Article
Forestry
Haotian Guo, Weiwei Jia, Dandan Li, Yaman Sun, Fan Wang, Xiaoyong Zhang
Summary: By using data from 803 branches of 70 Korean pine trees in Heilongjiang Province, China, a mixed-effects model was constructed to investigate the effects of stand conditions and climatic factors on branch growth and its dynamics over time. The results showed that branch age, branch depth into crown, branch diameter with bark, height-diameter ratio of the tree, stand average diameter at breast height, summer mean temperature, and summer precipitation significantly influenced branch growth. Younger branches were more responsive to competitive changes, and summer precipitation had a greater impact on branch growth compared to summer mean temperature. Random effects were introduced to improve the predictive ability of the model. Our research suggests that branch growth is influenced by a combination of climate and competition, and has implications for forest management decisions under global climate change.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bowen Zhang, Minghua Zhou, Bo Zhu, Qianying Xiao, Tao Wang, Jialiang Tang, Zhisheng Yao, Ralf Kiese, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Nicolas Bruggemann
Summary: The study found significant differences in N2O emissions among different soil types, primarily due to variations in initial soil properties. Emissions from acidic soils were not only higher than those from neutral and alkaline soils but also more sensitive to temperature changes.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Yanli Jing, Xuechao Zhao, Shengen Liu, Peng Tian, Zhaolin Sun, Longchi Chen, Qingkui Wang
Summary: Changes in microbial residue accumulation and distribution with stand age affect soil carbon stability and productivity in plantations.
Article
Agronomy
Ruijie Tang, Yujie Hu, Tianyi Hu, Yan Zhao, Yanzheng Wu, Lei Meng
Summary: Tea plants prefer NH4+-N over NO3--N, and nitrification has a negative impact on N uptake by tea. The loss of NO3--N is higher in 15-year-old tea field soils in both subtropical and tropical regions. The highest nitrogen oxide emissions occur in subtropical plots with 15-year-old tea fields and tropical plots with older (>=30 years) tea plantations. The key factor affecting emissions differs between Changsha county (available K) and Baisha county (SOM, pH, and available P).
Article
Engineering, Civil
Andrea Brenna, Lorenzo Marchi, Marco Borga, Massimiliano Ghinassi, Mattia Zaramella, Nicola Surian
Summary: The study compared transport mechanisms in a mountain stream during high-magnitude floods with those in ordinary floods and evaluated the effectiveness of morphometric approaches in predicting high-magnitude flows. Water flow remained dominant during the high-magnitude Vaia Storm, with debris flows and debris floods also occurring at certain sub-reaches. The morphometric approaches successfully predicted debris flows but struggled to recognize debris floods during the 2018 flooding event.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Soil Science
Kai Fang, Yan-Jiao Liu, Wen-Qiang Zhao, Jia Liu, Xiao-Ying Zhang, He-Liang He, Qing Liu, Yong-Ping Kou
Summary: Soil fungi play a crucial role in forest ecological processes and the restoration of degraded forests. However, little is known about how the soil fungal community and functional taxa change with stand age in sub-alpine plantations. In this study, we investigated the variation in fungal community composition and functional guilds in different aged Picea asperata forests. We found that stand age significantly affects the soil fungal community, with soil properties being the main driver of change. This highlights the importance of considering soil fungi in forest management and restoration strategies.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Zhen Wang, Xiongqing Zhang, Sophan Chhin, Jianguo Zhang, Aiguo Duan
Summary: The study found that forest productivity of Chinese fir plantations increased with higher values of the Gini coefficient and dominant height, but decreased with increasing age and stand basal area. Forest productivity was positively correlated with annual precipitation and summer mean maximum temperature, while negatively associated with winter mean minimum temperature and annual heat-moisture index. Age had the greatest influence on forest productivity compared to climate factors.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Mikael Moura, Filipe Campelo, Cristina Nabais, Nuria Garcia-Forner
Summary: Resin extraction has an age-dependent effect on tree growth, with no significant impact on trees older than 40 years. The co-production of resin and wood can be encouraged in maritime pine stands over 40 years old.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Bo Zhou, Frank Sterck, Bart Kruijt, Ze-Xin Fan, Pieter A. Zuidema
Summary: This study investigated the intra-annual stem growth patterns of 27 trees from 14 species in a montane subtropical forest over 5 years. The results showed highly consistent growth patterns across species, with variations in growth rate but not in timing. The study also found that trees mainly grew before dawn when vapour pressure deficit (VPD) was low, and mainly between May and August driven by temperature and VPD but not by soil moisture.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Luoqi Zhao, Xiaoni Wu, Na Huang, Denggao Fu, Peiyuan Peng, Huaye Shang, Gongning Huang, Changqun Duan
Summary: Understanding the effects of different plant species on soil phosphorus distributions and characteristics is crucial for land recovery and control of eutrophication in nearby freshwater ecosystems. This study investigated the attributes of Saccharum rufipilum, a perennial grass, and Pinus yunnanensis, a coniferous tree, and their impact on soil physicochemical properties and phosphorus fractions in a P-enriched degraded mountain area. The results showed that the two species had contrasting effects on soil phosphorus fractions, with the grass having a positive influence and the tree having a negative influence. The study also identified soil nitrogen, iron oxides, and root biomass as key factors influencing soil phosphorus fractions and phosphorus sorption potential.
Article
Cell Biology
Edmund Charles Jenkins, Mrittika Chattopadhyay, Maria Gomez, Denis Torre, Avi Ma'ayan, Miguel Torres-Martin, Daniela Sia, Doris Germain
Summary: A major limitation in breast cancer research using mouse models is that most mice develop estrogen receptor-alpha (ER alpha)-negative mammary tumors, while in humans, the majority of breast cancers are ER alpha-positive. However, a new study using an inducible mouse model revealed that mammary tumors in young mice are ER alpha-negative, while they are ER alpha-positive in aged mice. The study also identified genes involved in the activation of ER alpha axis and the regulation of UPR stress responses in aged female-derived mammary tumors. These findings suggest that aging alters the oncogenic trajectory towards ER alpha-positive breast cancer subtype.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Ilze Matisone, Diana Jansone, Ieva Jaunslaviete, Roberts Matisons, Agnese Anta Liepina, Aris Jansons
Summary: Intensifying forest management and shorter rotation periods require intensive biodiversity conservation strategies, such as the triad concept, to ensure habitat connectivity. The relationships between biodiversity components and manageable stand characteristics are important, with stand structures being of primary importance in addition to age.
Article
Forestry
Jiachuan Wang, Shuheng Li, Yili Guo, Qi Yang, Rui Ren, Yijie Han
Summary: This study investigates the relationships between the radial growth of Larix principis-rupprechtii at different elevations and climatic factors. The results show that temperature and precipitation have a significant impact on the radial growth of L. principis-rupprechtii at different elevations. There is a lag effect in the response of L. principis-rupprechtii at mid-elevation to climate factors. Spring temperatures and winter precipitation are the main climatic factors that restrict the growth of L. principis-rupprechtii under warming and drying climate trends. The growth of L. principis-rupprechtii is somewhat restricted by drought. These findings provide valuable information for the management and sustainable development of L. principis-rupprechtii under changing climate conditions.
Article
Forestry
Pradip Saud, Thomas B. Lynch, James M. Guldin, Sudip Shrestha
Summary: In this study, two models were developed to predict individual tree mortality, considering competition indices and thinning effects. The results showed that competition indices significantly influenced the probability of mortality, and excluding thinning variables improved the model performance.
Article
Agronomy
Yanwu Pei, Laiming Huang, Ming'an Shao, Yinglong Zhang, Yanhui Pan
Summary: Understanding the water use pattern and transpiration rate of revegetation species is crucial for efficient water management and sustainable vegetation restoration. However, the characteristics of water use pattern and transpiration of P. sylvestris at different ages remain poorly understood.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Kirsten S. W. O'Sullivan, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Jan-Chang Chen, Alistair S. Jump
Summary: Ongoing global climate change is driving widespread shifts in species distributions, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Research suggests that different life stages of tree species may exhibit varying trends in response to climate change, with most species showing downward shifts while a few may move upwards. The wide variation in responses across different forest types highlights the importance of understanding the implications for biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human populations.
Article
Plant Sciences
Georges Kunstler, Arnaud Guyennon, Sophia Ratcliffe, Nadja Rueger, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Dylan Z. Childs, Jonas Dahlgren, Aleksi Lehtonen, Wilfried Thuiller, Christian Wirth, Miguel A. Zavala, Roberto Salguero-Gomez
Summary: Using forest inventory data from over 90,000 plots across Europe, we parameterized integral projection models with climate and competition effects for 27 tree species. We found that growth and passage time were constrained at cold and wet edges, while survival and lifespan were constrained at hot and dry edges. Species leaf nitrogen content was strongly linked to their demographic responses at the edge.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Zuoqiang Yuan, Arshad Ali, Anvar Sanaei, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Tommaso Jucker, Lei Fang, Edith Bai, Ji Ye, Fei Lin, Shuai Fang, Zhanqing Hao, Xugao Wang
Summary: Large trees play a crucial role in shaping forest above-ground biomass dynamics, driving AGB stock and changes more effectively than species diversity and trait composition in temperate forests. Disturbed forests show higher AGB gain and lower AGB loss compared to old-growth forests, with the largest trees being consistently vital for explaining AGB stock, gain, and loss. Elevation-related topographic factors play a more direct role in determining forest AGB accumulation than soil nutrients, impacting the dominance of resource-conservative trees and influencing the presence of top 1% large trees.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Alexandre Changenet, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Sophia Ratcliffe, Thibaut Frejaville, Juliette Archambeau, Annabel J. Porte, Miguel A. Zavala, Jonas Dahlgren, Aleksi Lehtonen, Marta Benito Garzon
Summary: The study revealed that the occurrence of mortality is higher in peripheral regions and at the climatic trailing edge, linked with drought, while the intensity of mortality is influenced by competition, drought, and high temperatures, and is uniformly distributed across species ranges.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lukas Heiland, Georges Kunstler, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Allan Buras, Jonas Dahlgren, Lisa Hulsmann
Summary: Recent research has shown that climate change has led to shifts in the distribution range of tree species. However, it is unclear to what extent ontogenetic effects contribute to the divergent occurrences between juvenile and adult trees along large-scale climatic gradients. This study used theoretical modeling and empirical analysis to demonstrate that ontogenetic effects are a relevant cause of divergent occurrences between life stages, challenging the practice of inferring climate change impacts from static data.
Article
Plant Sciences
E. West, P. J. Morley, A. S. Jump, D. N. M. Donoghue
Summary: This study used satellite data from MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 to observe the changes in European beech forest canopy health during intense droughts in the Rhon Biosphere Reserve, central Germany in 2003 and 2018. The results showed that Sentinel-2 data provided a detailed understanding of canopy-level impacts at the spatial scale, while MODIS data offered the clearest temporal progression of the drought's impacts. It was also found that low NDVI values in August were associated with SPEI values below -1.5, highlighting the sensitivity of canopy impact detection to the timing of image acquisition.
Article
Ecology
Sarah H. Watts, Alistair S. Jump
Summary: Mountain woodland ecotones require urgent action in order to reverse long-term habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. Restoration efforts not only sequester carbon, but also offer a comprehensive range of ecosystem services and biodiversity gains, benefiting wildlife and humans. Additionally, mountain woodland restoration plays a critical role in providing nature-based solutions for mitigating the effects of climate change.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Arnaud Guyennon, Bjorn Reineking, Roberto Salguero-Gomez, Jonas Dahlgren, Aleksi Lehtonen, Sophia Ratcliffe, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Miguel A. Zavala, Georges Kunstler
Summary: This study focuses on the link between local population dynamics and species distributions in Europe and finds that population constraints at the edges are influenced by mean fitness, demographic stochasticity, and resilience. The results show that warm edges and harsh climates impose stronger demographic constraints on species, while cold edges limit the species' ability to recover. Additionally, it is found that demographic stochasticity and recovery capacity contribute to constraints at the edges rather than just mean fitness.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Veronica Cruz-Alonso, Christoph Pucher, Sophia Ratcliffe, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Julen Astigarraga, Mathias Neumann, Hubert Hasenauer, Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez
Summary: easyclimate is a software package that allows users to obtain high-resolution (0.0083°, 1 km) daily climatic data for precipitation, minimum temperatures, and maximum temperatures in Europe from 1950 to 2020 using R. The package provides easy access to the data and allows users to download it as a tidy table or raster object. Daily climate data are crucial for various research questions and applications in environmental modeling, forestry, and ecological and vegetation studies across Europe.
ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Julien Barrere, Bjoern Reineking, Thomas Cordonnier, Niko Kulha, Juha Honkaniemi, Mikko Peltoniemi, Kari T. Korhonen, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Miguel A. Zavala, Georges Kunstler
Summary: With climate change, natural disturbances such as storms or fires reshuffle, causing pervasive shifts in forest dynamics. To predict the impact of these disturbances on forest structure and composition, understanding the sensitivity of tree species is crucial. This study investigated how functional traits and mean climate of species affect their sensitivity to disturbances, while controlling for size and structure. Using data from National Forest Inventories in France, Spain, and Finland, we found that different traits controlled species sensitivity to disturbances and that species from warmer and drier climates were more resistant to fire. These findings can aid in predicting the effects of climate change and disturbances on forest ecosystems.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Fernando Pulido, Bastien Castagneyrol, Francisco Rodriguez-Sanchez, Yonatan Caceres, Adara Pardo, Eva Moracho, Johannes Kollmann, Fernando Valladares, Johan Ehrlen, Alistair S. Jump, Jens-Christian Svenning, Arndt Hampe
Summary: By conducting a meta-analysis on global populations of plants and animals, it was found that marginal populations perform significantly worse than central populations, especially those at low latitudes. This performance difference is likely to be influenced by global climate change, and changes in demographic rates of marginal populations can serve as early-warning signals for range shifts.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Laura Nikinmaa, Marcus Lindner, Elena Cantarello, Barry Gardiner, Jette Bredahl Jacobsen, Alistair S. Jump, Constanza Parra, Tobias Plieninger, Andreas Schuck, Rupert Seidl, Thomas Timberlake, Kristen Waring, Georg Winkel, Bart Muys
Summary: Against the backdrop of increasing climate-induced disturbances, there is an urgent need to enhance the resilience of forests and forest management. However, current methods for assessing resilience lack considerations for trade-offs. This study proposes a hierarchical framework that considers trade-offs between mechanisms, social-ecological system components, ecosystem services, and spatial and temporal scales to assess resilience.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Marina Rodes-Blanco, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Carlos A. Silva, Mariano Garcia
Summary: This study aimed to characterize the canopy gaps in Mediterranean forests and quantify their dynamics, identifying hotspots of openings and closings. The results showed a high rate of forest openings and closings, but an overall net closing trend, with hotspots found across the entire study area. These findings contribute to our understanding of the structure and dynamics of Mediterranean forests and provide a benchmark for future studies.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Paul W. Thomas, Alistair S. Jump
Summary: The demand for agricultural land contributes significantly to global deforestation. However, inoculating tree planting stock with edible ectomycorrhizal fungi can reduce land-use conflicts and enhance food and calorie production from appropriately managed forestry plantations, while potentially increasing carbon sequestration.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Raul Garcia-Valdes, Alistair Jump, Albert Vila-Cabrera, Maurizio Mencuccini
Summary: Functional traits provide a hopeful approach to predict species range shifts under climate change, but individual trait predictions remain generally low. This low predictive ability results from the complexity and multifactorial nature of range dynamics, uncertainty in trait identification and limited data availability, as well as the scale- and context-dependent effects of traits. To address this complexity, a balanced coverage of important functional dimensions and the development of modeling approaches that account for trait coordination, variability, and biotic interactions are needed.