Independent Aridity and Drought Pieces of Evidence Based on Meteorological Data and Tree Ring Data in Southeast Banat, Vojvodina, Serbia

Abstract

In this study, aridity data and tree ring data were collected in Northern Serbia, in Southeast (SE) Banat, a subregion within Vojvodina, and Vojvodina at large. They were each investigated independently. The De Martonne Aridity Index and the Forestry Aridity Index are derived from examining the relationship between precipitation and surface air temperature data sets sourced from seven meteorological stations in SE Banat, and from 10 meteorological stations located in Vojvodina as a whole. Vojvodina is a large territory and used as the control area, for the period 1949–2017. The Palmer Drought Severity Index was derived for the period 1927–2016, for both SE Banat and the totality of Vojvodina. The results of the Tree Ring Width Index were obtained from samples collected in or around the villages of Vlajkovac and Šušara, both located in SE Banat, for the period 1927–2017. These tree ring records were compared with three previous aridity and drought indices, and the meteorological data on the surface air temperature and the precipitation, with the objective being to evaluate the response of tree growth to climate dynamics in the SE Banat subregion. It was noted that the significant positive temperature trends recorded in both areas were too insufficient to trigger any trends in aridity or the Tree Ring Width Index, as neither displayed any change. Instead, it appears that these climatic parameters only changed in response to the precipitation trend, which remained unchanged during the investigated period, rather than in response to the temperature trend. It appears that the forest vegetation in the investigated areas was not affected significantly by climate change in response to the dominant temperature increase.

Climate Change Projections of Aridity Conditions in the Iberian Peninsula

“…Many previous studies have used aridity indices in different regions, as they measure the degree to which a region's climate lacks effective and life-promoting moisture [7]. Spatial and temporal variations of several indices were analyzed for Bahrain [8], Bangladesh [9], Turkey [10][11][12][13], Greece [7], Romania [14][15][16][17], Ethiopia [18,19], Iran [20][21][22], Pakistan [23], IP [24][25][26], Iraq [27,28], Extremadura in southwestern Spain [29], Serbia [30][31][32], India [33,34], the Middle East and North Africa [35], Calabria in Southern Italy [36], and southeastern Europe [37]. However, these studies were conducted over historical periods and do not project potential shifts under future climate change scenarios.…”

Climate Change Projections of Aridity Conditions in the Iberian Peninsula

“…Many previous studies have used aridity indices in different regions, as they measure the degree to which a region's climate lacks effective and life-promoting moisture [7]. Spatial and temporal variations of several indices were analyzed for Bahrain [8], Bangladesh [9], Turkey [10][11][12][13], Greece [7], Romania [14][15][16][17], Ethiopia [18,19], Iran [20][21][22], Pakistan [23], IP [24][25][26], Iraq [27,28], Extremadura in southwestern Spain [29], Serbia [30][31][32], India [33,34], the Middle East and North Africa [35], Calabria in Southern Italy [36] and southeastern Europe [37]. However, these studies were conducted over historical periods and do not project potential shifts under future climate change scenarios.…”

Aridity in the Central and Southern Pannonian Basin

“…Parameters in which there is a mathematical quotient/ratio between precipitation or some values of air humidity and temperature are known as aridity indices and are used as a measure moisture, the opposite of humidity, in the climate sense of the term. An overview of the characteristics and classification of aridity indices are presented in the studies of Gavrilov et al [9,10].…”

“…The DMAI is used worldwide in order to identify dry/humid climate conditions of the different regions [13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. This index showed particularly good results for the climate regions and climatic changes in the peripheral area of the Pannonian (Carpathian) Basin (PB): in the east in Romania [20] and in the south in Serbia [10,21,22] (Figure 1). It seems that the simplicity of the definition of the DMAI is well suited to describe the climate in the plain landscape of the PB and its associated mostly steppe and agricultural vegetation.…”

“…The PDSI was also utilized in this study on the territory of HUN&VOJ for the period 1920-2014. This index has been widely used to evaluate the hydro-climatic status of many areas [24], including the southeastern part of the PB [10]. For the CSPB, spatial and temporal distributions of the DMAI and the PDSI, and their trends will be analyzed.…”