TY - JOUR
T1 - Nitrogen deposition is the most important environmental driver of growth of pure, even-aged and managed European forests
AU - Etzold, Sophia
AU - Ferretti, Marco
AU - Reinds, Gert Jan
AU - Solberg, Svein
AU - Gessler, Arthur
AU - Waldner, Peter
AU - Schaub, Marcus
AU - Simpson, David
AU - Benham, Sue
AU - Hansen, Karin
AU - Ingerslev, Morten
AU - Jonard, Mathieu
AU - Karlsson, Per Erik
AU - Lindroos, Antti-Jussi
AU - Marchetto, Aldo
AU - Manninger, Miklos
AU - Meesenburg, Henning
AU - Merilä, Päivi
AU - Nöjd, Pekka
AU - Rautio, Pasi
AU - Sanders, Tanja G.M.
AU - Seidling, Walter
AU - Skudnik, Mitja
AU - Thimonier, Anne
AU - Verstraeten, Arne
AU - Vesterdal, Lars
AU - Vejpustkova, Monika
AU - de Vries, Wim
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Changing environmental conditions may substantially interact with site quality and forest stand characteristics, and impact forest growth and carbon sequestration. Understanding the impact of the various drivers of forest growth is therefore critical to predict how forest ecosystems can respond to climate change. We conducted a continental-scale analysis of recent (1995–2010) forest volume increment data (ΔVol, m3 ha−1 yr−1), obtained from ca. 100,000 coniferous and broadleaved trees in 442 even-aged, single-species stands across 23 European countries. We used multivariate statistical approaches, such as mixed effects models and structural equation modelling to investigate how European forest growth respond to changes in 11 predictors, including stand characteristics, climate conditions, air and site quality, as well as their interactions. We found that, despite the large environmental gradients encompassed by the forests examined, stand density and age were key drivers of forest growth. We further detected a positive, in some cases non-linear effect of N deposition, most pronounced for beech forests, with a tipping point at ca. 30 kg N ha−1 yr−1. With the exception of a consistent temperature signal on Norway spruce, climate-related predictors and ground-level ozone showed much less generalized relationships with ΔVol. Our results show that, together with the driving forces exerted by stand density and age, N deposition is at least as important as climate to modulate forest growth at continental scale in Europe, with a potential negative effect at sites with high N deposition.
AB - Changing environmental conditions may substantially interact with site quality and forest stand characteristics, and impact forest growth and carbon sequestration. Understanding the impact of the various drivers of forest growth is therefore critical to predict how forest ecosystems can respond to climate change. We conducted a continental-scale analysis of recent (1995–2010) forest volume increment data (ΔVol, m3 ha−1 yr−1), obtained from ca. 100,000 coniferous and broadleaved trees in 442 even-aged, single-species stands across 23 European countries. We used multivariate statistical approaches, such as mixed effects models and structural equation modelling to investigate how European forest growth respond to changes in 11 predictors, including stand characteristics, climate conditions, air and site quality, as well as their interactions. We found that, despite the large environmental gradients encompassed by the forests examined, stand density and age were key drivers of forest growth. We further detected a positive, in some cases non-linear effect of N deposition, most pronounced for beech forests, with a tipping point at ca. 30 kg N ha−1 yr−1. With the exception of a consistent temperature signal on Norway spruce, climate-related predictors and ground-level ozone showed much less generalized relationships with ΔVol. Our results show that, together with the driving forces exerted by stand density and age, N deposition is at least as important as climate to modulate forest growth at continental scale in Europe, with a potential negative effect at sites with high N deposition.
U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117762
DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117762
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
SN - 0378-1127
VL - 458
JO - Forest Ecology and Management
JF - Forest Ecology and Management
ER -