Tree growth in Switzerland is increasingly constrained by rising evaporative demand

Trotsiuk, Volodymyr; Babst, Flurin; Grossiord, Charlotte; Geßler, Arthur; Forrester, David I.; Buchmann, Nina; Schaub, Marcus; Eugster, Werner

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13712

Cited by 32 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…Within this seasonal window of growth opportunity mainly moisture conditions in soil and air limited the probability of growth, confirming an analysis on an hourly resolution for the same trees (Zweifel et al, 2021b ). Our results are also in line with studies showing that cambial activity is limited by low water potential during summer (Cabon et al, 2020a ; Peters et al, 2020 ) and the importance of increasing VPD for declining forest growth (Babst et al, 2019 ; Grossiord et al, 2020 ; Sanginés de Cárcer et al, 2018 ; Trotsiuk et al, 2021 ). The probability of growth was mainly limited by VPD for conifers, and by SWP for broadleaves, probably due to different hydraulic strategies of gymnosperms and angiosperms (Choat et al, 2012 ; Flo et al, 2021 ; Johnson et al, 2012 ), an assumption that could be of interest for future research.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees

et al. 2021

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Radial stem growth dynamics at seasonal resolution are essential to understand how forests respond to climate change. We studied daily radial growth of 160 individuals of seven temperate tree species at 47 sites across Switzerland over 8 years.Growth of all species peaked in the early part of the growth season and commenced shortly before the summer solstice, but with species-specific seasonal patterns.Day length set a window of opportunity for radial growth. Within this window, the probability of daily growth was constrained particularly by air and soil moisture, resulting in intermittent growth to occur only on 29 to 77 days (30% to 80%) within the growth period. The number of days with growth largely determined annual growth, whereas the growth period length contributed less. We call for accounting for these non-linear intra-annual and species-specific growth dynamics in tree and forest models to reduce uncertainties in predictions under climate change.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees

et al. 2021

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“…VPD appears the most recurrent climate driver by directly controlling plant transpiration. Increasing VPD tends to exacerbate stress conditions by either limiting carbon gain or increasing plant water consumption, especially for the woody biomes (McDowell et al., 2008; Trotsiuk et al., 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Seasonal Variations in Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency in China's Key Tropical‐Subtropical Transitional Zones in Response to Climate Change

Liu

Zhang

Lei

et al. 2022

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Understanding the response of terrestrial ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE) to climate change is critical to accurately represent the carbon‐water cycle processes. However, how WUE dynamics are evolving under seasonal climate variations and biome‐specific characteristics remains still unclear. In this study, we integrated two state‐of‐the‐art retrieval algorithms to estimate gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) from satellite MODIS records. Such metrics served as input to quantify ecosystem WUE, expressed as the ratio of GPP to ET, and explore its dynamics during the dry and wet season from 2001 to 2018 in China's key tropical to subtropical transitional zones, that is, Yunnan Province. Results show large spatial and seasonal variability in WUE over the observational period. During the dry season, the increasing trends in GPP and ET have led to contrasting WUE patterns in forest and non‐forest biomes, leading to positive and negative WUE trends, respectively. During the wet season, the declining trends in GPP occurring in combination with opposite trends in ET, have caused decreasing WUE consistently across all biomes except croplands, likely further modulated by human factors. The observed changes in WUE appear primarily driven by variations in air temperature (Ta) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) during both dry and wet seasons. Overall, these results contribute to a better understanding of the carbon‐water interplay in tropical‐subtropical transitional zones and provide new insights to improve our capacity to predict the terrestrial ecosystem's response to climate change.

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“…On the other hand, the positive spatial correlation between VPD and NL, LA or DM100 could be due to negative effects on needle or leaf growth of the generally low spring VPD (e.g., for spruce: LAE = 0.38 kPa; other plots = 0.25-0.29 kPa; Supplementary Table 3). The opposite effect in our temporal analysis for spruce may therefore highlight the increasing importance of VPD for forest ecosystems in Switzerland (Trotsiuk et al, 2021), where needle length is reduced in years with particularly high spring VPD (i.e., significantly above the long-term average values, Supplementary Table 3).…”

Section: Common and Different Responses Of Leaf Morphological Traits To Climatic Effects In Beech And Sprucementioning

confidence: 85%

“…In contrast, temporal variations in LMTs and their response to multiple drivers are still poorly understood, mainly owing to the scarcity of systematic measurements and foliar archives (e.g., Li et al, 2020). However, knowledge on long-term LMT variation in trees is key for the correct interpretation of growth and physiological responses to rising air temperatures and CO 2 concentrations (IPCC, 2015), increasing vapor pressure deficit (Trotsiuk et al, 2021), more extreme and longer-lasting summer droughts (CH2018, 2018), and shifts in nutrient availability driven by changes in atmospheric deposition (Waldner et al, 2014(Waldner et al, , 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in Leaf Morphological Traits of European Beech and Norway Spruce Over Two Decades in Switzerland

Zhu

Thimonier

Etzold

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Leaf morphological traits (LMTs) of forest trees have been observed to vary across space and species. However, long-term records of LMTs are scarce, due to a lack of measurements and systematic leaf archives. This leaves a large gap in our understanding of the temporal dynamics and drivers of LMT variations, which may help us understand tree acclimation strategies. In our study, we used long-term LMT measurements from foliar material collections of European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and Norway spruce (Picea abies), performed every second year from 1995 to 2019 on the same trees within the Swiss Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research Program LWF. The 11 study plots (6 beech, 4 spruce, and 1 mixed) are distributed along gradients of elevation (485–1,650 m a.s.l.), mean annual precipitation (935–2142 mm), and mean annual temperature (3.2–9.8°C). The investigated LMTs were (i) leaf or needle mass, (ii) leaf area or needle length, and (iii) leaf mass per area or needle mass per length. We combined this unique data set with plot variables and long-term data on potential temporal drivers of LMT variations, including meteorological and tree trait data. We used univariate linear regressions and linear mixed-effects models to identify the main spatial and temporal drivers of LMT variations, respectively. For beech LMTs, our temporal analysis revealed effects of mast year and crown defoliation, and legacy effects of vapor pressure deficit and temperature in summer and autumn of the preceding year, but no clear long-term trend was observed. In contrast, spruce LMTs were mainly driven by current-year spring conditions, and only needle mass per length showed a decreasing long-term trend over the study period. In temporal models, we observed that LMTs of both species were influenced by elevation and foliar nutrient concentrations, and this finding was partly confirmed by our spatial analyses. Our results demonstrate the importance of temporal analysis for determining less recognized drivers and legacy effects that influence LMTs, which are difficult to determine across space and species. The observed differences in the temporal drivers of beech and spruce LMTs suggest differences in the adaptation and acclimation potential of the two species.

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Tree growth in Switzerland is increasingly constrained by rising evaporative demand

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 32 publications

References 66 publications

Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees

Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees

Recent Seasonal Variations in Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency in China's Key Tropical‐Subtropical Transitional Zones in Response to Climate Change

Variation in Leaf Morphological Traits of European Beech and Norway Spruce Over Two Decades in Switzerland

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