Abstract
Extreme drought events and increasing aridity are leading to forest decline and tree mortality, particularly in populations near the limits of the species distribution. Therefore, a better understanding of the growth response to drought and climate change could show the vulnerability of forests and enable predictions of future dieback. In this study, we used a dendrochronological approach to assess the response to drought in natural and planted forests of the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) located in its southernmost distribution (south of Spain). In addition, we investigated how environmental variables (climatic and site conditions) and structural factors drive radial growth along the biogeographic and ecological gradients. Our results showed contrasting growth responses to drought of natural and planted stands, but these differences were not significant after repeated drought periods. Additionally, we found differences in the climate–growth relationships when comparing more inland sites (wet previous winter and late spring precipitation) and sites located closer to the coast (early spring precipitation). Response functions emphasized the negative effect of defoliation and drought, expressed as the June standard precipitation-evapotranspiration index calculated for the 12-month temporal scale and the mean temperature in the current February, on growth. The strong relationship between climatic variables and growth enabled acceptable results to be obtained in a modeling approach. The study and characterization of this tree species’ response to drought will help to improve the adaptive management of forests under climate change.
Highlights
Climate change projections have been linked to significant increases in water deficits and natural disturbance regimes, in terms of frequency and severity in forest ecosystems across many parts of the world during the 21st century [1,2,3]
Extreme drought events and increasing aridity are leading to forest decline and tree mortality, in populations near the limits of the species distribution
The mean sensitivity (MS) was higher in the planted than natural stands (F = 28.21, p < 0.05), indicating greater variability of radial growth in the planted stands (Table 2)
Summary
Climate change projections have been linked to significant increases in water deficits and natural disturbance regimes (fire, insect pests, windstorms, and droughts), in terms of frequency and severity in forest ecosystems across many parts of the world during the 21st century [1,2,3]. Studies predicting forest sensitivity to drought should consider the local adaptation of trees to factors such as precipitation and temperature, soil characteristics and microtopography, as well as forest management [5] many of these regions are undergoing extreme drought and increasing aridity, leading to forest decline and tree mortality [6,7,8,9]. These effects are more notable in regional-scale forest die-off events, which can kill thousands of trees over short timescales [10]. These increments in drought frequency and severity, as well as in temperature, have been found to be one of the main
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