Validation of a prognostic model for predicting larynx preservation outcome (TALK score) in a Southern European population

Objective Larynx preservation is the current standard for locally advanced (LA) laryngeal/hypopharyngeal tumors, but not all patients respond as expected. TALK score model measures four variables (T-staging, albumin levels, liquor consumption and Karnofsky score) to determine which cases are best suited to preservation treatment scheme. We aimed to validate this prognostic model in a Southern European population. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 175 patients diagnosed from July 2008 to December 2015 with LA laryngeal/hypopharyngeal carcinoma and treated with a laryngeal preservation scheme comprising induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We applied the TALK score model to predict larynx preservation rate. Results Of the 175 patients evaluated, 96.6% were men, 98.3% were smokers and 77.1% misused alcohol. Tumors were laryngeal 66.3% vs 33.7% in hypopharynx, and all were either stage III (37.7%) or stage IV (62.3%). TALK prognostic subgroups were: good risk 40.0%; intermediate risk 52.5%; and poor risk 7.5%. With a median follow-up of 40.1 months, larynx preservation rate, laryngectomy-free survival and overall survival at 3 years was 84.5%, 63.7% and 68.2%, respectively. Although TALK score was not predictive of 3-year larynx preservation rate (good risk 85.5%; intermediate risk 83.1%; poor risk 91.6%), it was predictive of 3-year overall survival (good risk 81.9%; intermediate risk 62.9%; poor risk 33.5%) and 3-year laryngectomy-free survival (good risk 75.6%; intermediate risk 59.6%; poor risk 30.7%) Conclusion TALK model could predict OS and laryngectomy-free survival, helping clinicians to decide which patients should avoid laryngeal preservation and undergo laryngectomy after diagnosis (AU)

Validation of a prognostic model for predicting larynx preservation outcome (TALK score) in a Southern European population.

OBJECTIVE: Larynx preservation is the current standard for locally advanced (LA) laryngeal/hypopharyngeal tumors, but not all patients respond as expected. TALK score model measures four variables (T-staging, albumin levels, liquor consumption and Karnofsky score) to determine which cases are best suited to preservation treatment scheme. We aimed to validate this prognostic model in a Southern European population. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 175 patients diagnosed from July 2008 to December 2015 with LA laryngeal/hypopharyngeal carcinoma and treated with a laryngeal preservation scheme comprising induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We applied the TALK score model to predict larynx preservation rate. RESULTS: Of the 175 patients evaluated, 96.6% were men, 98.3% were smokers and 77.1% misused alcohol. Tumors were laryngeal 66.3% vs 33.7% in hypopharynx, and all were either stage III (37.7%) or stage IV (62.3%). TALK prognostic subgroups were: good risk 40.0%; intermediate risk 52.5%; and poor risk 7.5%. With a median follow-up of 40.1 months, larynx preservation rate, laryngectomy-free survival and overall survival at 3 years was 84.5%, 63.7% and 68.2%, respectively. Although TALK score was not predictive of 3-year larynx preservation rate (good risk 85.5%; intermediate risk 83.1%; poor risk 91.6%), it was predictive of 3-year overall survival (good risk 81.9%; intermediate risk 62.9%; poor risk 33.5%) and 3-year laryngectomy-free survival (good risk 75.6%; intermediate risk 59.6%; poor risk 30.7%). CONCLUSION: TALK model could predict OS and laryngectomy-free survival, helping clinicians to decide which patients should avoid laryngeal preservation and undergo laryngectomy after diagnosis.

Predicting the potential distribution and forest impact of the invasive species Cydalima perspectalis in Europe.

Invasive species have considerably increased in recent decades due to direct and indirect effects of ever-increasing international trade rates and new climate conditions derived from global change. We need to better understand how the dynamics of early species invasions develop and how these result in impacts on the invaded ecosystems. Here we studied the distribution and severe defoliation processes of the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis W.), a tree defoliator insect native to Asia and invasive in Europe since 2007, through the combination of species distribution models based on climate and landscape composition information. The results showed that the combination of data from the native and the invaded areas was the most effective methodology for the appropriate invasive species modeling. The species was not influenced by overall landscape factors, but only by the presence of its host plant, dispersal capacity, and climate suitability. Such climate suitability was described by low precipitation seasonality and minimum annual temperatures around 0°C, defining a continentality effect throughout the territory. We emphasize the need of studying distribution and severe defoliation processes separately because we identified that climate suitability was slightly involved in limiting species spread processes but strongly constrained ecosystem impact in terms of defoliation before the species reaches equilibrium with the new environment. New studies on habitat recovery after disturbance, ecological consequences of such impact, and community dynamics in a context of climate change are required for a better understanding of this invasive species.

Low forest productivity associated with increasing drought-tolerant species is compensated by an increase in drought-tolerance richness.

Many temperate forests are changing in composition due to a combination of changes in land-use, management and climate-related disturbances. Previous research has shown that in some regions these changes frequently favour drought-tolerant tree species. However, the effects of these changes in composition on forest functioning (e.g. productivity) are unclear. We studied 25 years of change in individual tree biomass growth, ingrowth and mortality, and community composition and total plot biomass across 2663 permanent forest plots in Catalonia (NE Spain) comprising 85,220 trees of 59 species. We focused on the relationship between community-level forest productivity and drought tolerance (DT), which was estimated using hydraulic traits as well as biogeographic indicators. We found that there was a small increase (1.6%-3.2% on average) in community-mean DT (DTcwm) during the study period, concurrent with a strong increase (12.4%-19.4% on average) in DT richness (DTric; i.e. trait range). Most importantly, we found that the mean DT was negatively related to forest productivity, which was explained because drought-tolerant tree species have lower tree-level growth. In contrast, DT richness was strongly and positively related to forest productivity, probably because it allowed for a more stable production along wet and dry periods. These results suggest a negative impact of ongoing climate change on forest productivity mediated by functional composition shifts (i.e. selection of drought-tolerant species), and a positive effect of increased DT richness as a consequence of land-use legacies. Such a trend towards functional diversification, although temporary, would increase forests' capacity to resist drought and place them in a better position to face the expected change in climate.

Radiation therapy for bone-only metastases in breast cancer patients: A GOCO survey of current clinical practice.

INTRODUCTION: The role of radiation therapy (RT) for patients with bone-only metastatic (BOM) breast cancer has not been investigated sufficiently. The aim of this survey was to evaluate current clinical practice in treating breast cancer patients with BOM in Radiation Therapy Departments in Catalonia and Occitania within the scope of the GOCO group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic questionnaire was completed by experienced radiation oncologists from fourteen RT centers. The items surveyed the professional experience, therapeutic approach, technique, dose stereotactic body RT (SBRT) availability. RESULTS: All Radiation Oncology Departments (ROD) in Catalonia (12) and Occitania (2) responded to the survey. Eleven (78.5%) of the RODs advise RT for BOM as initial treatment in the oligometastatic setting. RT to asymptomatic bone oligometastases is more often restricted for "risky lesions". The most inconsistent approaches were the treatment for asymptomatic lesions, when to treat bone metastases with respect to systemic treatment (ST) and the indication for RT after a complete response to ST. CONCLUSION: While BOM breast cancer patients have a relatively good prognosis, there is a lack of consistency in their approach with RT. This can be explained by the absence of evidence-based guidelines and an incomplete availability of SBRT.

Agricultural soil organic carbon stocks in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula: Drivers and spatial variability.

Estimating soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks under agriculture, assessing the importance of their drivers and understanding the spatial distribution of SOC stocks are crucial to predicting possible future SOC stocks scenarios under climate change conditions and to designing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies. This study characterized and modelled SOC stocks at two soil depth intervals, topsoil (0-30 cm) and subsoil (30-100 cm), based on both legacy and recent data from 7245 agricultural soil profiles and using environmental drivers (climate, agricultural practices and soil properties) for agricultural soils in Catalonia (NE Spain). Generalized Least Square (GLS) and Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR) were used as modelling approaches to: (i) assess the main SOC stock drivers and their effects on SOC stocks; (ii) analyse spatial variability of SOC stocks and their relationships with the main drivers; and (iii) predict and map SOC stocks at the regional scale. While topsoil variation of SOC stocks depended mainly on climate, soil texture and agricultural variables, subsoil SOC stocks changes depended mainly on soil attributes such us soil texture, clay content, soil type or depth to bedrock. The GWR model revealed that the relationship between SOC stocks and drivers varied spatially. Finally, the study was only able to predict and map topsoil SOC stocks at the regional scale, because controlling factors of SOC stocks at the subsoil level were largely unavailable for digital mapping. According to the resulting map, the mean SOC stock value for Catalan agriculture at the topsoil level was 4.88 ±â€¯0.89 kg/m2 and the total magnitude of the carbon pool in agricultural soils of Catalonia up to 30 cm reached 47.9 Tg. The present study findings are useful for defining carbon sequestration strategies at the regional scale related with agricultural land use changes and agricultural management practices in a context of climate change.

Actual European forest management by region, tree species and owner based on 714,000 re-measured trees in national forest inventories.

BACKGROUND: European forests have a long record of management. However, the diversity of the current forest management across nations, tree species and owners, is hardly understood. Often when trying to simulate future forest resources under alternative futures, simply the yield table style of harvesting is applied. It is now crucially important to come to grips with actual forest management, now that demand for wood is increasing and the EU Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation has been adopted requiring 'continuation of current management practices' as a baseline to set the Forest Reference Level carbon sink. METHODS: Based on a large dataset of 714,000 re-measured trees in National Forest inventories from 13 regions, we are now able to analyse actual forest harvesting. CONCLUSIONS: From this large set of repeated tree measurements we can conclude that there is no such thing as yield table harvesting in Europe. We found general trends of increasing harvest probability with higher productivity of the region and the species, but with important deviations related to local conditions like site accessibility, state of the forest resource (like age), specific subsidies, importance of other forest services, and ownership of the forest. As a result, we find a huge diversity in harvest regimes. Over the time period covered in our inventories, the average harvest probability over all regions was 2.4% yr-1 (in number of trees) and the mortality probability was 0.4% yr-1. Our study provides underlying and most actual data that can serve as a basis for quantifying 'continuation of current forest management'. It can be used as a cornerstone for the base period as required for the Forest Reference Level for EU Member States.

Calibrating the Severity of Forest Defoliation by Pine Processionary Moth with Landsat and UAV Imagery.

The pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa Dennis and Schiff.), one of the major defoliating insects in Mediterranean forests, has become an increasing threat to the forest health of the region over the past two decades. After a recent outbreak of T. pityocampa in Catalonia, Spain, we attempted to estimate the damage severity by capturing the maximum defoliation period over winter between pre-outbreak and post-outbreak images. The difference in vegetation index (dVI) derived from Landsat 8 was used as the change detection indicator and was further calibrated with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery. Regression models between predicted dVIs and observed defoliation degrees by UAV were compared among five selected dVIs for the coefficient of determination. Our results found the highest R-squared value (0.815) using Moisture Stress Index (MSI), with an overall accuracy of 72%, as a promising approach for estimating the severity of defoliation in affected areas where ground-truth data is limited. We concluded with the high potential of using UAVs as an alternative method to obtain ground-truth data for cost-effectively monitoring forest health. In future studies, combining UAV images with satellite data may be considered to validate model predictions of the forest condition for developing ecosystem service tools.

The spatial level of analysis affects the patterns of forest ecosystem services supply and their relationships.

The implementation of the Ecosystem Services (ES) framework (including supply and demand) should be based on accurate spatial assessments to make it useful for land planning or environmental management. Despite the inherent dependence of ES assessments on the spatial resolution at which they are conducted, the studies analyzing these effects on ES supply and their relationships are still scarce. To study the influence of the spatial level of analysis on ES patterns and on the relationships among different ES, we selected seven indicators representing ES supply and three variables that describe forest cover and biodiversity for Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). These indicators were estimated at three different scales: local, municipality and county. Our results showed differences in the ES patterns among the levels of analysis. The higher levels (municipality/county) removed part of the local heterogeneity of the patterns observed at the local scale, particularly for ES indicators characterized by a finely grained, scattered distribution. The relationships between ES indicators were generally similar at the three levels. However, some negative relationships (potential trade-offs) that were detected at the local level changed to positive (and significant) relationships at municipality and county. Spatial autocorrelation showed similarities between patterns at local and municipality levels, but differences with county level. We conclude that the use of high-resolution spatial data is preferable whenever available, in particular when identifying hotspots or trade-offs/synergies is of primary interest. When the main objective is describing broad patterns of ES, intermediate levels (e.g., municipality) are also adequate, as they conserve many of the properties of assessments conducted at finer scales, allowing the integration of data sources and, usually, being more directly relevant for policy-making. In conclusion, our results warn against the uncritical use of coarse (aggregated) spatial ES data and indicators in strategies for land use planning and forest conservation.

Positive biodiversity-productivity relationship predominant in global forests.

The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide. The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone-US$166 billion to 490 billion per year according to our estimation-is more than twice what it would cost to implement effective global conservation. This highlights the need for a worldwide reassessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities.

Anthropogenic-driven rapid shifts in tree distribution lead to increased dominance of broadleaf species.

Over the past century, major shifts in the geographic distribution of tree species have occurred in response to changes in land use and climate. We analyse species distribution and abundance from about 33 000 forest inventory plots in Spain sampled twice over a period of 10-12 years. We show a dominance of range contraction (extinction), and demographic decline over range expansion (colonization), with seven of 11 species exhibiting extinction downhill of their distribution. Contrary to expectations, these dynamics are not always consistent with climate warming over the study period, but result from legacies in forest structure due to past land use change and fire occurrence. We find that these changes have led to the expansion of broadleaf species (i.e. family Fagaceae) over areas formerly dominated by conifer species (i.e. family Pinaceae), due to the greater capacity of the former to respond to most disturbances and their higher competitive ability. This recent and rapid transition from conifers to broadleaves has important implications in forest dynamics and ecosystem services they provide. The finding raises the question as to whether the increasing dominance of relatively drought-sensitive broadleaf species will diminish resilience of Mediterranean forests to very likely drier conditions in the future.

Disentangling biodiversity and climatic determinants of wood production.

BACKGROUND: Despite empirical support for an increase in ecosystem productivity with species diversity in synthetic systems, there is ample evidence that this relationship is dependent on environmental characteristics, especially in structurally more complex natural systems. Empirical support for this relationship in forests is urgently needed, as these ecosystems play an important role in carbon sequestration. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested whether tree wood production is positively related to tree species richness while controlling for climatic factors, by analyzing 55265 forest inventory plots in 11 forest types across five European countries. On average, wood production was 24% higher in mixed than in monospecific forests. Taken alone, wood production was enhanced with increasing tree species richness in almost all forest types. In some forests, wood production was also greater with increasing numbers of tree types. Structural Equation Modeling indicated that the increase in wood production with tree species richness was largely mediated by a positive association between stand basal area and tree species richness. Mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation affected wood production and species richness directly. However, the direction and magnitude of the influence of climatic variables on wood production and species richness was not consistent, and vary dependent on forest type. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis is the first to find a local scale positive relationship between tree species richness and tree wood production occurring across a continent. Our results strongly support incorporating the role of biodiversity in management and policy plans for forest carbon sequestration.

Structural and climatic determinants of demographic rates of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula.

The demographic rates of tree species typically show large spatial variation across their range. Understanding the environmental factors underlying this variation is a key topic in forest ecology, with far-reaching management implications. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) covers large areas of the Northern Hemisphere, the Iberian Peninsula being its southwestern distribution limit. In recent decades, an increase in severe droughts and a densification of forests as a result of changes in forest uses have occurred in this region. Our aim was to use climate and stand structure data to explain mortality and growth patterns of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula. We used data from 2392 plots dominated by Scots pine, sampled for the National Forest Inventory of Spain. Plots were sampled from 1986 to 1996 (IFN2) and were resampled from 1997 to 2007 (IFN3), allowing for the calculation of growth and mortality rates. We fitted linear models to assess the response of growth and mortality rates to the spatial variability of climate, climatic anomalies, and forest structure. Over the period of approximately 10 years between the IFN2 and IFN3, the amount of standing dead trees increased 11-fold. Higher mortality rates were related to dryness, and growth was reduced with increasing dryness and temperature, but results also suggested that effects of climatic stressors were not restricted to dry sites only. Forest structure was strongly related to demographic rates, suggesting that stand development and competition are the main factors associated with demography. In the case of mortality, forest structure interacted with climate, suggesting that competition for water resources induces tree mortality in dry sites. A slight negative relationship was found between mortality and growth, indicating that both rates are likely to be affected by the same stress factors. Additionally, regeneration tended to be lower in plots with higher mortality. Taken together, our results suggest a large-scale self-thinning related to the recent densification of Scots pine forests. This process appears to be enhanced by dry conditions and may lead to a mismatch in forest turnover. Forest management may be an essential adaptive tool under the drier conditions predicted by most climate models.

Comparison of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) for better target volume definition in radiation therapy planning.

BACKGROUND: In cancer patients, positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (PET/CT) fused images present less variability in target contouring, respect to use only CT images, respectively. However, the gold standard has not yet been clearly established between radiation oncologists with regard to PET images and the methodology of contouring targets with confidence using PET/CT fused images. The aim of this study was to determine whether integrated PET/CT fused images provide advantages in virtual simulation compared with morphological contouring only with CT. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty cancer patients were evaluated in an adapted PET/CT hybrid in radiotherapy (RT) setup position, with 20 of them being suitable for RT: 17 were suitable for curative intent, which was the group of interest in this study. All image series were sent to the RT work station (WS) where CT and PET series were automatically fused by Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) in each case. PET series were threshold and were subjected to source-to-background contrast algorithms to fi nally redefine the original tumour description. Three different radiotherapy plans (RTP) for each patient were compared after targets were contoured: [1] planning over metabolic (PET) contoured targets, [2] planning over only morphologic (CT) targets, and [3] planning over targets obtained for treatment based on fused PET/CT images. RESULTS: PET/CT findings altered initial-stage planning in four patients (23.5%) because they had been undergoing chemotherapy. Gross target volume (GTV) and planning target volume (PTV) based only on PET showed more homogeneity to obtain mean doses (p = 0.025) with respect to those based on PET/CT, respectively. However, no percentage differences were observed in median PTV doses between the planning methods, although there was higher variability in PET/CT planning. Morphological (CT) and PET/ CT target volumes were more voluminous than metabolic (PET) volumes. On the other hand, 20% of metabolic (PET) PTV were out of those defined by PET/CT. Thoracic RT plans based on PET preserved better bilateral lung [percentage volume of lung irradiated with a dose of 20 Gy (V20); significance, R(2) = 0.559, p = 0.006]. CONCLUSIONS: For our physicians, PET/CT fused images allowed better contouring of primary tumours in 40% of head and neck cancers and 34% of thoracic cancers. PET/CT provides useful information for virtual simulation therapy. Image treatment and planning in an RT workstation is mandatory.

Species richness and wood production: a positive association in Mediterranean forests.

A major debate in the study of biodiversity concerns its influence on ecosystem functioning. We compared whether wood production in forests was associated with tree functional group identity (i.e. deciduous, conifer or sclerophylous), tree species richness (1-> or = 5) and tree functional group richness (1-3) by comparing more than 5000 permanent plots distributed across Catalonia (NE Spain). Deciduous forests were more productive than coniferous and sclerophylous forests. Wood production increased with tree species richness. However, functional group richness increased wood production only in sclerophylous forests. When other forest structure, environmental variables and management practices were included in the analysis, tree functional group identity and species richness still remained significant, while functional species richness did not. Our survey indicates that across a regional scale, and across a broad range of environmental conditions, a significant positive association exists between local tree species richness and wood production at least in typical early successional Mediterranean-type forests.

Fire regenerative syndromes of forest woody species across fire and climatic gradients.

Community resilience after fire is determined by species' ability to regenerate through two main mechanisms growth of new sprouts (resprouter species) and germination from surviving seed banks or from seeds arriving from neighbouring populations (seeder species). Both the mechanisms are present in Mediterranean communities. The occurrence of both the types in a community depends on fire history and the bio-geographical history determining the available species pool. Regenerative traits also covary with other functional attributes associated with resource acquisition and stress tolerance. As post-fire regenerative responses can be related to various ecological factors other than fire, we tested the hypothesis of a different proportional representation of post-fire regenerative syndromes in forest woody species along a climatic gradient in Catalonia (NE Spain) ranging from Mediterranean to temperate-boreal climates. Specifically, we expected seeder species to become less common with colder and moister conditions while resprouters would not be so influenced by the climatic gradient. We also tested the hypothesis of change in the relative abundance of regenerative syndromes in relation to recent fire history. We analysed a large database obtained from extensive forestry surveys and remote sensing fire records. After correction for spatial autocorrelation, we found an increase in the proportion of seeder species under more Mediterranean conditions and a decrease in fire-sensitive species (with no efficient mechanisms of post-fire recovery) in moister conditions. Resprouter species were similarly present across the whole gradient. A similar pattern was observed after excluding recently burnt plots. Therefore, post-fire regenerative syndromes segregate along the climatic gradient. Recent fires reduced the occurrence of fire-sensitive species and increased the proportion of seeder species. No significant effect was observed on resprouter species. Fire has a sorting effect, shaping the occurrence of species with different regenerative traits. Overall, fire seems to explain better the variability of the proportion of fire-sensitive species and climate the variability of seeder species. In addition, other factors (forestry practices and the covariation between regenerative and functional attributes) are likely to contribute to the regional pattern of regenerative syndromes.

Biodiversity correlates with regional patterns of forest litter pools.

We compared litter pools of more than 1,000 forests differing in tree species' diversity over a large scale in Catalonia (NE Spain). Monospecific forests always had smaller litter pools than mixed (from 2 to 5 tree species) forests. Whether there was a positive effect beyond two species mixtures depended on the species and functional identity of the dominant tree species. In sclerophyllous forests the positive effect of diversity was a step-function from one to more species. However, in conifers, litter pools increased constantly with tree diversity. The identity of the dominant tree species and functional type had also a significant effect on litter pools. For instance, forests dominated by sclerophyllous tree species had larger litter pools than forests dominated by deciduous and conifer tree species. When other forest structure parameters (i.e. tree basal area, wood production, successional stage, shrub cover and leaf area index) and environmental factors (i.e. mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, annual evapotranspiration and hillside position) where included in the analysis only leaf area index, basal area, wood production and mean temperature influenced litter pools positively. Our analysis emphasizes that at the regional scale, the litter compartment can be as influenced by biodiversity components as by other forest structure and climate components. In mixed forests, species and functional identity of the trees determine whether litter pools increase with tree diversity.

Does tree diversity increase wood production in pine forests?

Recent experimental advances on the positive effect of species richness on ecosystem productivity highlight the need to explore this relationship in communities other than grasslands and using non-synthetic experiments. We investigated whether wood production in forests dominated by Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) and Pyrenean Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) differed between monospecific and mixed forests (2-5 species) using the Ecological and Forest Inventory of Catalonia (IEFC) database which contains biotic and environmental characteristics for 10,644 field plots distributed within a 31,944 km(2) area in Catalonia (NE Spain). We found that in Pyrenean Scots pine forests wood production was not significantly different between monospecific and mixed plots. In contrast, in Aleppo pine forests wood production was greater in mixed plots than in monospecific plots. However, when climate, bedrock types, radiation and successional stage per plot were included in the analysis, species richness was no longer a significant factor. Aleppo pine forests had the highest productivity in plots located in humid climates and on marls and sandstone bedrocks. Climate did not influence wood production in Pyrenean Scots pine forests, but it was highest on sandstone and consolidated alluvial materials. For both pine forests wood production was negatively correlated with successional stage. Radiation did not influence wood production. Our analysis emphasizes the influence of macroenvironmental factors and temporal variation on tree productivity at the regional scale. Well-conducted forest surveys are an excellent source of data to test for the association between diversity and productivity driven by large-scale environmental factors.