Seasonal precipitation and continentality drive bimodal growth in Mediterranean forests

Valeriano, Cristina; Gutiérrez, Emília; Colangelo, Michele; Gazol, Antonio; Sánchez‐Salguero, Raúl; Tumajer, Jan; Shishov, Vladimir V.; Bonet, J. A.; Aragón, Juán Martínez de; Ibáñez, Ricardo; Valerio, Mercedes; Camarero, J. Julio

doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2023.126057

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Hence, the period of net CO 2 uptake is substantially longer than the period for structural growth in a moisture‐driven season (Figure 1). A growing season defined by water availability may also become fragmented, or bimodal as is the case in a Mediterranean climate (e.g., Sarris et al, 2013; Valeriano et al, 2023), with the number of growing days (obtained by dendrometers) representing an adequate measure. For non‐woody taxa, such continuous measurements with high temporal resolution are rare, especially under drought.…”

Section: A Meteorological Definition Of Seasonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four ways to define the growing season

2023

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What is addressed as growing season in terrestrial ecosystems is one of the main determinants of annual plant biomass production globally. However, there is no well‐defined concept behind. Here, we show different facets of what might be termed growing season, each with a distinct meaning: (1) the time period during which a plant or a part of it actually grows and produces new tissue, irrespective of net carbon gain (growing season sensu stricto). (2) The period defined by developmental, that is, phenological markers (phenological season). (3) The period during which vegetation as a whole achieves its annual net primary production (NPP) or a net ecosystem production (NEP), expressed as net carbon gain (productive season) and (4) the period during which plants could potentially grow based on meteorological criteria (meteorological season). We hypothesize that the duration of such a ‘window of opportunity’ is a strong predictor for NPP at a global scale, especially for forests. These different definitions have implications for the understanding and modelling of plant growth and biomass production. The common view that variation in phenology is a proxy for variation in productivity is misleading, often resulting in unfounded statements on potential consequences of climatic warming such as carbon sequestration.

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Section: A Meteorological Definition Of Seasonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four ways to define the growing season

2023

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“…Growth preference of sustained heat lasted until September, while cool and moist conditions became promotive in October and November and autumn droughts were growth limiting in both our focal species. During autumn, growth conditions in the Mediterranean alpine are overall favorable, and species‐specific ecophysiological adaptation might not be necessary, which is in agreement with previous studies showing strong precipitation drivers of growth across different species (de Luis et al ., 2007; Valeriano et al ., 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These unexpected contrasting patterns leave no doubt that mechanisms underlying growth are species‐specific and determined by covariation in traits (Fyllas et al ., 2020), that is in stem greenness and root morphology. Along with differences in the species’ distribution (Löffler et al ., 2022), this suggests overall high growth plasticity (Pacheco et al ., 2018; Tumajer et al ., 2021b; Valeriano et al ., 2023). As such, we agree that common trait‐by‐trait scaling relationships should be treated with caution (Fyllas et al ., 2020) as these relationships may not be robust at local scales (Messier et al ., 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ecophysiological processes controlling the responses of plant growth to abiotic drivers are well‐studied (Unger et al ., 2009; Gordo & Sanz, 2010; Sharma et al ., 2020). However, assessing the temporal dynamics of secondary growth remains challenging since traditional methods (Pacheco et al ., 2018; Tumajer et al ., 2021b; Jevšenak et al ., 2022; Valeriano et al ., 2023) are incapable of capturing the timing of cambium activity and thus the seasonal dynamics and long‐term trends in stem growth (Steppe et al ., 2015; Jevšenak et al ., 2022). Here, the use of dendrometers, which resolve annual radial growth at finer functional and temporal scales, may be key for bridging the gap between short‐term environmental influences (such as frost and drought) on hydrological status and xylogenesis (Drew et al ., 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Patterns, timing, and environmental drivers of growth in two coexisting green‐stemmed Mediterranean alpine shrubs species

Albrecht,

Dobbert,

Pape

et al. 2023

New Phytologist

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Summary The Mediterranean alpine is one of the most vulnerable ecosystems under future environmental change. Yet, patterns, timing and environmental controls of plant growth are poorly investigated. We aimed at an improved understanding of growth processes, as well as stem swelling and shrinking patterns, by examining two common coexisting green‐stemmed shrub species. Using dendrometers to measure daily stem diameter changes, we separated these changes into water‐related shrinking and swelling and irreversible growth. Implementing correlation analysis, linear mixed effects models, and partial least squares regression on time series of stem diameter changes, with corresponding soil temperature and moisture data as environmental predictors, we found species‐specific growth patterns related to different drought‐adaptive strategies. We show that the winter‐cold‐adapted species Cytisus galianoi uses a drought tolerance strategy combined with a high ecological plasticity, and is, thus, able to gain competitive advantages under future climate warming. In contrast, Genista versicolor is restricted to a narrower ecological niche using a winter‐cold escape and drought avoidance strategy, which might be of disadvantage in a changing climate. Pregrowth environmental conditions were more relevant than conditions during growth, controlling the species' resource availability. Thus, studies focusing on current driver constellations of growth may fail to predict a species’ ecological niche and its potential future performance.

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“…This approach also enhances opportunities to study the physiological mechanisms of plant adaptation to changing environmental conditions, due to changes in both hydraulic and mechanical functions of woody tissue [22][23][24]. Therefore, understanding how and at which intervals of the growing season the principal climatic factors (temperature or precipitation) modify the tree-ring structure turns out to be important both for reconstructing past climate-tree ring relationships and developing adequate prediction models of climatic factors influencing the anatomical structure of tree rings [24][25][26][27][28][29]. The application of the quantitative wood anatomy approach is particularly relevant for the species (i.e., Pinus sibirica Du Tour) for which the study of climate response is extremely difficult due to the limited climate sensitivity of their radial growth [30,31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracheids vs. Tree Rings as Proxies for Dendroclimatic Reconstruction at High Altitude: The Case of Pinus sibirica Du Tour

Zharkov,

Yang,

Babushkina

et al. 2024

Forests

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Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) is a widespread and long-lived species in the northern hemisphere, which makes it a good potential proxy for climatic data. However, the tree-ring growth of this species weakly correlates with climatic conditions, which prevents its use in dendroclimatic reconstruction. It was proposed to use the measurements of tracheid characteristics as model predictors to reconstruct the smoothed temperature of the key periods in tree growth. In this study, algorithms for preprocessing tracheids and temperature data, as well as for model cross-validation, were developed to produce reliable high-resolution (weekly-based) temperature reconstructions. Due to the developed algorithms, the key time periods of Siberian pine growth were identified during the growing season—early June (most active cell development) and mid-July (setting new buds for the next growing season). For these time periods, reliable long-term temperature reconstructions (R2 > 0.6, p < 10−8) were obtained over 1653–2018. The temperature reconstructions significantly correlated (p < 10−8) with independent reanalysis data for the 19th century. The developed approach, based on preprocessing tracheid and temperature data, shows new potential for Siberian pine in high-resolution climate reconstructions and can be applied to other tree species that weakly respond to climate forcing.

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Seasonal precipitation and continentality drive bimodal growth in Mediterranean forests

Cited by 21 publications

References 74 publications

Four ways to define the growing season

Four ways to define the growing season

Patterns, timing, and environmental drivers of growth in two coexisting green‐stemmed Mediterranean alpine shrubs species

Tracheids vs. Tree Rings as Proxies for Dendroclimatic Reconstruction at High Altitude: The Case of Pinus sibirica Du Tour

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