The demography of tree species response to climate: sapling and canopy tree growth

Canham, Charles D.; Murphy, Lora

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1474

Cited by 23 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…Spatial analyses of variation in tree growth using FIA plot data show very modest regional variation in response to temperature for most eastern U.S. tree species (Canham and Murphy 2016a). Our results also suggest that local responses to interannual variation in climate can be very different than, and in many cases opposite to, regional-scale variation in responses to mean climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

“…But from a demographic perspective, adult tree growth is much less important to the geographic distribution and successional dynamics of these temperate tree species than are other life history stages, particularly seedling recruitment and survival, and adult tree mortality (Pacala et al 1996, Canham and Murphy 2016a, b, 2017. The consequences for responses of these tree species to climate change could be very different depending on that balance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local differentiation in tree growth responses to climate

et al. 2018

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Many temperate tree species have extraordinarily broad distributions along gradients of temperature and precipitation. But it is not clear in most species whether this reflects very broad tolerance of climate conditions, or a high degree of genetic differentiation or phenotypic acclimation in their responses to local climate. Provenance trials and common garden experiments indicate that at least some tree species of the temperate forests of eastern North America show genetic differentiation in growth as a function of climate, although these studies have been largely limited to measurements on growth of seedlings and saplings. To test for evidence of either adaptation or acclimation in adult response to local climatic conditions, we used data from over 23,000 tree cores collected by the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program in the 1980s for 14 tree species distributed in states from Maine to Ohio. We tested a suite of alternate models for interannual variation in radial growth as a function of (1) tree age, (2) size, (3) temperature, and (4) precipitation. The models included climate variables from both the current and previous year. The alternate models allowed us to test whether growth was best predicted from absolute values of the climate variables, or from deviation of current or previous year climate from long-term average at the location of an individual tree core. In all 14 species, models that used deviation from local, long-term mean climate were superior, indicating that all 14 species showed strong adaptation or acclimation to local climate. In most of the species, growth was highest in years that were cooler and wetter than long-term average at a location. The analysis does not allow us to distinguish between genetic differentiation and phenotypic acclimation responses. If the results are genetically based, trees within a given location could be much more sensitive to climate change than indicated by the very broad geographic distributions of these temperate tree species, but if the results are phenotypic, this would represent local acclimation that could help buffer species in the face of climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 52%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local differentiation in tree growth responses to climate

et al. 2018

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“…Relatively modest thermal effects on tree growth or biomass accumulation in closed canopy forests have been observed in other studies (Ettinger & HilleRisLambers ; Coomes et al . ; Canham & Murphy ). However, in this study, more complex models that allowed the mode and breadth of the temperature function to vary depending on location revealed substantial site‐specific differences in RG responses to temperature for all species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Coomes et al . ; Canham & Murphy ; Rollinson, Kaye & Canham ). Model results in this study indicate that growth in all species was strongly age dependent, declining exponentially with increasing age (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate and competition effects on tree growth in Rocky Mountain forests

2017

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Summary Climate is widely assumed to influence physiological and demographic processes in trees, and hence forest composition, biomass and range limits. Growth in trees is an important barometer of climate change impacts on forests as growth is highly correlated with other demographic processes including tree mortality and fecundity. We investigated the main drivers of diameter growth for five common tree species occurring in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States using nonlinear regression methods. We quantified growth at the individual tree level from tree core samples collected across broad environmental gradients. We estimated the effects of both climate variation and biotic interactions on growth processes and tested for evidence that disjunct populations of a species respond differentially to climate. Relationships between tree growth and climate varied by species and location. Growth in all species responded positively to increases in annual moisture up to a threshold level. Modest linear responses to temperature, both positive and negative, were observed at many sites. However, model results also revealed evidence for differentiated responses to local site conditions in all species. In severe environments in particular, growth responses varied nonlinearly with temperature. For example, in northerly cold locations pronounced positive growth responses to increasing temperatures were observed. In warmer southerly climates, growth responses were unimodal, declining markedly above a threshold temperature level. Net effects from biotic interactions on diameter growth were negative for all study species. Evidence for facilitative effects was not detected. For some species, competitive effects more strongly influenced growth performance than climate. Competitive interactions also modified growth responses to climate to some degree. Synthesis. These analyses suggest that climate change will have complex, species‐specific effects on tree growth in the Rocky Mountains due to nonlinear responses to climate, differentiated growth processes that vary by location and complex species interactions that impact growth and potentially modify responses to climate. Thus, robust model simulations of future growth responses to climate trends may need to integrate realistic scenarios of neighbourhood effects as well as variability in tree performance attributed to differentiated populations.

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The demography of tree species response to climate: sapling and canopy tree survival

Canham

Murphy

2017

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Traits affecting survival from seedling through adult stages are key elements of tree life histories, and it is widely assumed that variation in survival of adult trees plays an important role in the distribution of species along climate gradients. We use data from plots censused by the U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis program during the years 2000-2011 to quantify relationships between two key aspects of climate-mean annual temperature and growing season water deficit-and rates of sapling and canopy tree survival for the 50 most common tree species in the eastern United States. Our analyses include consideration of the effects of tree size, competition, and nitrogen deposition to avoid confounding effects and to provide context for the importance of variation in climate relative to other factors. Tree size and competitive effects, including the effect of tree size on sensitivity to competition, had the greatest impact on observed variation in survival for all of the species. Survival varied as a function of nitrogen deposition in 20 of the 50 species, and responses were stronger in saplings than in canopy trees. Despite clear sorting of the presence of the tree species along regional gradients of temperature and water deficit, there was only modest evidence that either sapling or canopy tree mortality varied systematically along those gradients. For 24 of the 50 species, the most parsimonious models did not include either temperature or water deficit variables. The exceptions to this were for several species of colder climates in which survival declined significantly in warmer climates. In 40 of the 50 species, there was no significant variation in survival as a function of either average growing season water deficit or the most extreme individual growing season water deficit during the 20 yr preceding the end of the census interval. The frequency of all but the most xeric of our study species declines at some point along a water deficit gradient. But it is seedling survival (reported in earlier work), rather than survival of saplings and canopy trees, that varies systematically along water deficit gradients.

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The demography of tree species response to climate: sapling and canopy tree growth

Cited by 23 publications

References 58 publications

Local differentiation in tree growth responses to climate

Local differentiation in tree growth responses to climate

Climate and competition effects on tree growth in Rocky Mountain forests

The demography of tree species response to climate: sapling and canopy tree survival

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