Forest‐Wide Growth Rates Stabilize After Experiencing Accelerated Temperature Changes Near an Alaskan Glacier

Autor: B. V. Gaglioti, D. H. Mann, G. C. Wiles, L. Andreu‐Hayles, W. D. Hansen, N. Wiesenberg
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 51, Iss 16, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2024GL109469
Popis: Abstract How forests respond to accelerated climate change will affect the terrestrial carbon cycle. To better understand these responses, more examples are needed to assess how tree growth rates react to abrupt changes in growing‐season temperatures. Here we use a natural experiment in which a glacier's fluctuations exposed a temperate rainforest to changes in summer temperatures of similar magnitude to those predicted to occur by 2050. We hypothesized that the onset of glacier‐accentuated temperature trends would act to increase the variance in stand‐level tree growth rates, a proxy for forest net primary productivity. Instead, dendrochronological records reveal that the growth rates of five, co‐occurring conifer species became less synchronous, and this diversification of species responses acted to reduce the variance and to increase the stability of community‐wide growth rates. These results warrant further inquiry into how climate‐induced changes in tree‐growth diversity may help stabilize future ecosystem services like forest carbon storage.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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