Drought Stress Reaction of Growth and Δ¹³C in Tree Rings of European Beech and Norway Spruce in Monospecific Versus Mixed Stands Along a Precipitation Gradient

Author： Schäfer Cynthia Grams Thorsten E. E. Rötzer Thomas Feldermann Aline Pretzsch Hans

Publisher： MDPI

E-ISSN： 1999-4907|8|6|177-177

ISSN： 1999-4907

Source： Forests, Vol.8, Iss.6, 2017-05, pp. : 177-177

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Abstract

Tree rings include retrospective information about the relationship between climate and growth, making it possible to predict growth reaction under changing climate. Previous studies examined species-specific reactions under different environmental conditions from the perspective of tree ring growth and ¹³C discrimination (Δ¹³C). This approach is extended to monospecific versus mixed stands in the present paper. We investigated the resistance and resilience of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica [L.]) in response to the drought event in 2003. The study was carried out along a precipitation gradient in southern Germany. Responses of basal area increment (BAI) and Δ¹³C were correlated with a Climate-Vegetation-Productivity-Index (CVPI). The species showed different strategies for coping with drought stress. During the summer drought of 2003, the BAI of spruces reveal a lower resistance to drought on dry sites than those of beech. For beech, we found an increasing resistance in BAI and Δ¹³C from dry to moist sites. In mixture with spruce, beech had higher resistance and resilience for Δ¹³C with increasing site moisture. The combination of Δ¹³C and tree ring growth proxies improves our knowledge of species-specific and mixture-specific reactions to drought for sites with different moisture conditions.