Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris L.) Resilience to Climate Change: Insights from Coppice Forests in Southern and Central Europe

Abstract

Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) is a thermophilic oak species that is gaining importance in the context of ongoing climate change because of its better resistance to climatic extremes and drier conditions. Therefore, this article focuses on Turkey oak’s role and growth properties in the coppice forests of Southern Europe (Italy, Bulgaria) compared to similar site conditions in Central Europe (Slovakia, Czechia). The aims are to evaluate the basic dendrometry indicators, stand biodiversity, growth dynamics, and the effect of climatic factors on tree-ring increment on specific site chronologies. We found that the tree density in coppices of 50–60 years varied between 475 and 775 trees ha−1, and the stand volume ranged from 141 to 407 m3 ha−1. The complex stand diversity of all plots ranged from a monotonous to uniform structure. The size of tree-ring growth was closely related to indicators of stand density. The lowest influence of climatic factors on tree-ring growth was found in sites in Italy and the highest in Slovakia. The primary limiting factor for growth was the lack of precipitation during the growing season, especially in June and July. In contrast, temperature had a marginal effect on radial growth compared to precipitation. The radial growth in research plots in Southern Europe goes through longer 6 to 8-year growth cycles, and in Central European sites, it goes through shorter cycles of 2.4 to 4.8 years, which confirms better growth conditions in this region. The studied coppice stands exhibit a stable reaction to climate change. Yet, regarding cyclical growth, the Central European stands benefit from an advantageous climate and grow better than in Southern Europe. As part of the changing environmental conditions, Turkey oak is becoming an important tree species that can achieve high production potential even in drier habitats due to its regeneration characteristic as coppice and may play a critical role in its northerly introduction in Europe.