Forest stand productivity derived from site conditions: an assessment of old Douglas-fir stands (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) in Central Europe.
Ann For Sci
; 76(1): 19, 2019.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30881192
ABSTRACT
KEY MESSAGE Douglas-fir growth correlates with the climate, the soil moisture regime, and the soil nutrient status, reflecting a broad physiological amplitude. Even though planting this non-native tree species is suggested as a viable strategy to improve adaptiveness of European forests to a more extreme climate and to assure future productivity, the expected temperature increase may induce a decline in forest stand productivity for Douglas-fir in already warm and dry regions. CONTEXT Tree species selection is one of the most important forest management decisions to enhance forest productivity and stand stability on a given site. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii), a non-native species from north-western America, is seen as an important additional species option for adapting Central European forests to a changing climate. AIMS:
This study assesses Douglas-fir forest productivity derived from site conditions. We investigate climatic and physico-chemical soil characteristics and productivity of 28 mature Douglas-fir stands growing on siliceous, as well as carbonate bedrock material in southern Germany and north-eastern Austria.METHODS:
The importance of climatic and physico-chemical soil characteristics was analyzed with the machine learning method Random Forests.RESULTS:
The results show that Douglas-fir growth correlates with climate, soil moisture, and soil nutrient availability derived from ten climatic and physico-chemical soil parameters.CONCLUSION:
The broad pH optimum between 4.5 and 7.2 reflects the broad physiological amplitude of Douglas-fir, and no significant differences were detectable between carbonate and siliceous bedrock. We also conclude that climate change may induce a forest stand productivity decline, because lower productivity with the highest mean summer temperature across our study range was observed at the warmest sites in Eastern Austria.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ann For Sci
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Áustria