Species-specific climate response of oaks (Quercus spp.) under identical environmental conditions

Abstract

© iForest -Biogeosciences and Forestry IntroductionAn increase in pest and disease outbreaks as well as projected climate warming constitutes a serious threat to forestry over the coming decades (Bolte et al. 2009, Sturrock et al. 2011. As a consequence of these impacts, individually or in combination, tree vitality and survival may decline resulting in reduced productivity (Leuzinger et al. 2005). The resilience of species to biotic and abiotic stresses, as well as their adaptation potential to changing environmental conditions, is important knowledge to guide sustainable forest management (Arend et al. 2011). Oak comprises the highest percentage of broadleaved woodland in Great Britain but its yield is expected to decline in the south and east under future climate projections (Broadmeadow et al. 2005). These forests possess a high economic and socio-economic value (Evans 1984, Grant & Edwards 2008, raising the question as to whether replacement with another oak species, better adapted to summer drought and wet winters, is an appropriate response to projected climate change. While Quercus species are believed to show high competitiveness under drier conditions than currently experienced in southern England (Abrams 1990, Broadmeadow et al. 2005, Eilmann et al. 2006, Thomas et al. (2002) found that a combination of waterlogging in winter and summer drought weakens oak to a level where diseases can attack more readily. Cases of drought-induced mortality have also been reported in Europe (Dreyer 1994, Brasier 1996, Gibbs & Greig 1997, Allen et al. 2010. Modelled results presented by Attorre et al. (2008) suggest that the general assumption regarding drought sensitivity is invalid; instead, the performance of oak is dependent on origin and the characteristics of individual species. Other authors attribute the decline of oak in Europe to a combination of several factors, including infection by Phytophthora cinnamomi exacerbated by climatic factors (Brasier & Scott 1994). Thomas & Blank (1996) propose nutrient imbalance as the reason for oak decline, while Andersson et al. (2011) concluded that the decline of oak and its inevitable death is a long process which can begin decades previously.Tree ring analysis can be used to better understand the potential for an onset of decline driven by responses to climate (Schweingruber 1988(Schweingruber , 1990. Despite age and management-related variation in growth, the sensitivity of a species on a given site to environmental changes can be assessed (Friedrichs et al. 2009). Tree-ring analysis is regularly used to evaluate climate-growth interactions as well as establishing the drivers for tree mortality (Cook et al. 1987). While site conditions modulate climate-growth correlations (Wilson et al. 2008) information on species-specific climate responses still can be derived (Carrer 2011, Sanders et al. 2012. This approach was the subject of a number of dendrochronological studies (Leblanc & Foster 1992, Dwyer et al. 1995, Eilmann et al. 2006, Danek et al. 2007, Friedrichs et al. 2...

Concordance between vascular plant and macrofungal community composition in broadleaf deciduous forests in central Italy

“…Our results also showed that the co-occurrence of Fraxinus oxycarpa and Quercus petraea, both associated with peculiar ecological conditions (Temunović et al 2012, Sanders et al 2014 seems to promote distinct assemblages of EMF and Sh fungi, as compared with other woody species. As a consequence, strategies for the conservation of fungi should aim at retaining diverse assemblages of host species and different structures across forests.…”

Oak (Quercus spp.) response to climate differs more among sites than among species in central Czech Republic

“…The positive significant correlations between precipitation and tree-ring width or between RSMC and tree-ring width predominate (e.g. Mérian et al, 2011;Petráš & Mecko, 2011;Michelot et al, 2012;Gillner et al, 2013;Sanders et al, 2014;Rybníček et al, 2015). A negative effect of summer temperatures on tree-ring width has been reported in other European areas, such as France (Michelot et al, 2012), Germany (Gillner et al, 2013), Slovakia (Petráš & Mecko, 2011), and Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia (Čufar et al, 2014).…”

“…Case studies in specific small areas have seldom been performed (e.g. Sanders et al, 2014), and never in the Czech Republic.…”

Carbon sequestration ability of Quercus robur L. plantation in Feofania Park, Kyiv

“…В цілому середній радіальний приріст дубів «Феофанії» (табл. 1) узгоджується з приростом лісових культур дуба звичайного, створених та відновлених у 50-ті роки в південно-східній Англії, значення якого становить 2,37±0,43 мм [SANDERS et al, 2014]. Схожий темп радіального росту дуба звичайного і в інших країнах Європи.…”