Thermal differences between juveniles and adults increased over time in European forest trees

Caron, Maria Mercedes; Zellweger, Florian; Verheyen, Kris; Baeten, Lander; Hédl, Radim; Bernhardt‐Römermann, Markus; Berki, Imre; Brunet, Jörg; Decocq, Guillaume; Díaz, Sandra; Dirnböck, Thomas; Durak, Tomasz; Heinken, Thilo; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Kopecký, Martin; Lenoir, Jonathan; Macek, Martin; Malicki, Marek; Máliš, František; Nagel, Thomas A.; Perring, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8553-4893; Petřík, Petr; Reczyńska, Kamila; Pielech, Remigiusz; Schmidt, Wolfgang; Świerkosz, Krzysztof; Teleki, Balázs; Wulf, Monika; De Frenne, Pieter. 2021 Thermal differences between juveniles and adults increased over time in European forest trees. Journal of Ecology, 109 (11). 3944-3957. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13773

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text N531574PP.pdf - Accepted Version Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

1. Woody species' requirements and environmental sensitivity change from seedlings to adults, a process referred to as ontogenetic shift. Such shifts can be increased by climate change. To assess the changes in the difference of temperature experienced by seedlings and adults in the context of climate change, it is essential to have reliable climatic data over long periods that capture the thermal conditions experienced by the individuals throughout their life cycle. 2. Here we used a unique cross-European database of 2,195 pairs of resurveyed forest plots with a mean intercensus time interval of 37 years. We inferred macroclimatic temperature (free-air conditions above tree canopies—representative of the conditions experienced by adult trees) and microclimatic temperature (representative of the juvenile stage at the forest floor, inferred from the relationship between canopy cover, distance to the coast and below-canopy temperature) at both surveys. We then address the long-term, large-scale and multitaxa dynamics of the difference between the temperatures experienced by adults and juveniles of 25 temperate tree species. 3. We found significant, but species-specific, variations in the perceived temperature (calculated from presence/absence data) between life stages during both surveys. Additionally, the difference of the temperature experienced by the adult versus juveniles significantly increased between surveys for 8 of 25 species. We found evidence of a relationship between the difference of temperature experienced by juveniles and adults over time and one key functional trait (i.e. leaf area). Together, these results suggest that the temperatures experienced by adults versus juveniles became more decoupled over time for a subset of species, probably due to the combination of climate change and a recorded increase of canopy cover between the surveys resulting in higher rates of macroclimate than microclimate warming. 4. Synthesis. We document warming and canopy-cover induced changes in the difference of the temperature experienced by juveniles and adults. These findings have implications for forest management adaptation to climate change such as the promotion of tree regeneration by creating suitable species-specific microclimatic conditions. Such adaptive management will help to mitigate the macroclimate change in the understorey layer.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13773
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Soils and Land Use (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0022-0477
Additional Keywords:	climate change, forestREplot, microclimate, ontogenetic shift, plant functional traits, resurvey, temperate tree species
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	15 Dec 2021 11:00 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/531574

Actions (login required)

View Item

Document Downloads

More statistics for this item...