Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene

Frank, David; Poulter, Benjamin; Saurer, Matthias; Esper, Jan; Huntingford, Chris; Helle, Gerhard; Treydte, Kerstin; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Schleser, Gerhard H.; Ahlström, Anders; Ciais, Philippe; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Levis, S.; Lomas, M.; Sitch, S.; Viovy, Nicolas; Andreu-Hayles, L.; Bednarz, Z.; Berninger, Frank; Boettger, T.; d’Alessandro, Christophe; Daux, Valérie; Filot, M.; Grabner, Michael; Gutiérrez, Emília; Haupt, Marika; Hilasvuori, Emmi; Jungner, H.; Kalela‐Brundin, Maarit; Krąpiec, Marek; Leuenberger, Markus; Loader, Neil J.; Marah, Hamid; Masson‐Delmotte, Valérie; Pazdur, Anna; Pawełczyk, Sławomira; Pierre, Monique; Planells, Octavi; Pukienė, Rūtilė; Reynolds‐Henne, C. E.; Rinne, Katja T.; Saracino, Antonio; Sonninen, Eloni; Stiévenard, M.; Switsur, V. R.; Szczepanek, Małgorzata; Szychowska‐Kra̧piec, Elżbieta; Todaro, Luigi; Waterhouse, J.; Weigl, Martin

doi:10.1038/nclimate2614

Cited by 391 publications

(426 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…One recent study that did attempt to account for such factors (Frank et al, 2015) concluded that p CO2 has no effect on tree d 13 C (-0.55 ± 0.67 ‰/100 ppmv; Supplementary Information), in good agreement with results here. Although susceptible to individual idiosyncrasies, cellulose records from individual trees from the Borneo rainforest (Loader et al, 2011;MAP c. 3 m/yr) also imply a p CO2 -effect indistinguishable from zero (0.0 ± 0.2 ‰/100 ppmv; Supplementary Information).…”

Section: Perspective and Recommendationssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…2a) probably reflect susceptibility to environmental factors besides precipitation and p CO2 , and such an effect might explain specific slopes. Tree ring isotope data across Europe, corrected for climate variables, suggest a negative p CO2 -dependence (-0.55 ± 0.67 ‰/100 ppmv; data from Frank et al, 2015). Overall, modern/historical data are too imprecise and idiosyncratic to either require or preclude a p CO2 -effect.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Dr., Boise, ID 83725, USA * Corresponding author (email: mattkohn@boisestate.edu) atmospheric CO 2 (Freyer and Wiesberg, 1973), but an unresolved decades-long debate centres on whether terrestrial C3 plant d 13 C responds to p CO2 . Many studies have argued that increasing p CO2 increases carbon isotope discrimination (e.g., Feng and Epstein, 1995;Schubert and Jahren, 2012); others have argued for no p CO2 -effect (e.g., Arens et al, 2000;Saurer et al, 2004;Frank et al, 2015). Recent work (Schubert and Jahren, 2012) integrated natural and experimental data to infer that C3 plant d 13 C depends hyperbolically on p CO2 (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Kohn¹

2016

Geochem. Persp. Let.

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doi: 10.7185/geochemlet.1604The d 13 C of terrestrial C3 plant tissues and soil organic matter is important for understanding the carbon cycle, inferring past climatic and ecological conditions, and predicting responses of vegetation to future climate change. Plant d 13 C depends on the d 13 C of atmospheric CO 2 and mean annual precipitation (MAP), but an unresolved decades-long debate centres on whether terrestrial C3 plant d 13 C responds to p CO2 . In this study, the p CO2 -dependence of C3 land plant d 13 C was tested using isotopic records from low-and high-p CO2 times spanning historical through Eocene data. Historical data do not resolve a clear p CO2 -effect (-1.2 ± 1.0 to 0.6 ± 1.0 ‰/100 ppmv). Organic carbon records across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition are too affected by changes in MAP, carbon sources, and potential differential degradation to quantify p CO2 -effects directly, but limits of ≤1.0 ‰/100 ppmv or ~0 ‰/100 ppmv are permissible. Fossil collagen and tooth enamel data constrain p CO2 -effects most tightly to -0.03 ± 0.13 and -0.03 ± 0.24 ‰/100 ppmv between 200 and 700 ppmv. Combining all constraints yields a preferred value of 0.0 ± 0.3 ‰/100 ppmv (2 s.e.). Recent models of p CO2 -dependence imply unrealistic MAP for Cenozoic records.

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Section: Perspective and Recommendationssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Kohn¹

2016

Geochem. Persp. Let.

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“…35 and 36). Associated enhancement of water use efficiency has also been observed in natural ecosystems (37,38). Our analyses of plot-level averaged tree growth did not detect a significant effect of exposure to elevated atmospheric [CO 2 ] over the past 50 y across boreal Canada: none of the species studied exhibited mean positive t values for this variable (Fig.…”

Section: Regional Variation In Growth Trends From Tree Rings Show Modmentioning

confidence: 76%

No growth stimulation of Canada’s boreal forest under half-century of combined warming and CO ₂ fertilization

Girardin

Bouriaud

Hogg

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

260

246

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Considerable evidence exists that current global temperatures are higher than at any time during the past millennium. However, the long-term impacts of rising temperatures and associated shifts in the hydrological cycle on the productivity of ecosystems remain poorly understood for mid to high northern latitudes. Here, we quantify species-specific spatiotemporal variability in terrestrial aboveground biomass stem growth across Canada's boreal forests from 1950 to the present. We use 873 newly developed tree-ring chronologies from Canada's National Forest Inventory, representing an unprecedented degree of sampling standardization for a largescale dendrochronological study. We find significant regional-and species-related trends in growth, but the positive and negative trends compensate each other to yield no strong overall trend in forest growth when averaged across the Canadian boreal forest. The spatial patterns of growth trends identified in our analysis were to some extent coherent with trends estimated by remote sensing, but there are wide areas where remote-sensing information did not match the forest growth trends. Quantifications of tree growth variability as a function of climate factors and atmospheric CO 2 concentration reveal strong negative temperature and positive moisture controls on spatial patterns of tree growth rates, emphasizing the ecological sensitivity to regime shifts in the hydrological cycle. An enhanced dependence of forest growth on soil moisture during the late-20th century coincides with a rapid rise in summer temperatures and occurs despite potential compensating effects from increased atmospheric CO 2 concentration. drought impacts | climate change | dendrochronology | normalized difference vegetation index | ecology C ircumpolar boreal forests are estimated to store ∼53.9 Pg of carbon or ∼14% of terrestrial vegetation biomass (1). These regions are currently experiencing accelerated changes, including warmer and longer growing seasons, tree line expansion, species migration, increased frequency and severity of drought, and increases in the frequency and severity of disturbances (2-10). These changes create uncertainty about the boreal forests' future role in the global carbon cycle (11). Adding to this uncertainty is the discrepancy over recent changes in the productivity of boreal and other northern latitude forests. Some empirical evidence suggests increases in the forest productivity (12)(13)(14), whereas other studies suggest decreasing productivity over the last decades (7,8,(15)(16)(17). Furthermore, inversion and process-based ecosystem models indicate large carbon sinks (7,8), whereas field-based bottom-up approaches suggest smaller carbon sinks or small carbon sources (3, 18), or large sinks (19). Quantifying

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“…A number of studies based on tree ring estimates support the finding that WUE increases as CO 2 increases [48][49][50]. In addition to observations of tree rings, which have the potential to be spatially limited or regionally influenced, a bulk estimate of globally averaged WUE can be made from observations of atmospheric 13 C, and Keeling et al [51] find that WUE has decreased at about the same rate as indicated by tree ring based studies.…”

Section: Carbon Dioxidementioning

confidence: 64%

Plants and Drought in a Changing Climate

Swann¹

2018

Preprint

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Purpose of review Climate is changing in response to rising concentrations of atmospheric CO 2 and it is commonly asserted that this will cause droughts to become more frequent and severe. However, different metrics of drought give diverging estimates of future impacts. I present a summary of the significant yet underappreciated influence that plant stomatal and growth responses to CO 2 have on drought, and highlight new insights into the impacts of drought on plants in a warmer world. Recent findings Plants influence the water availability on land, and thus reduce the duration and intensity of droughts under higher CO 2 conditions. Plants are concurrently more vulnerable to mortality when droughts occur under hotter conditions. Summary The frequency and severity of drought in the future depends on the response of plants to a changing climate-ignoring plant responses leads to over-prediction of drought. Nonetheless, the impact of current frequencies of drought on plants could lead to higher mortality rates in the future as plants must withstand drought stress simultaneously with hotter temperatures.

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Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene

Cited by 391 publications

References 36 publications

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

No growth stimulation of Canada’s boreal forest under half-century of combined warming and CO ₂ fertilization

Plants and Drought in a Changing Climate

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Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene

Cited by 391 publications

References 36 publications

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

No growth stimulation of Canada’s boreal forest under half-century of combined warming and CO 2 fertilization

Plants and Drought in a Changing Climate

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Product

Resources

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No growth stimulation of Canada’s boreal forest under half-century of combined warming and CO ₂ fertilization