Abstract
Climate change is expected to modify the spatial distributions of zonal forest communities and thus, their species compositions. The aim of this paper was to study the impact of higher abundance of beech on water storage capacity in current coniferous flood protection forests due to varying root densities of the main tree species. Two forest communities in the northern pre-Alps in Switzerland with similar soil properties but varying in species composition were investigated (space-for-time substitution). It was assumed that the Vaccinio myrtillii-Abieti-Piceetum (site A) will be replaced by a Luzulo-Abieti-Fagetum (site B). We irrigated 16 hydromorphic soils (1 m2, 70 mm/h, three consecutive irrigations) at site A and 10 at site B and recorded water-content variations with time domain—and frequency domain reflectometry. Roots were extracted from soil cores taken from the positions where the water-content probes were inserted, and digitally measured. Infiltration capacity ω I was mainly limited to the upper soil at site A but was approximately constant down to 0.7 m depth at site B. Between 0.3 and 1.0 m soil depth, root densities at site B exceeded those at site A. Root density was the main predictor for ω I (R 2 = 0.57) at site A as shown by a multiple linear regression analysis. Assuming that the root density in the current coniferous forest (A) will increase to that of the beech stand (B) due to the greater abundance of beech, the water storage capacity will increase by 9.2 mm in consequence of the expected forest transformation.
Highlights
Climate change is expected to increase the annual mean temperature in the northern part of Switzerland by approximately 2 °C by 2050 compared with 1990 (OcCC/ProClim(ed.) 2007)
Climate change is expected to modify the spatial distributions of zonal forest communities and their species compositions
The aim of this paper was to study the impact of higher abundance of beech on water storage capacity in current coniferous flood protection forests due to varying root densities of the main tree species
Summary
Climate change is expected to increase the annual mean temperature in the northern part of Switzerland by approximately 2 °C by 2050 compared with 1990 (OcCC/ProClim(ed.) 2007). Flood protection forests are likely to become even more necessary since floods are expected to occur more frequently due to climate change (OcCC/ProClim-(ed.) 2007). Such forests are in the catchment areas of the large Swiss rivers and are located in the montane and subalpine belts. The abundance of Fagus sylvatica will increase at the expense of Picea abies and, to a lesser extent, of Abies alba This forest transformation may influence the efficiency of these flood protection forests
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