Tree-Ring Growth and Wood Chemistry Response to Manipulated Precipitation Variation for Two Temperate Quercus Species

Abstract

We examined the relationship among ambient and manipulated precipitation, wood chemistry, and their relationship with radial growth for two oak species in eastern Tennessee. The study took place on the Walker Branch Throughfall Displacement Experiment (TDE) site, located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. Two dominant species, white oak (Quercus alba) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), were selected for study from a 13-year experiment of whole-stand precipitation manipulation (wet, ambient and dry). The relationships between tree-ring width and climate were compared for both species to determine the impact of precipitation manipulations on ring width index. This study used experimental spectroscopy techniques to measure the sensitivity of treering responses to directional changes in precipitation over 13 years, and the results suggest that oaks at this study site are resilient to imposed changes, but sensitive to inter-annual variations in climate. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) allowed us to measure nutrient intensities (similar to element concentrations) at 0.5-1.0 mm spacing along the radial growth axis of trees growing in the wet, ambient, and dry treatment sites. A difference in stemwood nutrient levels was observed between the two oak species and among the three treatments. Significant variation in element intensity was observed across treatments for some elements (Ca, K, Mg, Na, N and P) suggesting the potential for long-term impacts on growth under a changing climate regimes for southeastern oaks.

Dampening effects of long‐term experimental drought on growth and mortality rates of a Holm oak forest

“…The interannual variabilities in stem growth and mortality rates were largely described by the SPEI drought index, more than did the drought treatment, as observed in other Quercus species (Wagner et al ., ) (Table ). The effect of SPEI‐3 on stem growth (Fig.…”

“…These results agree with those from previous studies in the same forest Ogaya & Penuelas, 2007b). Long-term experimental drought has also increased stem mortality rates and reduced growth in different ecosystems such as the Amazonian rainforest and North-American deciduous forests (Hanson et al, 2001;Da Costa et al, 2010), although with some exceptions; e.g., the growth of Quercus species in southeastern USA was unaffected (Wagner et al, 2012). More specifically, stem growth in the drought treatment in our study was 66.5% lower in A. unedo, 17.5% lower in Q. ilex, and remain unaffected in P. latifolia compared with control plots (Fig.…”

Elemental Relationships in the Wood of Four Siberian Conifers: Whether Elements Are an Occasional Mixture

“…Krutul et al [7] showed that metals' accumulation in Scots pine depends substantially on pollution levels from a nitrogen industrial plant. Sometimes, elements vary because of environmental changes, as Wagner et al [8] showed in the experiments with manipulated precipitation. The variations, however, do not exclude that the elements may correlate with each other.…”

Applications of High Resolution Laser: Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Environmental and Biological Samples

“…The relationship between ambient, low and excess precipitation, wood chemistry, and their relationship with radial growth have been examined [63]. Two dominant species, white oak (Quercus alba) and chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), were selected for study from a 13-year experiment of whole-stand precipitation manipulation (wet, ambient and dry).…”