Spruce suffers most from drought at low elevations in the Carpathians, though shows high resilience
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
More frequent and severe droughts have affected forest ecosystems throughout Europe in recent decades. In Central Europe, large-scale dieback of Norway spruce has, for example, been observed, whereas Norway spruce decline was so far less widespread in Eastern Europe. To assess the potential future impacts of drought on Norway spruce in the southeastern part of its natural distribution, studies on drought resilience are urgently needed. Here, we use a tree-ring network consisting of more than 3000 trees from 158 managed Norway spruce stands of different ages distributed along elevational gradients in the Eastern Carpathians to assess growth responses to drought. Specifically, we analyzed differences in resilience components (e.g., resistance, recovery, resilience, recovery period) with elevation and tree age, and used the 'line of full resilience' concept to comprehensively assess drought resilience. Our results show that Norway spruce at low elevations (<800 m) is characterized by the lowest resistance to drought, though has a high recovery, while at high elevations (>1400 m), a higher resistance is associated with a low recovery. In general, older trees were found to need more time to recover. Resilience decreases with a higher water deficit, suggesting that Norway spruce is at risk in the Carpathians with ongoing climate change, urging the need for adaptative forest management.
Details
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 122201 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Forest Ecology and Management |
Volume | 571 |
Early online date | Aug 2024 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2024 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
Scopus | 85202058726 |
---|---|
ORCID | /0000-0002-2942-9180/work/168719419 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-5218-6682/work/168720221 |
Keywords
Sustainable Development Goals
Keywords
- Climate change, Linear mixed-effect models, Picea abies, Resilience components, Tree-ring width, Water availability