1. Assisted tree migration can preserve the European forest carbon sink under climate changeDebojyoti Chakraborty, Albert Ciceu, Dalibor Ballian, Marta Benito Garzón, Andreas Bolte, Gregor Božič, Rafael Buchacher, Jaroslav Čepl, Eva Cremer, Alexis Ducousso, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Climate change threatens the role of European forests as a long-term carbon sink. Assisted migration aims to increase the resilience of forest tree populations to climate change, using species-specific climatic limits and local adaptations through transferring seed provenances. We modelled assisted migration scenarios for seven main European tree species and analysed the effects of species and seed provenance selection, accounting for environmental and genetic variations, on the annual above-ground carbon sink of regrowing juvenile forests. To increase forest resilience, coniferous trees need to be replaced by deciduous species over large parts of their distribution. If local seed provenances are used, this would result in a decrease of the current carbon sink (40 TgC yr−1) by 34–41% by 2061–2080. However, if seed provenances adapted to future climates are used, current sinks could be maintained or even increased to 48–60 TgC yr−1.
Keywords: forest resilience, forest, Europe, carbon sink, climate change, assisted migration, transferring seed provenances
Published in DiRROS: 25.07.2024; Views: 228; Downloads: 179
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2. Modelling dominant tree heights of Fagus sylvatica L. using function-on-scalar regression based on forest inventory dataMarkus Engel, Tobias Mette, Wolfgang Falk, Werner Poschenrieder, Jonas Fridman, Mitja Skudnik, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is an important tree species throughout Europe but shifts in its suitable habitats are expected in the future due to climate change. Finding provenances that are still economically viable and ecologically resilient is an ongoing field of research. We modelled the dominant tree heights of European beech as a trait reflecting growth performance dependent on provenance, climate and soil conditions. We derived dominant tree heights from national forest inventory (NFI) data from six European countries spanning over large ecological gradients. We performed function-on-scalar regression using hierarchical generalized additive models (HGAM) to model both the global effects shared among all provenances and the effects specific to a particular provenance. By comparing predictions for a reference period of 1981–2010 and 2071–2100 in a RCP 8.5 scenario, we showed that changes in growth performance can be expected in the future. Dominant tree heights decreased in Southern and Central Europe but increased in Northern Europe by more than 10 m. Changes in growth performance were always accompanied by a change in beech provenances, assuming assisted migration without dispersal limitations. Our results support the concept of assisted migration for the building of resilient future forests and emphasize the use of genetic data for future growth predictions.
Keywords: hierarchical GAMs, functional regression, Fagus sylvatica, provenance, assisted migration
Published in DiRROS: 21.03.2023; Views: 789; Downloads: 359
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