Tree growth acceleration and expansion of alpine forests: The synergistic effect of atmospheric and edaphic change

Silva, Lucas C. R.; Sun, Geng; Zhu‐Barker, Xia; Liang, Qianlong; Wu, Ning; Horwáth, William R.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501302

Cited by 80 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 55 publications

(81 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The concurrent rise in temperature and C a does not allow assessing to what extent the positive growth trend can be attributed to CO 2 fertilization effects or to the removal of temperature-driven sink limitation (Körner, 2015). Positive temperature-growth relationships are commonly found at higher elevations in the alpine ecotone (Dolezal et al, 2019;Panthi et al, 2018), and tree growth acceleration in alpine regions has also been found in other studies (Huang et al, 2017;Lindner et al, 2010;Paulsen, Weber, & Korner, 2000;Qi et al, 2015;Salzer et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2016). In the dry region, warming also likely reduced temperature-driven sink limitation, and increased the season during which temperature allowed tree growth.…”

Section: Detecting and Explaining Long-term Trendsmentioning

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Long‐term physiological and growth responses of Himalayan fir to environmental change are mediated by mean climate

Panthi

Fan

Sleen

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High‐elevation forests are experiencing high rates of warming, in combination with CO2 rise and (sometimes) drying trends. In these montane systems, the effects of environmental changes on tree growth are also modified by elevation itself, thus complicating our ability to predict effects of future climate change. Tree‐ring analysis along an elevation gradient allows quantifying effects of gradual and annual environmental changes. Here, we study long‐term physiological (ratio of internal to ambient CO2, i.e., Ci/Ca and intrinsic water‐use efficiency, iWUE) and growth responses (tree‐ring width) of Himalayan fir (Abies spectabilis) trees in response to warming, drying, and CO2 rise. Our study was conducted along elevational gradients in a dry and a wet region in the central Himalaya. We combined dendrochronology and stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) to quantify long‐term trends in Ci/Ca ratio and iWUE (δ13C‐derived), growth (mixed‐effects models), and evaluate climate sensitivity (correlations). We found that iWUE increased over time at all elevations, with stronger increase in the dry region. Climate–growth relations showed growth‐limiting effects of spring moisture (dry region) and summer temperature (wet region), and negative effects of temperature (dry region). We found negative growth trends at lower elevations (dry and wet regions), suggesting that continental‐scale warming and regional drying reduced tree growth. This interpretation is supported by δ13C‐derived long‐term physiological responses, which are consistent with responses to reduced moisture and increased vapor pressure deficit. At high elevations (wet region), we found positive growth trends, suggesting that warming has favored tree growth in regions where temperature most strongly limits growth. At lower elevations (dry and wet regions), the positive effects of CO2 rise did not mitigate the negative effects of warming and drying on tree growth. Our results raise concerns on the productivity of Himalayan fir forests at low and middle (<3,300 m) elevations as climate change progresses.

show abstract

Section: Detecting and Explaining Long-term Trendsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Le Quéré et al, 2018), it is important to understand how long-term tree physiology and growth will respond to global changes (Charney et al, 2016;Silva et al, 2016;Zuidema et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term physiological and growth responses of Himalayan fir to environmental change are mediated by mean climate

Panthi

Fan

Sleen

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One avenue to answering these questions is the study of tree species performance before and after the occurrence of extreme events. In particular, the physiological performance of dominant trees in forests that are sensitive to climate variability, such as montane forests, can be used to reconstruct shifts in forest productivity and distribution, reflecting long‐term trends in climate and atmospheric composition (Körner, ; Salzer et al, ; Silva et al, )…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping With Extreme Events: Growth and Water‐Use Efficiency of Trees in Western Mexico During the Driest and Wettest Periods of the Past One Hundred Sixty Years

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding how trees respond to extreme events is important to predict how climate change will impact forests in the future. In this study, we report changes in radial growth and tree-ring carbon (δ 13 C) and oxygen (δ 18 O) stable isotope ratios of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir) in western Mexico. Tree growth was compared with δ 13 C and δ 18 O ratios recorded during dry and wet periods caused by El Niño-Southern Oscillation since 1850. The three driest and three wettest events during the studied period caused tree growth decline of up to 50% followed by 6-10 years of slow recovery until baseline growth was regained. Wet events resulted in up to 17% growth increase, a positive effect that persisted for no more than 3-5 years. Stable isotope ratios recorded physiological adjustments that in some cases correlated significantly with tree growth. Excursions in tree-ring Δ 13 C and δ 18 O isotope ratios suggest that trees cope with dry and wet periods with proportional but divergent adjustments in photosynthesis versus stomatal conductance. Notably, the intrinsic water-use efficiency-that is, the ratio between carbon assimilation and water loss through transpiration-was positively correlated with tree basal growth only during dry periods. We found no significant correlations between growth and intrinsic water-use efficiency during wet periods. Contrary to expectations, rising CO 2 levels over the past~160 years did not affect tree growth response to precipitation variability.

show abstract

“…Previous work suggests that iWUE is sensitive to multiple climate drivers, especially c a and water availability. The consensus view, based on previous observational and modeling studies, is that iWUE will increase with increasing c a because plants will be able to close stomata (to minimize water loss) without reducing C uptake (Silva et al, 2009(Silva et al, , 2016Brienen et al, 2011;Maseyk et al, 2011;Nock et al, 2011;Battipaglia et al, 2013;Keenan et al, 2013;Frank et al, 2015;van der Sleen et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking variation in intrinsic water‐use efficiency to isohydricity: a comparison at multiple spatiotemporal scales

Maxwell

Wenzel

et al. 2018

New Phytologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Species-specific responses of plant intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) to multiple environmental drivers associated with climate change, including soil moisture (θ), vapor pressure deficit (D), and atmospheric CO concentration (c ), are poorly understood. We assessed how the iWUE and growth of several species of deciduous trees that span a gradient of isohydric to anisohydric water-use strategies respond to key environmental drivers (θ, D and c ). iWUE was calculated for individual tree species using leaf-level gas exchange and tree-ring δ C in wood measurements, and for the whole forest using the eddy covariance method. The iWUE of the isohydric species was generally more sensitive to environmental change than the anisohydric species was, and increased significantly with rising D during the periods of water stress. At longer timescales, the influence of c was pronounced for isohydric tulip poplar but not for others. Trees' physiological responses to changing environmental drivers can be interpreted differently depending on the observational scale. Care should be also taken in interpreting observed or modeled trends in iWUE that do not explicitly account for the influence of D.

show abstract

Tree growth acceleration and expansion of alpine forests: The synergistic effect of atmospheric and edaphic change

Abstract: Soil-plant-atmosphere interactions regulate the impact of climate on forest ecosystems.

Cited by 80 publications

References 55 publications

Long‐term physiological and growth responses of Himalayan fir to environmental change are mediated by mean climate

Long‐term physiological and growth responses of Himalayan fir to environmental change are mediated by mean climate

Coping With Extreme Events: Growth and Water‐Use Efficiency of Trees in Western Mexico During the Driest and Wettest Periods of the Past One Hundred Sixty Years

Linking variation in intrinsic water‐use efficiency to isohydricity: a comparison at multiple spatiotemporal scales

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About