Growth reaction patterns of tree height, diameter, and volume of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) under acute drought stress in Southern Germany

Abstract

Climate change in Central Europe may come along with acute drought stress, which can severely reduce growth and vitality of forest trees and whole stands. For a tree species such as Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) which is cultivated far beyond its natural range in Europe, knowledge of its behaviour under stress is crucial for the cultivation of Douglas-fir in view of a changing climate. Because of its easy accessibility, growth response to stress was mainly studied based on diameter growth at breast height. In long-term experiments on one dry and one moist site in Southern Germany, stem analyses of 133 mature and even-aged Douglas-firs were performed. The short-term growth reaction pattern under acute drought stress of 2003 had not only consequences on diameter but more pronounced effects can be observed when studying tree height: Respecting the different age trends by previous detrending, height increment only reacted more sensitive on the dry site. We also showed that extrapolating a particular decline in basal area increment to the whole stem can result in misunderstandings. However, results were less biased, when original data were smoothed or short-term assessment of volume growth was based on basal area measurements. By means of a linear mixed model approach, the influence of site, tree, and stand characteristics on Lloret’s indices of resistance and resilience (Lloret et al. in Oikos 120:1909–1920. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.19372.x, 2011) were analysed. For Douglas-fir, site played a crucial role and became more important considering the age trend. On the contrary, the positive influence of site quality on drought tolerance decreased with data processing. However, more growing space by thinning can advance tree resistance and resilience regarding height, diameter, and volume growth. Large individual crown volume improved the growth pattern under drought, and large stand density impaired it. Douglas-fir is obviously equipped with a morphological variability, which fosters lateral rather than vertical growth allocation under severe stress. Silviculture can mitigate stress through the choice of the site and through lower stand densities by thinning. Our refined stress response analysis confirmed a favourable growth and resilience of Douglas-fir even under extreme drought events.