• Energy Research

Abstract Understanding tree-response to extreme drought events is imperative for maintaining forest ecosystem services under climate change. While tree-ring derived secondary growth measurements are often used to estimate direct and lagging drought impacts, so-called drought legacies, underlying physiological responses remain difficult to constrain across species and site conditions. As extreme droughts may alter the functioning of plants in terms of resource allocation being shifted towards repair and physiological adjustments, climate control on growth may consequently be altered until physiological recovery is completed. In this context, we here advance the concept of drought legacy effects by quantifying ‘functional legacies’ as climate sensitivity deviations (CSD) of secondary growth after droughts, i.e. temporary alterations of climate-growth relations. We quantified climate sensitivity deviations after extreme drought events by applying linear mixed-effects models to a global-scale, multi-species tree-ring dataset and differentiated responses by clades, site aridity and hydraulic safety margins (HSMs). We found that while direct secondary growth legacies were common across these groups, responses in post-drought climate sensitivity deviations were nuanced. Gymnosperms showed weaker coupling between secondary growth and the dominant climatic driver after droughts, a response that was narrowed down to gymnosperms with a small HSM, i.e. risky hydraulic strategy. In comparison, angiosperms instead showed stronger coupling between secondary growth and the dominant climatic driver following droughts, which was narrowed down to the angiosperms growing in arid sites. These results are consistent with current understanding of physiological impairment and carbon reallocation mechanisms, and the distinct functional responses suggest functional legacies quantified by climate sensitivity deviations is a promising avenue for detecting and thus studying physiological mechanisms underlying drought-responses in tree growth on large scales.

Abstract Understanding tree-response to extreme drought events is imperative for maintaining forest ecosystem services under climate change. While tree-ring derived secondary growth measurements are often used to estimate direct and lagging drought impacts, so-called drought legacies, underlying physiological responses remain difficult to constrain across species and site conditions. As extreme droughts may alter the functioning of plants in terms of resource allocation being shifted towards repair and physiological adjustments, climate control on growth may consequently be altered until physiological recovery is completed. In this context, we here advance the concept of drought legacy effects by quantifying ‘functional legacies’ as climate sensitivity deviations (CSD) of secondary growth after droughts, i.e. temporary alterations of climate-growth relations. We quantified climate sensitivity deviations after extreme drought events by applying linear mixed-effects models to a global-scale, multi-species tree-ring dataset and differentiated responses by clades, site aridity and hydraulic safety margins (HSMs). We found that while direct secondary growth legacies were common across these groups, responses in post-drought climate sensitivity deviations were nuanced. Gymnosperms showed weaker coupling between secondary growth and the dominant climatic driver after droughts, a response that was narrowed down to gymnosperms with a small HSM, i.e. risky hydraulic strategy. In comparison, angiosperms instead showed stronger coupling between secondary growth and the dominant climatic driver following droughts, which was narrowed down to the angiosperms growing in arid sites. These results are consistent with current understanding of physiological impairment and carbon reallocation mechanisms, and the distinct functional responses suggest functional legacies quantified by climate sensitivity deviations is a promising avenue for detecting and thus studying physiological mechanisms underlying drought-responses in tree growth on large scales.

AbstractThe future performance of native tree species under climate change conditions is frequently discussed, since increasingly severe and more frequent drought events are expected to become a major risk for forest ecosystems. To improve our understanding of the drought tolerance of the three common European temperate forest tree species Norway spruce, silver fir and common beech, we tested the influence of climate and tree‐specific traits on the inter and intrasite variability in drought responses of these species. Basal area increment data from a large tree‐ring network in Southern Germany and Alpine Austria along a climatic cline from warm‐dry to cool‐wet conditions were used to calculate indices of tolerance to drought events and their variability at the level of individual trees and populations. General patterns of tolerance indicated a high vulnerability of Norway spruce in comparison to fir and beech and a strong influence of bioclimatic conditions on drought response for all species. On the level of individual trees, low‐growth rates prior to drought events, high competitive status and low age favored resilience in growth response to drought. Consequently, drought events led to heterogeneous and variable response patterns in forests stands. These findings may support the idea of deliberately using spontaneous selection and adaption effects as a passive strategy of forest management under climate change conditions, especially a strong directional selection for more tolerant individuals when frequency and intensity of summer droughts will increase in the course of global climate change.

AbstractThe future performance of native tree species under climate change conditions is frequently discussed, since increasingly severe and more frequent drought events are expected to become a major risk for forest ecosystems. To improve our understanding of the drought tolerance of the three common European temperate forest tree species Norway spruce, silver fir and common beech, we tested the influence of climate and tree‐specific traits on the inter and intrasite variability in drought responses of these species. Basal area increment data from a large tree‐ring network in Southern Germany and Alpine Austria along a climatic cline from warm‐dry to cool‐wet conditions were used to calculate indices of tolerance to drought events and their variability at the level of individual trees and populations. General patterns of tolerance indicated a high vulnerability of Norway spruce in comparison to fir and beech and a strong influence of bioclimatic conditions on drought response for all species. On the level of individual trees, low‐growth rates prior to drought events, high competitive status and low age favored resilience in growth response to drought. Consequently, drought events led to heterogeneous and variable response patterns in forests stands. These findings may support the idea of deliberately using spontaneous selection and adaption effects as a passive strategy of forest management under climate change conditions, especially a strong directional selection for more tolerant individuals when frequency and intensity of summer droughts will increase in the course of global climate change.

AbstractClimate change may reduce forest growth and increase forest mortality, which is connected to high carbon costs through reductions in gross primary production and net ecosystem exchange. Yet, the spatiotemporal patterns of vulnerability to both short‐term extreme events and gradual environmental changes are quite uncertain across the species’ limits of tolerance to dryness. Such information is fundamental for defining ecologically relevant upper limits of species tolerance to drought and, hence, to predict the risk of increased forest mortality and shifts in species composition. We investigate here to what extent the impact of short‐ and long‐term environmental changes determines vulnerability to climate change of three evergreen conifers (Scots pine, silver fir, Norway spruce) and two deciduous hardwoods (European beech, sessile oak) tree species at their southernmost limits of distribution in the Mediterranean Basin. Finally, we simulated future forest growth under RCP 2.6 and 8.5 emission scenarios using a multispecies generalized linear mixed model. Our analysis provides four key insights into the patterns of species’ vulnerability to climate change. First, site climatic marginality was significantly linked to the growth trends: increasing growth was related to less climatically limited sites. Second, estimated species‐specific vulnerability did not match their a priori rank in drought tolerance: Scots pine and beech seem to be the most vulnerable species among those studied despite their contrasting physiologies. Third, adaptation to site conditions prevails over species‐specific determinism in forest response to climate change. And fourth, regional differences in forests vulnerability to climate change across the Mediterranean Basin are linked to the influence of summer atmospheric circulation patterns, which are not correctly represented in global climate models. Thus, projections of forest performance should reconsider the traditional classification of tree species in functional types and critically evaluate the fine‐scale limitations of the climate data generated by global climate models.

AbstractClimate change may reduce forest growth and increase forest mortality, which is connected to high carbon costs through reductions in gross primary production and net ecosystem exchange. Yet, the spatiotemporal patterns of vulnerability to both short‐term extreme events and gradual environmental changes are quite uncertain across the species’ limits of tolerance to dryness. Such information is fundamental for defining ecologically relevant upper limits of species tolerance to drought and, hence, to predict the risk of increased forest mortality and shifts in species composition. We investigate here to what extent the impact of short‐ and long‐term environmental changes determines vulnerability to climate change of three evergreen conifers (Scots pine, silver fir, Norway spruce) and two deciduous hardwoods (European beech, sessile oak) tree species at their southernmost limits of distribution in the Mediterranean Basin. Finally, we simulated future forest growth under RCP 2.6 and 8.5 emission scenarios using a multispecies generalized linear mixed model. Our analysis provides four key insights into the patterns of species’ vulnerability to climate change. First, site climatic marginality was significantly linked to the growth trends: increasing growth was related to less climatically limited sites. Second, estimated species‐specific vulnerability did not match their a priori rank in drought tolerance: Scots pine and beech seem to be the most vulnerable species among those studied despite their contrasting physiologies. Third, adaptation to site conditions prevails over species‐specific determinism in forest response to climate change. And fourth, regional differences in forests vulnerability to climate change across the Mediterranean Basin are linked to the influence of summer atmospheric circulation patterns, which are not correctly represented in global climate models. Thus, projections of forest performance should reconsider the traditional classification of tree species in functional types and critically evaluate the fine‐scale limitations of the climate data generated by global climate models.