1. Temperature and photoperiod interactions influence the cessation of wood growth in three temperate and boreal conifersJianhong Lin, Cyrille Rathgeber, Patrick Fonti, Sergio Rossi, Henri E. Cuny, Edurne Martinez Del Castillo, Katarina Čufar, Jesús J. Camarero, Alessio Giovannelli, Harri Mäkinen, Peter Prislan, Walter Oberhuber, Hanuš Vavrčík, Jianguo Huang, Andreas Gruber, Vladimir Gryc, Václav Treml, Martin De Luis, Jožica Gričar, Nicolas Delpierre, 2026, original scientific article Abstract: Cambium phenology is a crucial process in wood production and carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems. Although cambium phenology has been widely studied, research specifically focusing on the cessation of wood formation remains limited. To better understand the influence of environmental and intrinsic factors on the cessation of wood formation, we built and compared three ecophysiological models (temperature sum model, photoperiod-influenced temperature sum model and soil moisture- and photoperiod-influenced temperature sum model) in their ability to predict the date of cessation of xylem cell enlargement (cE) in three major Northern Hemisphere conifer species (Black spruce, Norway spruce and Scots pine). We developed these models based on xylogenesis data collected for 130 site‐years across Europe and Canada. Our results demonstrate that the photoperiod-influenced temperature sum model is well-supported by data across all conifer species, with a RMSE of 9.2 days, suggesting that both temperature and photoperiod are critical drivers of wood growth cessation. However, incorporating soil moisture effects does not improve model performance. Our model effectively captures the inter-site variability in cE across a wide environmental gradient, with a fair model efficiency (ME = 0.51 ± 0.22), but performed less well for annual anomalies (ME = 0.10 ± 0.09). Additionally, we found that the total ring cell number also affected prediction accuracy. Using this model, we reconstructed historical trends in cE over the past six decades and found a trend to delayed cessation dates. This delay varied geographically, with slower shifts at higher latitudes and elevations, likely due to constrained cambial responses and conservative growth strategies in colder regions. Our model framework offers a simple yet accurate approach for predicting wood growth cessation at large spatial scales, providing a basis for integrating cambium phenology into land surface models and forest productivity assessments.
Keywords: cambium phenology, ecophysiological models, xylem formation, climate change, global warming, northern hemisphere forests
Published in DiRROS: 12.02.2026; Views: 379; Downloads: 100
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2. Temperature-driven shifts in spatiotemporal stability of climate-growth responses of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) from the southern Baltic Sea regionMarcin Miroslav Klisz, Radosław Puchałka, Mariusz Gławenda, M. Koprowski, Roberts Matisons, Sandra Metslaid, Aleksei Potapov, Tobias Scharnweber, Eric Andreas Thurm, Rita Verbylaite, Adomas Vitas, Martin Wilmking, Jernej Jevšenak, 2025, original scientific article Abstract: The southern Baltic region spans a significant part of the European continent with its forests under significant pressure due to climate changes. The implications of these changes are crucial for both native and non-native tree species. Under future climate scenarios, most native conifer populations might lose their climatic optima in the region. In contrast, for non-native Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), climatic conditions are expected to become optimal in the Baltic Sea region. Therefore, understanding the acclimatisation trajectory of Douglas-fir over the last century is essential to assess its potential to supplement retreating species and reduce pressure on local habitats. To study the region-wide acclimatisation in the secondary distribution, we established a network of 27 Douglas-fir tree-ring chronologies along the south Baltic Sea. We determined the spatio-temporal stability of the climate signal in tree rings and the potential coastal effect on the plasticity of the growth response. We found a region-wide trend of climate-growth relationships, with a dominant effect of the early-growth season temperatures being more pronounced for mature than young stands. Sites with higher mean annual temperatures exhibit a stronger positive temperature–growth correlation, demonstrating the sensitivity of Douglas-fir to climate warming. Douglas-fir could serve as a more heat-tolerant alternative to the declining European species of the Pinaceae family and contribute to the preservation of functionally comparable coniferous forest communities. However, forest practitioners should be aware that Douglas-fir may alter habitat conditions affecting microclimate and influencing species diversity.
Keywords: climate warming, climate–growth relationships, dendroecology, Europe, tree growth
Published in DiRROS: 09.07.2025; Views: 576; Downloads: 432
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3. Pelagic calcifiers face increased mortality and habitat loss with warming and ocean acidificationNina Bednaršek, Brendan Carter, Ryan M. McCabe, Richard Alan Feely, Evan M. Howard, Francisco P. Chavez, Meredith Elliott, Jennifer L. Fisher, Jaime Jahncke, Zach Siegrist, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: Global change is impacting the oceans in an unprecedented way, and multiple lines of evidence suggest that species distributions are changing in space and time. There is increasing evidence that multiple environmental stressors act together to constrain species habitat more than expected from warming alone. Here, we conducted a comprehensive study of how temperature and aragonite saturation state act together to limit Limacina helicina, globally distributed pteropods that are ecologically important pelagic calcifiers and an indicator species for ocean change. We co-validated three different approaches to evaluate the impact of ocean warming and acidification (OWA) on the survival and distribution of this species in the California Current Ecosystem. First, we used colocated physical, chemical, and biological data from three large-scale west coast cruises and regional time series; second, we conducted multifactorial experimental incubations to evaluate how OWA impacts pteropod survival; and third, we validated the relationships we found against global distributions of pteropods and carbonate chemistry. OWA experimental work revealed mortality increases under OWA, while regional habitat suitability indices and global distributions of L. helicina suggest that a multi-stressor framework is essential for understanding pteropod distributions. In California Current Ecosystem habitats, where pteropods are living close to their thermal maximum already, additional warming and acidification through unabated fossil fuel emissions (RCP 8.5) are expected to dramatically reduce habitat suitability.
Keywords: California current ecosystem, climate change, global data synthesis, habitat loss, habitat suitability modeling, multiple stressors, ocean acidification, pelagic calcifiers, pteropods, species distribution, warming
Published in DiRROS: 17.07.2024; Views: 1170; Downloads: 881
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4. Climate change and disturbances will shape future temperate forests in the transition zone between Central and SE EuropeLado Kutnar, Janez Kermavnar, Anže Martin Pintar, 2021, original scientific article Abstract: It is expected that climate change as well as abiotic and anthropogenic disturbances will strongly influence temperate forests. Besides changes in the main climate variables, various disturbance factors may significantly worsen conditions for mesic Slovenian forests (SE Europe) dominated by European beech (Fagus sylvatica), Norway spruce (Picea abies) and European silver fir (Abies alba). In Slovenia, the climate has warmed in recent decades, with an average annual rate of increase of about 0.4°C per decade or even more than 0.5°C per decade in summer. In addition, disturbances have caused considerable damage to trees in the most extensive forest types in Slovenia, starting with a widespread ice storm in 2014, followed by bark beetle outbreaks, windthrows and salvage logging interventions. After 2014, salvage logging increased from about one third to two thirds of the total annual felling. Over the last two decades, we have observed a decline in Norway spruce growing stock, with the highest rate of decrease in areas below 500 m a.s.l., and an increasing trend for European beech. Overall, the three dominant species (beech, spruce, silver fir), which together account for more than 70% of the total growing stock, have shown a declining trend over the last 20 years. The patterns observed are broadly consistent with earlier predictions developed for different climate change scenarios and with those reported in many other European countries. Adaptive forest management, which implements close-to-nature silviculture, has been traditionally practised in the region under study and has the potential to play an important role in reducing the risks associated with the impacts of climate change and disturbances in the future.
Keywords: climate warming, disturbance factors, ice storm, bark beetle outbreaks, spruce decline, salvage logging, tree species composition, temperate forest, Slovenia
Published in DiRROS: 03.01.2022; Views: 1843; Downloads: 1406
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