Drought Influence over Radial Growth of Mexican Conifers Inhabiting Mesic and Xeric Sites

Abstract

Drought is a major constraint of forest productivity and tree growth across diverse habitat types. In this study, we investigated the drought responses of four conifer species growing within two locations of differing elevation and climatic conditions in northern Mexico. Two species were selected at a mesic site (Cupressus lusitanica Mill., Abies durangensis Martínez) and the other two species were sampled at a xeric site (Pinus engelmannii Carr., Pinus cembroides Zucc.). Using a dendrochronological approach, we correlated the radial-growth series of each species and the climatic variables. All study species positively responded to wet-cool conditions during winter and spring. Despite the close proximity of species at a mesic site, A. durangensis had high responsiveness to hydroclimatic variability, but C. lusitanica was not responsive. At the xeric site, P. engelmannii and P. cembroides were very responsive to drought severity, differentiated only by the longer time scale of the response to accumulated drought of P. engelmannii. The responsiveness to hydroclimate and drought of these tree species seems to be modulated by site conditions, or by the functional features of each species that are still little explored. These findings indicate that differentiating between mesic and xeric habitats is a too coarse approach in diverse forests with a high topographic heterogeneity.

Hydroclimatic variations reveal differences in carbon capture in two sympatric conifers in northern Mexico

“…The dendrochronological statistics were adequate for P. menziesii ; however, C. lusitanica had a low EPS (0.78; Wigley, Briffa & Jones, 1984), which is consistent with previous studies carried out in the study area (Pompa-García et al, 2017a). This result is attributed to the fact that C. lusitanica is considered a species with low sensitivity to climatic variability because it inhabits areas near water bodies; however, it also responded to local climatic variability (Figs.…”

“…The inclusion of wood density as an indicator of climate variability improves the carbon capture estimates. Several studies carried out in the area have evaluated the responses to climatic conditions (González-Elizondo et al, 2005; González-Cásares, Pompa-García & Camarero, 2017; Pompa-García et al, 2017a), while others have used density for biometric purposes (González-Cásares, Yerena-Yamallel & Pompa-García, 2016; Pompa-García & Venegas-González, 2016). It has also been reported that the wood density of a species ( Abies durangensis ) that coexists with the species evaluated in the present study is more sensitive to temperature than the tree-ring width (González-Cásares, Pompa García & Venegas González, 2018).…”

“…As tree growth responds differently to environmental conditions across tree species in Sierra Madre Occidental (Pompa-García et al, 2017a), there will also be variation in the total carbon accumulation by species. We used tree rings, allometric equations and wood density (WD) to examine the growth and carbon accumulation of C. lusitanica and P. menziesii trees located in the Sierra Madre Occidental and to evaluate their hydroclimatic response.…”

Improving Identification of Areas for Ecological Restoration for Conservation by Integrating USLE and MCDA in a GIS-Environment: A Pilot Study in a Priority Region Northern Mexico

“…Particularly, for natural protected areas, this study means a contribution to the knowledge of science due to the lack of scientific reports of its kind, and especially to the threats faced by future ecological processes [79]. That is, the concern of revegetating degraded areas, is consistent with the processes of ecological succession [80].…”

Growth of Pinus cembroides Zucc. in Response to Hydroclimatic Variability in Four Sites Forming the Species Latitudinal and Longitudinal Distribution Limits

“…In this sense, Mexico has a tremendous diversity of pines due to its climatic and topographic variation, which facilitates a biogeographic comparison of the response of radial growth to climate across the distribution ranges of specific taxa as pines [5]. For instance, Pinus cembroides is so widely distributed that it has a high dendrochronological application because it forms cross-datable and annual tree rings [14], and it occupies sites with different climate conditions [15], as well as diverse topographies and soil types [14,[16][17][18]. For this reason, the wide geographic distribution of Pinus cembroides and its ecological amplitude provide an ideal opportunity to improve our understanding of the responses of its radial growth to hydroclimatic variability [19].…”