Aim The aim was to decipher Europe-wide spatio-temporal patterns of forest growth dynamics and their associations with carbon isotope fractionation processes inferred from tree rings as modulated by climate warming. Location Europe and North Africa (30-70 degrees N, 10 degrees W-35 degrees E). Time period 1901-2003. Major taxa studied Temperate and Euro-Siberian trees. Methods We characterize changes in the relationship between tree growth and carbon isotope fractionation over the 20th century using a European network consisting of 20 site chronologies. Using indexed tree-ring widths (TRWi), we assess shifts in the temporal coherence of radial growth across sites (synchrony) for five forest ecosystems (Atlantic, boreal, cold continental, Mediterranean and temperate). We also examine whether TRWi shows variable coupling with leaf-level gas exchange, inferred from indexed carbon isotope discrimination of tree-ring cellulose (Delta C-13(i)). Results We find spatial autocorrelation for TRWi and Delta C-13(i) extending over a maximum of 1,000 km among forest stands. However, growth synchrony is not uniform across Europe, but increases along a latitudinal gradient concurrent with decreasing temperature and evapotranspiration. Latitudinal relationships between TRWi and Delta C-13(i) (changing from negative to positive southwards) point to drought impairing carbon uptake via stomatal regulation for water saving occurring at forests below 60 degrees N in continental Europe. An increase in forest growth synchrony over the 20th century together with increasingly positive relationships between TRWi and Delta C-13(i) indicate intensifying impacts of drought on tree performance. These effects are noticeable in drought-prone biomes (Mediterranean, temperate and cold continental). Main conclusions At the turn of this century, convergence in growth synchrony across European forest ecosystems is coupled with coordinated warming-induced effects of drought on leaf physiology and tree growth spreading northwards. Such a tendency towards exacerbated moisture-sensitive growth and physiology could override positive effects of enhanced leaf intercellular CO2 concentrations, possibly resulting in Europe-wide declines of forest carbon gain in the coming decades.
1.Woods Hole Res Ctr, Falmouth, MA USA 2.Univ Lleida, AGROTECNIO Ctr, Dept Crop & Forest Sci, Lleida, Spain 3.Swiss Fed Res Inst WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland 4.Univ Helsinki, Dept Forest Sci, Helsinki, Finland 5.Johannes Gutenberg Univ Mainz, Dept Geog, Mainz, Germany 6.Columbia Univ, Lamont Doherty Earth Observ, Tree Ring Lab, Palisades, NY USA 7.UVSQ, CEA CNRS, Lab Climate & Environm Sci, Gif Sur Yvette, France 8.German Ctr Geosci GFZ, Helmholtz Ctr Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany 9.Univ Bern, Climate & Environm Phys, Bern, Switzerland 10.Swansea Univ, Dept Geog, Swansea, W Glam, Wales 11.Univ Naples Federico II, Dept Agr Sci, Portici, Italy 12.Anglia Ruskin Univ, Dept Biomed & Forens Sci, Cambridge, England 13.Inst Bio & Geosci IBG 3, FZJ Res Ctr Julich, Julich, Germany 14.Agr Univ, Dept Forest Biodivers, Krakow, Poland 15.UFZ Helmholtz Ctr Environm Res, Dept Isotope Hydrol, Halle, Germany 16.Natl Inst Agr Res & Expt INIA CIFOR, Forest Res Ctr, Madrid, Spain 17.Univ Arizona, Lab Tree Ring Res, Tucson, AZ USA 18.Univ Nat Resources & Life Sci BOKU, Inst Wood Technol & Renewable Resources, Vienna, Austria 19.Univ Helsinki, Lab Chronol, Helsinki, Finland 20.Forestry Museum, Lycksele, Sweden 21.AGH Univ Sci & Technol, Fac Geol Geophys & Environm Protect, Krakow, Poland 22.CNESTEN, Water & Climate Unit, Rabat, Morocco 23.Silesian Tech Univ, Dept Radioisotopes, Gliwice, Poland 24.Univ Barcelona, Dept Biol Evolut Ecol & Environm Sci, Avda Diagonal 643, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain 25.State Sci Res Inst Nat Res Ctr, Vilnius, Lithuania 26.Univ Bern, Oeschger Ctr Climate Change Res, Bern, Switzerland 27.Nat Resources Inst Finland Luke, Helsinki, Finland 28.Univ Basilicata, Sch Agr Forest Food & Environm Sci, Potenza, Italy 29.Vytautas Magnus Univ, Environm Res Ctr, Kaunas, Lithuania 30.Holzforsch Austria, Vienna, Austria 31.Univ Nat Resources & Life Sci, Inst Nat Mat Technol, Tulin, Austria 32.CSL Behring AG, Bern, Switzerland 33.Janusz Kusocinski Sports Sch Zabrze, Zabrze, Poland
Recommended Citation:
Shestakova, Tatiana A.,Voltas, Jordi,Saurer, Matthias,et al. Spatio-temporal patterns of tree growth as related to carbon isotope fractionation in European forests under changing climate[J]. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY,2019-01-01,28(9):1295-1309