natural ecosystems are leading to important diversity losses and changes in species forest composition (Cardinale et al., ; Chapin et al., ), thus directly affecting the functions and services provided by forests (Gamfeldt et al., ; Van Der Plas et al., ). During the last decades, changes in mean climate and alterations to climatic extremes have led to changes in tree demography (Allen, Breshears, & Mcdowell, ), forest productivity (Ruiz‐Benito et al., ) and carbon cycle (Frank et al., ). There is a long tradition of studies analysing how functional traits change along climatic gradients (Díaz et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐ and successional‐related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality

Ruiz‐Benito

Ratcliffe

Zavala

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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Intense droughts combined with increased temperatures are one of the major threats to forest persistence in the 21st century. Despite the direct impact of climate change on forest growth and shifts in species abundance, the effect of altered demography on changes in the composition of functional traits is not well known. We sought to (1) quantify the recent changes in functional composition of European forests; (2) identify the relative importance of climate change, mean climate and forest development for changes in functional composition; and (3) analyse the roles of tree mortality and growth underlying any functional changes in different forest types. We quantified changes in functional composition from the 1980s to the 2000s across Europe by two dimensions of functional trait variation: the first dimension was mainly related to changes in leaf mass per area and wood density (partially related to the trait differences between angiosperms and gymnosperms), and the second dimension was related to changes in maximum tree height. Our results indicate that climate change and mean climatic effects strongly interacted with forest development and it was not possible to completely disentangle their effects. Where recent climate change was not too extreme, the patterns of functional change generally followed the expected patterns under secondary succession (e.g. towards late‐successional short‐statured hardwoods in Mediterranean forests and taller gymnosperms in boreal forests) and latitudinal gradients (e.g. larger proportion of gymnosperm‐like strategies at low water availability in forests formerly dominated by broad‐leaved deciduous species). Recent climate change generally favoured the dominance of angiosperm‐like related traits under increased temperature and intense droughts. Our results show functional composition changes over relatively short time scales in European forests. These changes are largely determined by tree mortality, which should be further investigated and modelled to adequately predict the impacts of climate change on forest function.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐ and successional‐related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality

Ruiz‐Benito

Ratcliffe

Zavala

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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“…Mediterranean woodlands hold a much lower carbon density, yet are valuable carbon stores given their extensive nature not just in the Mediterranean Basin but also other similar climate regions in the world. Furthermore, the potential effects of climate change in Mediterranean woodlands are suggested to be particularly strong (Benito-Garzón et al, 2013;Ruiz-Benito et al, 2014b). In the absence of fire in one such region, our simulation suggests a significant AGB increase from 42.6 to 236.9 Mg ha −1 over a 100-year period (equivalent to 1.94 MgC ha −1 yr −1 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Less attention has been given to the effectiveness of the technology for the modelling of biomass and carbon in sub-tropical and Mediterranean climate zones dominated by dry woodlands. These woodlands have lower carbon densities, but represent important global carbon stocks due to their extensiveness and also vulnerability in the face of climate change (Ruiz-Benito et al, 2014b). As elsewhere in Europe, carbon stocks in such woodlands have been increasing in recent decades (Nabuurs et al, 2003(Nabuurs et al, , 2010Vayreda et al, 2012), as woodland management for charcoal and timber has declined in profitability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this reason, the international community recognises that forest protection could play a significant role in climate change abatement and that the feedback between climate and the terrestrial carbon cycle will be a key determinant of the dynamics of the Earth System (Purves et al, 2007). However, there is major uncertainty over for-est responses to anthropogenic global change, and concerns that the world's forests may switch from being a sink to a source within the next few decades (Nabuurs et al, 2013;Ruiz-Benito et al, 2014b), through gradual effects on regeneration, growth and mortality, as well as climate-change related disturbance (Frank et al, 2015). For instance, severe droughts in many parts of the world are causing rapid change, killing trees directly through heat-stress and indirectly by fire (Allen et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modelling above-ground carbon dynamics using multi-temporal airborne lidar: insights from a Mediterranean woodland

et al. 2016

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Abstract. Woodlands represent highly significant carbon sinks globally, though could lose this function under future climatic change. Effective large-scale monitoring of these woodlands has a critical role to play in mitigating for, and adapting to, climate change. Mediterranean woodlands have low carbon densities, but represent important global carbon stocks due to their extensiveness and are particularly vulnerable because the region is predicted to become much hotter and drier over the coming century. Airborne lidar is already recognized as an excellent approach for high-fidelity carbon mapping, but few studies have used multi-temporal lidar surveys to measure carbon fluxes in forests and none have worked with Mediterranean woodlands. We use a multitemporal (5-year interval) airborne lidar data set for a region of central Spain to estimate above-ground biomass (AGB) and carbon dynamics in typical mixed broadleaved and/or coniferous Mediterranean woodlands. Field calibration of the lidar data enabled the generation of grid-based maps of AGB for 2006 and 2011, and the resulting AGB change was estimated. There was a close agreement between the lidarbased AGB growth estimate (1.22 Mg ha −1 yr −1 ) and those derived from two independent sources: the Spanish National Forest Inventory, and a tree-ring based analysis (1.19 and 1.13 Mg ha −1 yr −1 , respectively). We parameterised a simple simulator of forest dynamics using the lidar carbon flux measurements, and used it to explore four scenarios of fire occurrence. Under undisturbed conditions (no fire) an accelerating accumulation of biomass and carbon is evident over the next 100 years with an average carbon sequestration rate of 1.95 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 . This rate reduces by almost a third when fire probability is increased to 0.01 (fire return rate of 100 years), as has been predicted under climate change. Our work shows the power of multi-temporal lidar surveying to map woodland carbon fluxes and provide parameters for carbon dynamics models. Space deployment of lidar instruments in the near future could open the way for rolling out wide-scale forest carbon stock monitoring to inform management and governance responses to future environmental change.

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“…The effect of drought on plants is similar to the initial effects of increasing salinity (Munns, 2002). Drought would limit water availability, which has been found to constrain increases in stand basal area in European forests (Ruiz-Benito et al, 2014). In combination with groundwater salinization, drought conditions will likely lead to decreased primary productivity and species turnover in these forests.…”

Section: The Effect Of Climate On Groundwater Resources and Coastal Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Disturbance and Freshwater Availability on Lower Florida Keys’ Coastal Forest Dynamics

Ogurcak¹

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th century has been attributed to a combination of sea level rise and hurricane storm surge impacts, but the interactions between these two disturbances leading to forest decline are not well understood. The goal of my research was to assess their effects over a period spanning more than two decades, and to examine the relationships between these press and pulse disturbances and freshwater availability in pine rockland, hardwood hammock, and supratidal scrub communities. Impacts and recovery from two storm surges, Hurricanes Georges (1998) and Wilma (2005), were assessed with satellite-derived vegetation indices and multiple change detection techniques. Impacts were greater at lower elevations, and in hardwood hammock, spectral signatures indicative of plant stress and productivity returned to predisturbance levels within a few years. In pine rockland, impacts were predominately related to Hurricane Wilma, however, a similar return to pre-disturbance conditions was absent, suggesting that trajectories of disturbance recovery differed between the two communities. Long-term monitoring of forest composition, structure, and groundwater salinity showed that compositional shifts in the low shrub stratum were associated with ix salinization of the freshwater resource attributable to sea level rise. Throughout the course of twelve months of climate and groundwater monitoring (2011)(2012), groundwater salinity generally decreased in response to large precipitation events.Modeling of geophysical data indicated that groundwater salinity was an important predictor of community type. Isotopic analysis of δ 18 O in plant stem water and foliar δ 13 C was used to determine temporal and spatial patterns in water use and plant stress in two community dominants, slash pine, Pinus elliottii var. densa, and buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus. Both species relied heavily on groundwater, and plant stress was related to increasing groundwater salinity. The results of this work suggest that the interaction of press and pulse disturbances drive changes in community composition by causing mortality of salt-sensitive species and altering the freshwater resource.x forests that require freshwater inhabit a unique position on low-elevation limestone islands as glycophyte-dominated forests located in close proximity to saline water.Coastal forests in the greater Caribbean basin are also subject to periodic disturbance from hurricanes and tropical storms, but which typically are not stand-replacing events (Brokaw and Walker, 1991;Yih et al., 1991;Bellingham et al., 1992). Collectively, these forests are high in species diversity , 2006). These conditions would favor a combination of disturbance, 2 drought, and salinity tolerant species, as groundwater salinity increases (Guha and Panday, 2012) and coastal forests are exposed more frequently to major storms, with shrinking recovery periods between such events (Lugo, 2000). Additionally, the interaction of press and pulse events will increase the likelihood of surface inundation by salt w...

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Stand Structure and Recent Climate Change Constrain Stand Basal Area Change in European Forests: A Comparison Across Boreal, Temperate, and Mediterranean Biomes

Abstract: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:The role of tree species composition and forest structure on cooling as forest ecosystem service provision View project

Cited by 54 publications

References 73 publications

Climate‐ and successional‐related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality

Climate‐ and successional‐related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality

Modelling above-ground carbon dynamics using multi-temporal airborne lidar: insights from a Mediterranean woodland

The Effect of Disturbance and Freshwater Availability on Lower Florida Keys’ Coastal Forest Dynamics

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