Effects of Climate on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) Growth Southeast of the European Alps
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Results
2.1. Radial Growth of Douglas-Fir and Norway Spruce on Three Sites
2.2. Climate–Growth Relationship of Douglas-fir
2.3. Douglas-Fir Response in Extreme Years
3. Discussion
3.1. Radial Growth of Douglas-Fir and Norway Spruce on Three Sites
3.2. Climate–Growth Relationship of Douglas-Fir and Comparison to Norway Spruce
3.3. Douglas-Fir Response in Extreme Years
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Sampling Locations
4.2. Sample Collection and Tree-Ring Width Analysis
4.3. Meteorological Data
4.4. Analysis of the Climate–Growth Relationship
5. Conclusions
- Douglas-fir is more drought tolerant than Norway spruce, and as such is better adapted to increasing temperatures and more frequent occurrences of drought events in Slovenia. In part, this relates to its deeper root system than that of Norway spruce, and hence better accessibility to deeper lying water.
- The positive response of Douglas-fir to warmer and wetter winter months is beneficial, as winters are not as cold as they used to be. However, the combination of cold and dry winters and hot and dry summers have negative effects on Douglas-fir radial growth. These effects are similar to the effects of a hot and dry summer on Norway spruce radial growth. Both tree species respond in the same way with a significant decrease in radial increment.
- Douglas-fir is not very sensitive to lack of precipitation in the summer months, but temporal analysis of the correlation between tree- ring widths and summer precipitation at sites in Slovenia shows an increasing importance of summer precipitation (especially precipitation in June and July), suggesting that precipitation may become a growth-limiting factor for Douglas-fir in the future.
- The positive response in radial growth of Douglas-fir to warmer and wetter winter months is not limited to sites in Slovenia; its spatial outreach is much wider, extending throughout western and central Europe as well as in the northern parts of the Balkan and Apennine Peninsulas.
- From the climate–growth point of view, it seems that Douglas-fir can be a good substitute for Norway spruce in part of the current mixed forest stands in Slovenia; however, this is not only a climate–growth related issue. The successful introduction of Douglas-fir into Slovenian, close-to-nature managed forests is also a forest management and legislative problem. As a potentially invasive alien species, Douglas-fir is not allowed to be planted in Slovenian forests, and knowledge about Douglas-fir tending and management is still limited.
- Responses in extremely dry years (e.g., 2003) have shown that Douglas-fir can survive shorter dry periods on drought-prone sites, such as the High Karst in Slovenia (permeable limestone bedrock, shallow soil), but in the long term it is not advisable to plant Douglas-fir on drought-prone sites, especially considering current climate change.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Appendix B
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Location | Tree Species | Age (Years) | DBH (cm) | Std. Dev. DBH (cm) | TRW * (mm) | Std. Dev. TRW (mm) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CE | Douglas-fir | 70 | 69.60 | 9.51 | 4.73 | 0.986 |
Norway spruce | 71 | 52.20 | 4.89 | 3.48 | 1.29 | |
PO-1 | Douglas-fir | 79 | 75.56 | 9.39 | 3.74 | 1.34 |
Norway spruce | 96 | 57.06 | 7.53 | 2.40 | 1.03 | |
PO-2 | Douglas-fir | 45 | 49.33 | 5.87 | 4.53 | 1.79 |
Norway spruce | 121 | 59.84 | 11.66 | 2.17 | 0.75 |
Year | Temperature | Precipitation | Sites |
---|---|---|---|
Common to all three sites | |||
No common negative pointer years | |||
Common to two sites | |||
1956 | February and part of March extremely cold across Europe | No data available | PO-1 and CE, trees on PO-2 too young |
1962 | Very cold March, close to the long-term record low, below-average temperatures in the first half of the year (including July) | Above-average amount of precipitation between January and July | PO-1 and CE, trees on PO-2 too young |
1993 | February and March very cold, close to the long-term low, other months close to the long-term average | Below-average amount of precipitation between January and July, absence of snow | PO-2 and CE |
2003 | February very cold, March within the long-term average, May–August significantly above the long-term average | Entire year very dry, all but late autumn months below the long-term average | PO-1 and PO-2 |
2012 | February very cold, March very warm, June–September notably above the long-term average | January–March very dry, April–July within the long-term average, August dry | PO-1 and PO-2 |
Year | Temperature | Precipitation | Sites |
---|---|---|---|
Common to three sites | |||
2007 | Slightly above-average temperature between January and July, then within the long-term average | Precipitation in the entire year within the long-term average with the exception of a very dry April | PO-1, PO-2 and CE |
Common to two sites | |||
1989 | February and March temperatures above average, summer temperatures below average | April with above-average amount of precipitation, June–July average and August close to the long-term maximum of precipitation for August | PO-1 and PO-2 |
1997 | February and March temperatures above average | Amount of precipitation in the period February–April above average, later within the long-term average | PO-2 and CE |
Douglas-fir | |||
---|---|---|---|
Postojna-1 | Postojna-2 | Celje | |
Local site name | Mačkovc | Golobičevec | Pečovnik |
PO-1-DF | PO-2-DF | CE-DF | |
Coordinates | N 42.57°, E 20.03° | N 42.63°, E 19.85° | N 46.19°, E 15.27° |
Elevation | 584–682 m | 670–790 m | 465–650 m |
Slope | 16° | 18° | 25° |
Exposition | E | N | N |
Soil type | Brown soil on limestone | Shallow brown soil on limestone | Deep brown soils on silicate |
Number of cores for tree-ring analysis | 40 cores (20 trees) each plot | ||
Norway spruce | |||
Local site name | Ravnik | Verd | Pečovnik |
PO-1-NS | PO-2-NS | CE-NS | |
Coordinates | N 45.90°, E 14.29° | N 45.93°, E 14.32° | N 46.19°, E 15.27° |
Elevation | 655–795 m | 535–700 m | 465–650 m |
Slope | 20° | 25° | 25° |
Exposition | SW | SE | N |
Soil type | Brown soil on limestone | Shallow brown soil on limestone | Deep brown soils on silicate |
Number of cores for tree-ring analysis | 40 cores (20 trees) each plot |
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Levanič, T.; Štraus, H. Effects of Climate on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) Growth Southeast of the European Alps. Plants 2022, 11, 1571. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121571
Levanič T, Štraus H. Effects of Climate on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) Growth Southeast of the European Alps. Plants. 2022; 11(12):1571. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121571
Chicago/Turabian StyleLevanič, Tom, and Hana Štraus. 2022. "Effects of Climate on Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) Growth Southeast of the European Alps" Plants 11, no. 12: 1571. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11121571