Article
Agronomy
Anna Neycken, Michel Scheggia, Christof Bigler, Mathieu Levesque
Summary: European beech trees have been severely affected by the exceptional 2018 drought and subsequent dry years. Some trees showed severe signs of crown dieback or died, while others showed no or minor damage. The reasons for this variation in vulnerability are not well understood. This study analyzed the long-term growth trends, neighborhood composition, early-warning signals, and growth responses to past severe droughts of co-occurring healthy and declining beech trees in Switzerland. The findings suggest that declining trees had lower growth rates even before the dieback occurred, indicating predisposing signs for crown dieback.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
J. M. Olano, G. Sanguesa-Barreda, M. A. Garcia-Lopez, M. Garcia-Hidalgo, V. Rozas, A. I. Garcia-Cervigon, A. Delgado-Huertas, H. Hernandez-Alonso
Summary: Rear-edge tree populations are facing challenges from higher temperatures and more intense droughts. While an increase in intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) theoretically improves tree resistance to drought, its impact on tree growth under current climate conditions remains unclear.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Andreas Rais, Enno Uhl, Jan-Willem G. van de Kuilen, Hans Pretzsch
Summary: This study analyzed the short-term allocation pattern of a tree under varying weather conditions, finding that rainfall significantly influenced annual taper change. The findings suggest that precipitation during the vegetation period can accelerate bole taper, highlighting the importance of considering weather conditions in understanding tree allometry.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Enrico Tonelli, Alessandro Vitali, Francesco Malandra, J. Julio Camarero, Michele Colangelo, Angelo Nole, Francesco Ripullone, Marco Carrer, Carlo Urbinati
Summary: Late spring frosts have a negative impact on the productivity and growth of temperate beech forests. This study investigated the effects of late spring frosts on forest cover and radial growth of European beech populations at different elevations. The results showed that the growth reduction caused by late spring frosts ranged from 36% to 84%, but recovery occurred within 1-2 years after the event. There was no clear relationship between beech forest elevation and occurrence of late spring frosts defoliations.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Paulina Nalevankova, Peter Fleischer Jr, Mohammad Mukarram, Zuzana Sitkova, Katarina Strelcova
Summary: This study compared different models for modeling sap flow in European beech trees and found that a linear model had the highest prediction power for overall sap flow, while neural networks performed relatively poorly.
Article
Agronomy
Nora Obladen, Pia Dechering, Georgios Skiadaresis, Willy Tegel, Joachim Kessler, Sebastian Hoellerl, Sven Kaps, Martin Hertel, Choimaa Dulamsuren, Thomas Seifert, Mareike Hirsch, Andrea Seim
Summary: Anthropogenic climate change is pushing forest ecosystems beyond their limits globally, with widespread forest die-off events attributed to increasingly frequent and intense droughts. A study in Germany focused on extensive mortality in Norway spruce and European beech forests following the 2018-2019 hot droughts, finding that the die-off was mainly attributed to increasing drought sensitivity. Sustainable forest management practices are needed to mitigate the effects of global warming on these important tree species.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Michal Bosela, Igor Stefancik, Peter Marcis, Alvaro Rubio-Cuadrado, Martin Lukac
Summary: European beech plays a key role in European forests' adaptation and mitigation of climate change, but little is known about its sensitivity to climate variations and drought episodes. A 60-year thinning experiment in Central European beech forests revealed that climate factors in March-July best predict beech growth. Additionally, forest management may increase beech vulnerability to climate change by increasing tree size and reducing drought resistance.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Petra D'Odorico, Meredith C. Schuman, Mirjam Kurz, Katalin Csillery
Summary: This study demonstrates the potential of leaf spectroscopy for discriminating and characterizing different subspecies of beech trees. By measuring leaf spectral reflectance, morphological and biochemical traits, the researchers found that Oriental beech has higher lignin and nitrogen content compared to European beech. The model based on short-wave infrared region spectra showed the highest accuracy in distinguishing Oriental from European beech.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Hanna Stepniewska, Robert Jankowiak, Piotr Bilanski, Georg Hausner
Summary: Members of the genus Fusarium and related genera play important roles in many ecosystems worldwide, but their impact on the structure of beech litter communities and natural regeneration of European beech is not well understood. The study found that Fusarium species richness was highest in old-growth beech-dominated forests, while abundances were higher in managed beech stands, suggesting a potential negative impact on natural beech regeneration. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that certain Fusarium species isolated from beechnuts and beech germinants could cause rot, further supporting the hypothesis of their negative role in the natural regeneration of beech.
Article
Engineering, Civil
Hubert Jochheim, Dietmar Luettschwager, Winfried Riek
Summary: The partitioning and chemical composition of precipitation in forest ecosystems are determined by meteorological and stand structural factors. The contact between precipitation and leaves/canopy structures alters the chemical composition of throughfall and stemflow, contributing to the input of macroelements and heavy metals into the soil. The spatial patterns of canopy structures affect the spatial variation of throughfall and its constituents, as well as the distribution of roots and the chemical composition of the topsoil solution.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Timo Gebhardt, Benjamin D. Hesse, Kyohsuke Hikino, Katarina Kolovrat, Benjamin D. Hafner, Thorsten E. E. Grams, Karl-Heinz Ha
Summary: Water consumption of trees is crucial for their survival under climate change and extreme events like drought. Radial profiles of xylem sap flow density are important for measuring water transport in individual trees and ecosystems. However, there is limited knowledge about such profiles, especially under stress.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Julia Koehler, Nan Yang, Rodica Pena, Andrea Polle, Ina C. Meier
Summary: Continuous nitrogen deposition and increasing summer droughts may affect the N:P ratios of European beech saplings, leading to phosphorus imbalances and influencing their N economy under global change.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Ettore D'Andrea, Andrea Scartazza, Alberto Battistelli, Alessio Collalti, Simona Proiett, Negar Rezaie, Giorgio Matteucci, Stefano Moscatello
Summary: Global climate change is leading to an increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Tree carbon reserves are important for the resilience of beech trees, helping to mitigate the effects of late frosts and summer droughts. Non-structural carbohydrates play a crucial role in assisting trees to cope with stressful situations and support plant survival.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Louis Verschuren, Tom De Mil, Pieter De Frenne, Kristof Haneca, Joris Van Acker, Kris Vandekerkhove, Jan Van den Bulcke
Summary: In this study, the growth of old and monumental beech trees in the Sonian Forest near Brussels, Belgium, was investigated using tree-ring data. The findings revealed that these trees were generally sensitive to droughts but recovered quickly after extreme climate events. While the living trees showed high growth trends with slight declines in the past 50 years, wind-thrown trees exhibited lower overall growth rates and a significant downward trend in growth.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Arthur Gessler, Lukas Bachli, Elham Rouholahnejad Freund, Kerstin Treydte, Marcus Schaub, Matthias Haeni, Markus Weiler, Stefan Seeger, John Marshall, Christian Hug, Roman Zweifel, Frank Hagedorn, Andreas Rigling, Matthias Saurer, Katrin Meusburger
Summary: The study found that European beech mainly takes up water from the topsoil during the early stages of a drought, reduces water uptake as the drought progresses, and cannot compensate for the reduced topsoil water availability by additional uptake from deeper soil layers. After rewetting following a drought, beech can restore water uptake from the topsoil to pre-drought levels.
Article
Agronomy
Yafei Li, Andreas Riedl, Werner Eugster, Nina Buchmann, Lucas A. Cernusak, Marco M. Lehmann, Roland A. Werner, Franziska Aemisegger
Summary: During dry periods in temperate grasslands, non-rainfall water (NRW) has an important impact on leaf surface water balance and plant water status. Previous studies overlooked the role of radiative cooling in air-leaf water exchange, which prompted us to conduct a field study investigating the effect of radiatively-induced NRW inputs on leaf water isotope signals and air-leaf water exchange in a temperate grassland. Our results revealed the ecological relevance of radiative cooling and leaf wetting in temperate grasslands, which has implications for land surface water budgets and plant survival in a drier climate.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Letter
Ecology
Fons van der Plas, Thomas Schroeder-Georgi, Alexandra Weigelt, Kathryn Barry, Sebastian Meyer, Adriana Alzate, Romain L. Barnard, Nina Buchmann, Hans de Kroon, Anne Ebeling, Nico Eisenhauer, Christof Engels, Markus Fischer, Gerd Gleixner, Anke Hildebrandt, Eva Koller-France, Sophia Leimer, Alexandru Milcu, Liesje Mommer, Pascal A. Niklaus, Yvonne Oelmann, Christiane Roscher, Christoph Scherber, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Stefan Scheu, Bernhard Schmid, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Vicky Temperton, Teja Tscharntke, Winfried Voigt, Wolfgang Weisser, Wolfgang Wilcke, Christian Wirth
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Yafei Li, Werner Eugster, Andreas Riedl, Stephanie Westerhuis, Nina Buchmann, Franziska Aemisegger
Summary: Fog is connected to surface energy and water budgets, but our understanding of fog evolution processes is still limited. Water vapor isotopes can provide insights into fog evolution, but their dynamics during radiation fog have not been thoroughly investigated. This study uses water vapor isotopes and meteorological measurements to study the processes affecting radiation fog evolution. The variability of surface humidity and water vapor isotopes is related to different stages of fog evolution and influenced by condensation, turbulent entrainment, fog droplet deposition, and evaporation. The fluctuations in water vapor isotopes during radiation fog are linked to fog dissipation at ground level. The results show that atmospheric specific humidity and water vapor isotopes are highly correlated during dew formation and fog periods, with greater temporal variability in the isotopes. The variability of 82Hv during the transition into deep fog likely indicates changes in condensation and entrainment. Compared to large-scale clouds, radiation fog evolution is associated with similar magnitude isotopic variability.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Stef Haesen, Jonas J. Lembrechts, Pieter De Frenne, Jonathan Lenoir, Juha Aalto, Michael B. Ashcroft, Martin Kopecky, Miska Luoto, Ilya Maclean, Ivan Nijs, Pekka Niittynen, Johan van den Hoogen, Nicola Arriga, Josef Bruna, Nina Buchmann, Marek Ciliak, Alessio Collalti, Emiel De Lombaerde, Patrice Descombes, Mana Gharun, Ignacio Goded, Sanne Govaert, Caroline Greiser, Achim Grelle, Carsten Gruening, Lucia Hederova, Kristoffer Hylander, Juergen Kreyling, Bart Kruijt, Martin Macek, Frantisek Malis, Matej Man, Giovanni Manca, Radim Matula, Camille Meeussen, Sonia Merinero, Stefano Minerbi, Leonardo Montagnani, Lena Muffler, Roma Ogaya, Josep Penuelas, Roman Plichta, Miguel Portillo-Estrada, Jonas Schmeddes, Ankit Shekhar, Fabien Spicher, Mariana Ujhazyova, Pieter Vangansbeke, Robert Weigel, Jan Wild, Florian Zellweger, Koenraad Van Meerbeek
Summary: Microclimate research has gained renewed interest in the past decade, and its importance for ecological processes is increasingly recognized. To improve ecological models, there is a growing need for high-resolution microclimatic temperature grids across broad spatial extents. In this study, we present a new set of open-access bioclimatic variables for microclimate temperatures of European forests at a resolution of 25 x 25 m(2).
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Richard L. Peters, Kathy Steppe, Christoforos Pappas, Roman Zweifel, Flurin Babst, Lars Dietrich, Georg von Arx, Rafael Poyatos, Marina Fonti, Patrick Fonti, Charlotte Grossiord, Mana Gharun, Nina Buchmann, David N. Steger, Ansgar Kahmen
Summary: Trees remain hydrated during drought by reducing canopy conductance and closing stomata. The control of canopy conductance is proposed to optimize hydraulic safety against carbon assimilation efficiency. However, the relationship between canopy conductance and stem rehydration remains unclear. This study investigated the species-specific responses of canopy conductance and found that it is weakly related to water potential, but strongly related to stem rehydration. The findings highlight the importance of stem rehydration in water-use regulation in mature trees.
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Roman Zweifel, Christoforos Pappas, Richard L. Peters, Flurin Babst, Daniel Balanzategui, David Basler, Ana Bastos, Mirela Beloiu, Nina Buchmann, Arun K. Bose, Sabine Braun, Alexander Damm, Petra D'Odorico, Jan U. H. Eitel, Sophia Etzold, Patrick Fonti, Elham Rouholahnejad Freund, Arthur Gessler, Matthias Haeni, Guenter Hoch, Ansgar Kahmen, Christian Korner, Jan Krejza, Frank Krumm, Michael Leuchner, Christoph Leuschner, Mirko Lukovic, Jordi Martinez-Vilalta, Radim Matula, Henning Meesenburg, Patrick Meir, Roman Plichta, Rafael Poyatos, Brigitte Rohner, Nadine Ruehr, Roberto L. Salomon, Tobias Scharnweber, Marcus Schaub, David N. Steger, Kathy Steppe, Christopher Still, Marko Stojanovic, Volodymyr Trotsiuk, Yann Vitasse, Georg von Arx, Martin Wilmking, Cedric Zahnd, Frank Sterck
Summary: Forests account for a significant amount of the world's biomass and biodiversity. To better understand forest dynamics, a global monitoring network is needed. This network should be capable of connecting existing monitoring sites and providing real-time data for assessments and predictions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yafei Li, Werner Eugster, Andreas Riedl, Marco M. M. Lehmann, Franziska Aemisegger, Nina Buchmann
Summary: Increasing heatwaves and drought stress in Europe pose a threat to the water and carbon budgets of alpine grasslands. Dew can promote carbon assimilation in ecosystems, but its effect on grassland ecosystems during extreme climatic events is not well understood.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Jan U. H. Eitel, David Basler, Sabine Braun, Nina Buchmann, Petra D'Odorico, Sophia Etzold, Arthur Gessler, Kevin L. Griffin, Jan Krejza, Yunpeng Luo, Andrew J. Maguire, Mukund P. Rao, Yann Vitasse, Lorenz Walthert, Roman Zweifel
Summary: This study successfully monitored the onset and mid-stages of stem growth using high-resolution satellite imagery combined with observed data. However, the accuracy of monitoring the cessation stage was low. It was also emphasized that resolving individual tree crowns is important for mixed forests. In conclusion, the development of new spectral indices is needed to capture the relationship between stem growth and canopy properties for remote sensing of climate-induced changes in leaf phenology and stem growth.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ankit Shekhar, Lukas Hortnagl, Nina Buchmann, Mana Gharun
Summary: In this study, the long-term changes in forest NEP resistance and NEP recovery in response to extreme atmospheric dryness were quantified using data from 60 forest sites across the world. The results showed that forest types, LAI, and local VPD conditions explained over 50% of variance in both NEP resistance and NEP recovery, with drier sites showing higher NEP resistance and NEP recovery.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Margaux Didion-Gency, Yann Vitasse, Nina Buchmann, Arthur Gessler, Jonas Gisler, Marcus Schaub, Charlotte Grossiord
Summary: Progressively warmer and drier climatic conditions have significant impacts on tree phenology, leaf-level photosynthesis, nonstructural carbohydrate concentrations, and aboveground growth. Species interactions can modulate these effects and reduce the vulnerability of trees to extreme events.
Article
Microbiology
Martin Hartmann, Claude Herzog, Ivano Brunner, Beat Stierli, Folker Meyer, Nina Buchmann, Beat Frey
Summary: Climate change can alter the flow of nutrients and energy through terrestrial ecosystems. A study in the European Alps found that long-term irrigation of a naturally drought-stressed pine forest led to changes in the metabolic potential of the soil microbiome, affecting carbon and nitrogen metabolism as well as regulatory processes. However, degradation rates of lignocellulolytic compounds were not affected by different water availabilities.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Mohamed Abdalla, Iris Feigenwinter, Mark Richards, Sylvia Helga Vetter, Georg Wohlfahrt, Ute Skiba, Krisztina Pinter, Zoltan Nagy, Stanislav Hejduk, Nina Buchmann, Paul Newell-Price, Pete Smith
Summary: This study used the ECOSSE model to simulate soil respiration fluxes in European permanent grassland sites and evaluated its strengths and weaknesses in estimating grassland respiration. Results showed that the current version of the model may not be reliable for estimating daily respiration fluxes, especially in dry sites. However, the model could still be valuable for predicting cumulative respiration from grasslands.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Davide Andreatta, Christoph Bachofen, Michele Dalponte, Valentin H. Klaus, Nina Buchmann
Summary: Understanding the impacts of climate change on plant phenology is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses. However, accurately tracking the flowering phenology of individual plant species in grassland species mixtures is challenging. This study presents a workflow using near-surface time-lapse cameras to extract flowering phenology from grassland species mixtures. The proposed method shows potential for studying the effects of species richness on flowering phenology.
REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Ruikun Gou, Nina Buchmann, Jinshu Chi, Yunpeng Luo, Lidong Mo, Ankit Shekhar, Iris Feigenwinter, Lukas Hortnagl, Weizhi Lu, Xiaowei Cui, Yuchen Meng, Shanshan Song, Guangxuan Lin, Yuechao Chen, Jie Liang, Jiemin Guo, Haijun Peng, Guanghui Lin
Summary: This study investigates the response of subtropical mangroves to climate change and the variability of carbon and water fluxes. The findings show that mangroves act as a strong CO2 sink, with higher evapotranspiration in the wet season and no consistent seasonal variation in net ecosystem production.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Iris Feigenwinter, Lukas Hortnagl, Nina Buchmann
Summary: This study investigated the drivers of net ecosystem N2O and CH4 fluxes in a temperate grassland and found that reducing nitrogen fertilizer application and increasing the proportion of leguminous plants are effective measures to reduce N2O emissions.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
