Delay of growth release after a windthrow event and climate response in a light-demanding species (European larch Larix decidua Mill.)

Katarzyna Izworska,Tomasz Zielonka,Elżbieta Muter,Peter Fleischer

doi:10.1007/s00468-021-02218-4

Abstract

Key messageLarch trees respond to stand opening with an approximately 4-year delay of growth, and low precipitation in July limits radial growth after a windthrow event.Precise cross-dating of disturbance events is crucial to understanding the functioning of forest stands, and may help explain ongoing ecological processes in a forest. Tree rings are very often used to reconstruct the history of disturbances and to study the response of trees to climatic factors. This study analyzed how quickly European larch can benefit from an abrupt change after catastrophic windthrow events and the extent of trees’ sensitivity to climate. The study is based on cores from 83 larch trees collected in a post-disturbance 100 ha plot established after a catastrophic windstorm in 2004 in the Slovakian High Tatras. Growth release was calculated from the percentage of growth change (PGC) measured in tree rings. The time lag between the disturbance event and release was related to tree diameter at breast height, tree age, and tree’s previous growth. The time lag between the year of the event and the year of growth reaction was 4.6 years on average (median 4 years) in a multi-aged group of trees. The climate analyses employed residual chronology. The new environmental conditions in the post-disturbance area have altered the trees’ growth reaction to climate; in particular, they show sensitivity to water deficit in July.

Highlights

An increase of annual temperature and changes in the distribution of precipitation due to climate change have recently been recorded across the world (Carrer and Urbinati 2006; Esper et al 2020; IPCC 2021)
None of the trees we studied responded with increase growth in 2005; in the greater number of trees the response came 3 years later, and single trees kept responding over the following 10 years
The European larch responds to severe windthrows with growth release, but the releases occur several years after the event

Summary

Introduction

An increase of annual temperature and changes in the distribution of precipitation due to climate change have recently been recorded across the world (Carrer and Urbinati 2006; Esper et al 2020; IPCC 2021). Noted is a rise in the number of extreme events such as windthrows, persistent drought, or spring frosts. Natural disturbances are an important element of forest ecosystems. They significantly influence the dynamics of forest stands. Severity, spatial scale, and interval of disturbance events, they shape the structure of a forest stand. A knowledge of precisely cross-dated disturbance events is crucial to understating the functioning of a forest stands, and may help explain ongoing ecological processes in forests (Altman et al 2013; Svoboda et al 2011; Vaganov et al 2006). An ever-increasing number of research papers use various dendrochronological

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