The Role of Forests in Mitigating Climate Change – a Case Study for Europe

Gálos, Borbála; Hänsler, Andreas; Kindermann, Georg; Rechid, Diana; Sieck, Kevin; Jacob, Daniela

doi:10.2478/v10303-012-0007-2

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It has been observed that pedunculate oak trees can endure drought conditions over short periods owing to osmotic adaptation under water stress (Cater 2011). However, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and length of summer drought in this region (Bartholy et al 2007, Gálos et al 2012, which may well pose a greater challenge to oak forests in the future. Increasing drought and temperature sensitivity have been recently reported in Central Europe for other important forest species (Fagus sylvatica, Picea abies) as well, particularly for species which had already experienced unprecedented forest declines (Kolár et al 2017).…”

Section: Iforest -Biogeosciences and Forestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth-climate relations and the enhancement of drought signals in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) tree-ring chronology in Eastern Hungary

Árvai¹,

Morgós²,

Kern³

2018

iForest

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biogeosciences and Forestry Biogeosciences and Forestry Growth-climate relations and the enhancement of drought signals in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) tree-ring chronology in Eastern Hungary Mátyás Árvai (1) , András Morgós (2) , Zoltán Kern (3) This paper presents an analysis of the climatic factors affecting tree-ring growth in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), one of the most important species of Hungarian forests. A 221-year oak chronology was elaborated, covering the period 1789 to 2009 AD. The daily climate data for a ~110 year stretch offered a detailed insight into the climate-growth relations. The correlation function reached a maximum (r>0.4) in the case of precipitation in May-August, providing evidence that water availability is the main factor driving the oak growth in the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. Although there was no significant linear relation with temperature in the long term, moving window correlation analysis revealed that temperature response changed substantially over the course of the 20 th century. While positive correlation with winter temperature was characteristic in the first decades, later the response to summer temperature strengthened remarkably, reaching r =-0.569 by the end of the analysed period (years 1978-2007). While the vulnerability of oak to drought stress is common across Europe, in southern and central Europe high summer temperatures impair tree growth. The enhanced sensitivity of pedunculate oaks to the water balance in the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain allows to surmise the presence of an evolving tendency towards drought risk and vulnerability in the case of these oak stands.

show abstract

Section: Iforest -Biogeosciences and Forestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth-climate relations and the enhancement of drought signals in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) tree-ring chronology in Eastern Hungary

Árvai¹,

Morgós²,

Kern³

2018

iForest

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Forest ecosystems undoubtedly play an important role in the mitigation of the climate change, however, climate change can be a threatening process to them (Bonan 2008;Führer 2010;Gálos et al 2012). The present and forecasted decline of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is one of the greatest debates in the European forestry due to the climate change generated xeric limit shifting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate influence on radial growth of Fagus sylvatica growing near the edge of its distribution in Bükk Mts., Hungary

Garamszegi¹,

Kern²

2014

Dendrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Future of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in a changing climate is one of the greatest debates in Europe among the studies dealing with the climate change generated xeric limit shifting. We investigated a submontane beech stand's growth response to climate change in Northern Hungary during the past 60 years following dendrochronological methods. Tree-ring width data were processed using three alternatives of standardization. To recover the basic climate-growth relationships for beech we analyzed the correlation between the tree-ring width indices and monthly precipitation and temperature data, furthermore two drought indices were employed. Late spring-early summer precipitation was the primary climatic factor governing the beech growth at the study site since the early 1950s, while summer heat played a secondary obstructive role documented by the significant negative correlation. A 30-years running window correlation was used to identify whether the climate-growth connections changed due to the unfavorable climatic trends. The results indicated no evidence of a distinct decline in radial increment, however, a significant increase in climatic impact on growth has been detected including probable changes and shifts in the vegetation period.

show abstract

“…A specific feature of Ukraine is the presence of a transition zone between forest and southern forestless steppe (the xeric belt), where ecosystems are vulnerable to environmental change. In addition, Ukraine has a high potential to sequester carbon through afforestation, since the country has greater than 3 M ha of unproductive abandoned agricultural lands (Schierhorn et al 2013;Smaliychuk et al 2016), as well as via other forest management activities (Galos et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A spatial assessment of the forest carbon budget for Ukraine

Lesiv

Shvidenko

Schepaschenko

et al. 2018

Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The spatial representation of forest cover and forest parameters is a prerequisite for undertaking a systems approach to the full and verified carbon accounting of forest ecosystems over large areas. This study focuses on Ukraine, which contains a diversity of bioclimatic conditions and natural landscapes found across Europe. Ukraine has a high potential to sequester carbon dioxide through afforestation and proper forest management. This paper presents a new 2010 forest map for Ukraine at a 60 m resolution with an accuracy of 91.6 ± 0.8% (CI 0.95), which is then applied to the calculation of the carbon budget. The forest cover map and spatially distributed forest parameters were developed through the integration of remote sensing data, forest statistics, and data collected using the Geo-Wiki application, which involves visual interpretation of very high-resolution satellite imagery. The use of this map in combination with the mapping of other forest parameters had led to a decrease in the uncertainty of the forest carbon budget for Ukraine. The application of both stock-based and flux-based methods shows that Ukrainian forests have served as a net carbon sink, absorbing 11.4 ± 1.7 Tg C year −1 in 2010, which is around 25% less than the official values reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

show abstract

The Role of Forests in Mitigating Climate Change – a Case Study for Europe

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

Growth-climate relations and the enhancement of drought signals in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) tree-ring chronology in Eastern Hungary

Growth-climate relations and the enhancement of drought signals in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) tree-ring chronology in Eastern Hungary

Climate influence on radial growth of Fagus sylvatica growing near the edge of its distribution in Bükk Mts., Hungary

A spatial assessment of the forest carbon budget for Ukraine

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About