Quantitative wood anatomy and stable carbon isotopes indicate pronounced drought exposure of Scots pine when growing at the forest edge

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F23%3A10473131" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/23:10473131 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=8xaRYpK9dG" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=8xaRYpK9dG</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.1233052" target="_blank" >10.3389/ffgc.2023.1233052</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Quantitative wood anatomy and stable carbon isotopes indicate pronounced drought exposure of Scots pine when growing at the forest edge

Original language description

Climate change poses a major threat to global forest ecosystems. In particular, rising temperatures and prolonged drought spells have led to increased rates of forest decline and dieback in recent decades. Under this framework, forest edges are particularly prone to drought-induced decline since they are characterized by warmer and drier micro-climatic conditions amplifying impacts of drought on tree growth and survival. Previous research indicated that forest-edge Scots pine trees have a higher growth sensitivity to water availability compared to the forest interior with consequent reduction of canopy greenness (remotely sensed NDVI) and higher mortality rates. Yet, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we address this knowledge gap by comparing stable carbon isotope signatures and wood anatomical traits in annual rings of trees growing at the forest edge vs. the forest interior and between trees that either survived or died during the extreme drought of 2015. Our analyses suggest that the exposure to drought of forest-edge Scots pine likely results in a reduction of stomatal conductance, as reflected by a higher δ(13)C of stem wood, thinner cell walls, and lower mean ring density. Moreover, we found dead trees to feature larger mean hydraulic lumen diameters and a lower cell-wall reinforcement, indicating a higher risk to suffer from cavitation. In conclusion, the typically drier micro-climatic conditions at the forest edge seem to have triggered a larger reduction of stomatal conductance of Scots pine trees, resulting in a lower carbon availability and significantly altered wood anatomical properties under an increasingly drier climate.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10508 - Physical geography

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Frontiers in forests and global change

ISSN

2624-893X

e-ISSN

2624-893X

Volume of the periodical

6

Issue of the periodical within the volume

October

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

1233052

UT code for WoS article

001094930100001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85175624936