Abstract
European floodplain forest is facing increasingly frequent and severe drought events related with ongoing climate change. Moreover, this ecosystem type was frequently affected by river regulation, leading to groundwater table lowering; however, river revitalization has, in some locations, achieved some restoration of groundwater levels. In this study, we investigated the growth–climate sensitivity and growth modulation after groundwater-level manipulation for Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. and Quercus robur L. in one of the most important floodplain forest complexes in Central Europe. We constructed three different types of tree ring chronologies to reflect the high frequency variability, medium-low frequency variability, and basal area increment. We found F. angustifolia to be more sensitive than Q. robur to both drought and groundwater level fluctuations. Moreover, F. angustifolia showed more pronounced short-term and long-term growth decreases after artificial ground water level alteration than did Q. robur. We also found that the groundwater level increase due to river revitalization reduced the climate sensitivity for both F. angustifolia and Q. robur. The decrease in climate sensitivity associated with revitalization was more pronounced for F. angustifolia which, moreover, showed a greater basal growth after river revitalization. Our results suggest that F. angustifolia will be more threatened than Q. robur by the diminution in groundwater availability and increase in drought with ongoing climate change. They also show that river revitalization can be a suitable management tool to help the adaptation to climate change.
Highlights
Temperate floodplain forest is among the most rapidly disappearing types of ecosystems [1,2]
We investigated growth–climate sensitivity and growth changes after groundwater level manipulation for Fraxinus angustifolia and Quercus robur in floodplain forest ecosystem in Central Europe
We found higher sensitivity of F. angustifolia than Q. robur to drought and groundwater level fluctuation
Summary
Temperate floodplain forest is among the most rapidly disappearing types of ecosystems [1,2]. The ecosystem services [7,8] it provides These forests have been impacted by anthropogenic fragmentation, changes in species composition, and river regulation with an associated lowering of water tables [9,10,11,12]. They are facing climate change [13], with related shifts in river runoff regimes observed in a widening area of Central Europe [14], resulting in more frequent droughts during the growing season [15]. There is still a limited number of studies focusing on the growth response of floodplain trees to both negative and positive human-induced changes in hydroclimatic variables [18,19], as well as species-specific differences in the tree hydroclimatic sensitivity
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