| 1. |
- Bader, Martin K.-F., et al.
(author)
-
Less pronounced drought responses in ring-porous than in diffuse-porous temperate tree species
- 2022
-
In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier. - 0168-1923 .- 1873-2240. ; 327
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tree species differ in their physiological responses to drought, but the underlying causes are often unclear. Here we explored responses of radial growth to centennial drought events and sap flow (Fs) to seasonal drought in four mixed forests on either moist or drier sites in northwestern Switzerland. While the diffuse-porous species (Fagus sylvatica, Prunus avium, Tilia platyphyllos) showed marked growth reductions in 1976 and 2003, two known marker years for severe drought, growth of the two ring-porous species (Quercus petraea and Fraxinus excelsior) was less severely affected. During a dry early to midsummer, diffuse-porous species strongly reduced Fs at the two drier sites but not (or less so) at the two moister sites. Regardless of soil moisture availability, the deep- rooting, ring-porous trees invariably down-regulated Fs to 60–70% of their maxima in response to vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and maintained similar fluxes across sites, irrespective of upper soil moisture conditions. A generalised additive model of normalised Fs as a function of VPD and soil matric potential yielded a drought- sensitivity ranking of Fs led by the two insensitive ring-porous species followed by the diffuse-porous trees (ordered by increasing sensitivity: Fraxinus excelsior < Quercus petraea < Prunus avium < Acer pseudoplatanus < Fagus sylvatica < Tilia platyphyllos). In conclusion, ring-porous tree species exhibited stronger VPD-driven stomatal control over Fs, and tree-ring formation was less sensitive to severe drought than in their neighbouring diffuse-porous species. The Fs regulation explained the greater drought tolerance of the ring-porous trees.
|
|
| 2. |
- Etzold, Sophia, et al.
(author)
-
Number of growth days and not length of the growth period determines radial stem growth of temperate trees
- 2022
-
In: Ecology Letters. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 25:2, s. 427-439
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 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.
|
|
| 3. |
- Zweifel, Roman, et al.
(author)
-
Why trees grow at night
- 2021
-
In: New Phytologist. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0028-646X .- 1469-8137. ; 231:6, s. 2174-2185
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The timing of diel stem growth of mature forest trees is still largely unknown, as empirical data with high temporal resolution have not been available so far. Consequently, the effects of day-night conditions on tree growth remained uncertain. Here we present the first comprehensive field study of hourly-resolved radial stem growth of seven temperate tree species, based on 57 million underlying data points over a period of up to 8 yr. We show that trees grow mainly at night, with a peak after midnight, when the vapour pressure deficit (VPD) is among the lowest. A high VPD strictly limits radial stem growth and allows little growth during daylight hours, except in the early morning. Surprisingly, trees also grow in moderately dry soil when the VPD is low. Species-specific differences in diel growth dynamics show that species able to grow earlier during the night are associated with the highest number of hours with growth per year and the largest annual growth increment. We conclude that species with the ability to overcome daily water deficits faster have greater growth potential. Furthermore, we conclude that growth is more sensitive than carbon uptake to dry air, as growth stops before stomata are known to close.
|
|
