Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought

Changes in regional and global hydrological cycles and temperature regimes will affect forest health, functioning and growth, and therefore their role in carbon (C) sequestration. A severe spring-summer drought hit large parts of central Europe in 2018 leading locally to premature leaf senescence in...

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Autores principales:	Brigitte Rohner, Simpal Kumar, Katharina Liechti, Arthur Gessler, Marco Ferretti
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Canopy defoliation Leaf browning Growth reduction Legacy-effects Carbon sequestration Forest health assessment Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8e86ec9704c04e5488df627dba8ef4d6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8e86ec9704c04e5488df627dba8ef4d62021-12-01T04:28:41ZTree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106903https://doaj.org/article/8e86ec9704c04e5488df627dba8ef4d62021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20308426https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XChanges in regional and global hydrological cycles and temperature regimes will affect forest health, functioning and growth, and therefore their role in carbon (C) sequestration. A severe spring-summer drought hit large parts of central Europe in 2018 leading locally to premature leaf senescence in deciduous tree species. In late summer 2018 and 2019, we carried out a special survey on selected plots (n = 75) of the Swiss National Forest Inventory to detect whether beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees (n = 271) responded to the drought, and to evaluate possible lasting effects in the subsequent year. We concentrated on three vitality indicators: severe crown transparency (SCT), severe leaf browning (SLB), and growth in terms of basal area increment (BAI). In late summer 2018, we observed a frequency of beech trees affected by SLB and SCT significantly higher than in long-term baseline data. The most significant predictors of the occurrence of SLB and SCT were previous growth, species composition, tree size and precipitation deficit. Overall, BAI was significantly lower in 2018 compared to the 2010–2017 average. In particular, trees with both SLB and SCT grew significantly less than unaffected trees, with 40–100% lower median C increment. SCT, SLB and BAI largely recovered after more favorable weather conditions in 2019: almost no instances of SLB were recorded, and SCT was comparable to long-term baseline data. BAI in 2019 was significantly higher than in 2018 and 2010–2017, and weakly related to the crown condition recorded in late summer 2018. We conclude that SCT and SLB recorded in late summer 2018 indicated rapid, drought-induced canopy deterioration of beech, associated with an immediate reduction in BAI and tree-level carbon sequestration. These effects were, however, mainly temporary for most of the investigated beech trees. Since the standard long-term forest health assessment was not able to capture the above signals, we discuss opportunities for adapting its design without jeopardizing data comparability over time.Brigitte RohnerSimpal KumarKatharina LiechtiArthur GesslerMarco FerrettiElsevierarticleCanopy defoliationLeaf browningGrowth reductionLegacy-effectsCarbon sequestrationForest health assessmentEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 120, Iss , Pp 106903- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Canopy defoliation Leaf browning Growth reduction Legacy-effects Carbon sequestration Forest health assessment Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Canopy defoliation Leaf browning Growth reduction Legacy-effects Carbon sequestration Forest health assessment Ecology QH540-549.5 Brigitte Rohner Simpal Kumar Katharina Liechti Arthur Gessler Marco Ferretti Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
description	Changes in regional and global hydrological cycles and temperature regimes will affect forest health, functioning and growth, and therefore their role in carbon (C) sequestration. A severe spring-summer drought hit large parts of central Europe in 2018 leading locally to premature leaf senescence in deciduous tree species. In late summer 2018 and 2019, we carried out a special survey on selected plots (n = 75) of the Swiss National Forest Inventory to detect whether beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees (n = 271) responded to the drought, and to evaluate possible lasting effects in the subsequent year. We concentrated on three vitality indicators: severe crown transparency (SCT), severe leaf browning (SLB), and growth in terms of basal area increment (BAI). In late summer 2018, we observed a frequency of beech trees affected by SLB and SCT significantly higher than in long-term baseline data. The most significant predictors of the occurrence of SLB and SCT were previous growth, species composition, tree size and precipitation deficit. Overall, BAI was significantly lower in 2018 compared to the 2010–2017 average. In particular, trees with both SLB and SCT grew significantly less than unaffected trees, with 40–100% lower median C increment. SCT, SLB and BAI largely recovered after more favorable weather conditions in 2019: almost no instances of SLB were recorded, and SCT was comparable to long-term baseline data. BAI in 2019 was significantly higher than in 2018 and 2010–2017, and weakly related to the crown condition recorded in late summer 2018. We conclude that SCT and SLB recorded in late summer 2018 indicated rapid, drought-induced canopy deterioration of beech, associated with an immediate reduction in BAI and tree-level carbon sequestration. These effects were, however, mainly temporary for most of the investigated beech trees. Since the standard long-term forest health assessment was not able to capture the above signals, we discuss opportunities for adapting its design without jeopardizing data comparability over time.
format	article
author	Brigitte Rohner Simpal Kumar Katharina Liechti Arthur Gessler Marco Ferretti
author_facet	Brigitte Rohner Simpal Kumar Katharina Liechti Arthur Gessler Marco Ferretti
author_sort	Brigitte Rohner
title	Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
title_short	Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
title_full	Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
title_fullStr	Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
title_full_unstemmed	Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
title_sort	tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/8e86ec9704c04e5488df627dba8ef4d6
work_keys_str_mv	AT brigitterohner treevitalityindicatorsrevealedarapidresponseofbeechforeststothe2018drought AT simpalkumar treevitalityindicatorsrevealedarapidresponseofbeechforeststothe2018drought AT katharinaliechti treevitalityindicatorsrevealedarapidresponseofbeechforeststothe2018drought AT arthurgessler treevitalityindicatorsrevealedarapidresponseofbeechforeststothe2018drought AT marcoferretti treevitalityindicatorsrevealedarapidresponseofbeechforeststothe2018drought
_version_	1718405916104065024

Tree vitality indicators revealed a rapid response of beech forests to the 2018 drought

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