• Energy Research

The occurrence of old-growth forests is quite limited in Mediterranean islands, which have been subject to particularly pronounced human impacts. Little is known about the carbon stocks of such peculiar ecosystems compared with different stages of secondary succession. We investigated the carbon variation in aboveground woody biomass, in litter and soil, and the nitrogen variation in litter and soil, in a 100 years long secondary succession in Mediterranean ecosystems. A vineyard, three stages of plant succession (high maquis, maquis-forest, and forest-maquis), and an old growth forest were compared. Soil samples at two soil depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm), and two litter types, relatively undecomposed and partly decomposed, were collected. Carbon stock in aboveground woody biomass increased from 6 Mg ha-1 in the vineyard to 105 Mg ha-1 in old growth forest. Along the secondary succession, soil carbon considerably increased from about 33 Mg ha-1 in the vineyard to about 69 Mg ha-1 in old growth forest. Soil nitrogen has more than doubled, ranging from 4.1 Mg ha-1 in the vineyard to 8.8 Mg ha-1 in old growth forest. Both soil parameters were found to be affected by successional stage and soil depth but not by their interaction. While the C/N ratio in the soil remained relatively constant during the succession, the C/N ratio of the litter strongly decreased, probably following the progressive increase in the holm oak contribution. While carbon content in litter decreased along the succession, nitrogen content slightly increased. Overall, carbon stock in aboveground woody biomass, litter and soil increased from about 48 Mg ha-1 in the vineyard to about 198 Mg ha-1 in old growth forest. The results of this study indicate that, even in Mediterranean environments, considerable amounts of carbon may be stored through secondary succession processes up to old growth forest.

Research Highlights: Chestnut trees’ (Castanea sativa Mill.) growth and their responses to climate are influenced by stand-characteristics and managements. This study highlighted that chestnut tree-ring growth is not particularly influenced by climate, while minimum temperature showed a positive relation with both intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi) and δ¹8O. Background and Objectives: The aim is to check the responses of chestnut trees to climate conditions and the role of stand structure and management. Materials and Methods: Stands with 12–14-year-old shoots were studied using dendrochronological and isotopic (δ18O and δ13C) approaches. Correlations with climate parameters were investigated and principal component analysis was performed using site-characteristics and tree growth parameters as variables. Results: Correlations between tree-ring width (TRW), tree-ring δ18O, and δ13C-derived intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi) revealed stand-dependent effects. The highest Correlations were found between climate and tree-rings’ isotopic composition. Chestnut was sensitive to high-minimum temperature in March and April, with a negative relationship with TRW and a positive relationship with WUEi. δ18O signals were not significantly different among stands. Stand thinning had a positive effect on WUEi after 1–2 years. Stand competition (indicated by shoots/stump and stumps/ha) positively influenced both WUEi and δ¹8O.

Abstract Understanding to what extent species mixtures modify the growth of trees and their responses to climate, in comparison with pure stands, is important to support forest adaptation and mitigation strategies. In this sense, information stored in tree rings can be useful to evaluate whether the positive relationship between species diversity and tree productivity holds true under disturbance (e.g., drought). This paper aimed at assessing (i) how radial growth of trees responded to local variation in climate patterns (Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index; SPEI), and (ii) whether there was a relationship with intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi) and tree-ring δ18O in two important tree species, occurring in pure and mixed forest stands. Three sites with similar topographic and pedo-climatic conditions were identified in a single location in the Italian Alps. The first two are characterized by pure stands, respectively dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The third site refers to a mixed stand of both previous species. In particular, in order to assess the annual changes in WUEi, we analysed δ13C in tree rings. The influence of the stomatal conductance was also investigated through δ18O. Our results indicated that: (i) Basal Area Increments (BAI) consistently increased in all stands except for the pure Scots pine stand, in the 1994–2003 period; (ii) SPEI highlighted a drought period between 1991 and 2007 (62.2% of the average precipitation); and (iii) the WUEi values were generally higher in pure than in mixed stands, especially for European beech. The divergence between BAI and SPEI values in the 1990s and early 2000s could be a consequence of moderate thinning. We conclude that past forest management (namely thinning) can be more influential on tree growth than current climatic oscillations.

Hydrochar, carbon-rich material produced during the thermochemical processing of biomass, is receiving increased attention due to its potential value as soil amendment. It can increase agroforestry systems’ productivity through direct and indirect effects on growth and soil quality. Hydrochar may also directly help mitigate climate change by sequestering stable carbon compounds in the soil and perhaps indirectly through increased C uptake by trees. In this research, we aim to evaluate how the application of hydrochar produced by two feedstock types, Cynara cardunculus L. (Hc) residuals and sewage sludge (Hs), and in two different doses (3 and 6 kg m−2) could improve the growth and water use efficiency of Populus alba L., a fast-growing tree species largely used in agroforestry as bioenergy crops and in C sequestration. We considered five plants per treatment, and we measured apical growth, secondary growth, leaf area and intrinsic water use efficiency in each plant for the whole growing season from February to October 2022. Our results highlighted that hydrochar applications stimulate the growth and water use efficiency of plants and that the double dose (6 kg m−2) of both hydrochars, and particularly Hc, had positive effects on plant performance, especially during extremely hot periods. Indeed, the year 2022 was characterized by a heat wave during the summer period, and this condition allowed us to evaluate how plants, growing in soils amended with hydrochar, could perform under climate extremes. Our findings showed that the control plants experienced severe damage in terms of dried stems and dried leaves during summer 2022, while hydrochar applications reduced these effects.

Mixed forests of Quercus ilex L. and Pinus pinea L. are widely found throughout the Mediterranean Basin, being representative of two co-existing functional types: evergreen-sclerophyllous drought-resistant species and Mediterranean-adapted drought-avoidant conifers. Their contrasting physiological strategies to cope with water deficit influence all the processes regulating their growth such as wood formation, leading to peculiar tree-ring anatomical features such as intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs). Intra-annual density fluctuations are abrupt changes in wood anatomical traits within a tree ring, appearing as latewood-like cells within earlywood or earlywood-like cells within latewood, and are frequently found in Mediterranean species as a response to seasonal climate changes. In this study, we characterized the anatomical traits and composition of carbon and oxygen stable isotopes in IADFs occurring in tree rings of Q. ilex and P. pinea trees co-existing at a same site in Southern Italy, in order to link their xylem hydraulic properties with the related physiological mechanisms. The relationships between IADF occurrence and seasonal mean temperature and total precipitation were investigated, with the aim of assessing whether they can be used as indicators of species-specific responses to intra-annual climate fluctuations. Results show that IADF period of formation is during autumn months for both species. The influence of climate on IADF occurrence was found to be an indicator of species-specific response to climate: an increased stomatal conductance associated to the formation of a wood safer against embolism was found in Q. ilex, while a tighter stomatal control associated to a more efficient wood with regard to hydraulic conductivity occurred in P. pinea. Moreover, the assessment of the influence of climate on IADF occurrence indicates that, with rising temperatures, Q. ilex would form fewer IADFs compared with P. pinea. Other study cases are desirable to assess the suggested forecasts and to link the plasticity of the species to form IADFs with their effective adaptive capability to compete for resources, and to explain how it may influence future population development.

ABSTRACTWith ongoing global warming, increasing water deficits promote physiological stress on forest ecosystems with negative impacts on tree growth, vitality, and survival. How individual tree species will react to increased drought stress is therefore a key research question to address for carbon accounting and the development of climate change mitigation strategies. Recent tree‐ring studies have shown that trees at higher latitudes will benefit from warmer temperatures, yet this is likely highly species‐dependent and less well‐known for more temperate tree species. Using a unique pan‐European tree‐ring network of 26,430 European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) trees from 2118 sites, we applied a linear mixed‐effects modeling framework to (i) explain variation in climate‐dependent growth and (ii) project growth for the near future (2021–2050) across the entire distribution of beech. We modeled the spatial pattern of radial growth responses to annually varying climate as a function of mean climate conditions (mean annual temperature, mean annual climatic water balance, and continentality). Over the calibration period (1952–2011), the model yielded high regional explanatory power (R2 = 0.38–0.72). Considering a moderate climate change scenario (CMIP6 SSP2‐4.5), beech growth is projected to decrease in the future across most of its distribution range. In particular, projected growth decreases by 12%–18% (interquartile range) in northwestern Central Europe and by 11%–21% in the Mediterranean region. In contrast, climate‐driven growth increases are limited to around 13% of the current occurrence, where the historical mean annual temperature was below ~6°C. More specifically, the model predicts a 3%–24% growth increase in the high‐elevation clusters of the Alps and Carpathian Arc. Notably, we find little potential for future growth increases (−10 to +2%) at the poleward leading edge in southern Scandinavia. Because in this region beech growth is found to be primarily water‐limited, a northward shift in its distributional range will be constrained by water availability.