Increased tree-growth synchronization of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in response to climate change in northwestern Europe

Abstract

Please cite this article as: Latte, N., Lebourgeois, F., Claessens, H.,Increased tree-growth synchronization of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in response to climate change in northwestern Europe, Dendrochronologia (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro. 2015.01.002 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. responded to climate change, we selected 12 sites (137 trees) with optimal growing conditions 20 along a W−E altitudinal gradient (67-590 m) in Belgium. We evaluated temporal changes in 21 growth response to climate by using pointer year analysis, moving mean sensitivities (1860-22 2011), and moving bootstrapped correlation coefficients . The strongest driving 23 climatic variables were identified by using the partial least squares method. 24The common patterns of growth trends, pointer years, and mean sensitivities among sites 25 provided evidences for the impact of environmental changes operating at a regional scale. The 26 results of growth-climate analysis indicated that these changes were strongly influenced by 27 the climatic conditions of the previous year. The climate sensitivity of beech increased 28 progressively in response to more frequent and intense heat waves and warming-related 29 droughts, especially during recent decades, leading to remarkable inter-site synchronization. 30The changes were much more pronounced for sites located in lowlands (<300 m). The 31 differences in growth responses along the altitudinal gradient and the consequences of 32 warming for beech growth and physiology are discussed. 33

Spatiotemporal variability of stone pine ( Pinus pinea L.) growth response to climate across the Iberian Peninsula

“…In our study sites, climatic changes over time drove the shift of the growth-climate response patterns, as also reported in other tree-ring studies (Martín-Benito et al, 2010;Latte et al, 2015). This suggests an adjustment of growth physiology during the life of trees in response to a warmer and drier climate, as discussed in a previous study (Natalini et al, 2015).…”

Major Changes in Growth Rate and Growth Variability of Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) Related to Soil Alteration and Climate Change in Belgium

“…The increase of high-frequency growth variability from the 1970-1980s (about +45%) confirms the previous studies carried out in Southern Belgium (≈the uplands) [32,33]. Climate change has occurred quite homogeneously all over Belgium since the beginning of the 19th century.…”

“…Furthermore, past changes in silvicultural practices in Belgium were less pronounced in mature stands. We ensured that the selected forests and trees, and the resulting ring-width series met the requirements of being representative of beech growth at the scale of the study region [25,32,46]. In order to ensure maximum continuity in forest management, beech trees were selected from state forests.…”

“…Data were gathered from previous tree-growth modeling and dendroecological studies [25,26,32,33,44] (Table S1). …”

“…Two cores [25,26], two bars [32,33] or one disk [44] were extracted at breast height by tree. The tree-rings of each wood sample were measured to the nearest 1/100 mm from pith to bark, and averaged by tree.…”