Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend
Abstract Background Environmental change has resulted in changes in forest growth in Europe during the last century. This has consequences for the products and services delivered by forest. Mixing tree species is often proposed as a strategy to deal with the consequences of climate change. Diversify...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Forest Ecosystems |
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| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40663-019-0169-z |
| _version_ | 1797965725593239552 |
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| author | Astrid Vannoppen Vincent Kint Quentin Ponette Kris Verheyen Bart Muys |
| author_facet | Astrid Vannoppen Vincent Kint Quentin Ponette Kris Verheyen Bart Muys |
| author_sort | Astrid Vannoppen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Environmental change has resulted in changes in forest growth in Europe during the last century. This has consequences for the products and services delivered by forest. Mixing tree species is often proposed as a strategy to deal with the consequences of climate change. Diversifying forests is believed to result in higher productivity and increased growth stability. Tree species diversity is therefore expected to affect long-term trends in tree radial growth. However, this has not yet been studied. In this paper we study the effect of diversity on the radial growth and its long-term trends for beech and oak trees growing along a gradient of tree species diversity in the loamy region of central Belgium (from monocultures to mixed forests patches up to three species). Results We found that beech trees have a higher radial growth whereas oak trees have a lower one when growing in mixtures. The contrasting diversity-productivity relationship observed for beech and oak is in agreement with their ranking in shade tolerance, where oaks suffer increased competition in mixed oak patches. Overall, in monocultures and mixtures, an increasing radial growth trend of + 2% for the period 1927–2015 and 21% for the period 1899–2015 was found for beech and oak, respectively. Tree species diversity did not alter the shape of this detected long-term radial growth trend. Nevertheless, for oak a lower year-to-year variability in radial growth is found in mixtures indicating a higher resilience. Conclusion We conclude that diversity impacts the average radial growth and its variability (only in the case of oak) but not the shape of the long-term trend in radial growth of beech and oak trees growing in the loamy region of central Belgium. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:03:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1924132e5954cc4b9edbd74a5221412 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2197-5620 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:03:26Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forest Ecosystems |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1924132e5954cc4b9edbd74a52214122023-01-03T03:34:33ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Forest Ecosystems2197-56202019-03-016111210.1186/s40663-019-0169-zTree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trendAstrid Vannoppen0Vincent Kint1Quentin Ponette2Kris Verheyen3Bart Muys4Division Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of LeuvenDivision Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of LeuvenEarth and Life Institute, Université catholique de LouvainForest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Ghent UniversityDivision Forest, Nature and Landscape, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of LeuvenAbstract Background Environmental change has resulted in changes in forest growth in Europe during the last century. This has consequences for the products and services delivered by forest. Mixing tree species is often proposed as a strategy to deal with the consequences of climate change. Diversifying forests is believed to result in higher productivity and increased growth stability. Tree species diversity is therefore expected to affect long-term trends in tree radial growth. However, this has not yet been studied. In this paper we study the effect of diversity on the radial growth and its long-term trends for beech and oak trees growing along a gradient of tree species diversity in the loamy region of central Belgium (from monocultures to mixed forests patches up to three species). Results We found that beech trees have a higher radial growth whereas oak trees have a lower one when growing in mixtures. The contrasting diversity-productivity relationship observed for beech and oak is in agreement with their ranking in shade tolerance, where oaks suffer increased competition in mixed oak patches. Overall, in monocultures and mixtures, an increasing radial growth trend of + 2% for the period 1927–2015 and 21% for the period 1899–2015 was found for beech and oak, respectively. Tree species diversity did not alter the shape of this detected long-term radial growth trend. Nevertheless, for oak a lower year-to-year variability in radial growth is found in mixtures indicating a higher resilience. Conclusion We conclude that diversity impacts the average radial growth and its variability (only in the case of oak) but not the shape of the long-term trend in radial growth of beech and oak trees growing in the loamy region of central Belgium.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40663-019-0169-zBiodiversityForestQuercus roburFagus sylvaticaSpecies complementarityBasal area increment |
| spellingShingle | Astrid Vannoppen Vincent Kint Quentin Ponette Kris Verheyen Bart Muys Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend Forest Ecosystems Biodiversity Forest Quercus robur Fagus sylvatica Species complementarity Basal area increment |
| title | Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend |
| title_full | Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend |
| title_fullStr | Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend |
| title_short | Tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in Belgium, not their long-term growth trend |
| title_sort | tree species diversity impacts average radial growth of beech and oak trees in belgium not their long term growth trend |
| topic | Biodiversity Forest Quercus robur Fagus sylvatica Species complementarity Basal area increment |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40663-019-0169-z |
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