Query: Radial growth in coniferous and deciduous trees

title: Radial growth variations for coniferous and deciduous trees in relation to soil moisture and air temperature on Avenor and Fraser land in northern New Brunswick

title: Growth correlations in five species of deciduous trees
abstract: Since the beginning of the present century much work has been done in America on tree growth, the greatest part of this being centered around growth exhibited by coniferous species. The literature is less extensive on growth studies of deciduous trees. MacDougal's work on radial growth with the dendrometer and dendrograph (27, 28) is too extensive for review in a paper of this type. Glock (19) has given excellent review of results from study of annular rings. Dendrometer studies on deciduous trees in the midwest have been

title: The spatio temporal forest patch dynamics inferred from the fine scale synchronicity in growth chronology
abstract: Abrupt increments in tree radial growth chronology are associated with gap formations derived from disturbances. If a forest has been primarily controlled by fine scale disturbances such as single tree fall, do these release events spatio temporally synchronize at a fine scale such as 10 m and 5 years? Is it possible to quantify spatio temporal patterns of synchronicity from tree rings and long term inventories, and associate them with spatial forest patch dynamics? How and to what extent can we reconstruct the fine scale synchronized growth and spatio temporal forest patch dynamics from currently available information? Location: Cores were taken from Abies sachalinensis trees in a coniferous/deciduous mixed forest in the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido, northern Japan.  We first eliminated short term fluctuations and highlighted growth trends over the mid term using a time series smoothing technique. This helped identify release events, we then conducted fine scale spatial analyses on released A. sachalinensis primarily with cluster analysis.  We specified the unit scale of synchronicity at 10 m, and classified released A. sachalinensis trees into spatially separated regions. Only once during the recent 50 years was extensive synchronicity over 40 m found. Most of the released A. sachalinensis were isolated, with non released A. sachalinensis present in nearby, implying imperfect synchronization. The ambiguous 20 30 m A. sachalinensis patches present in the current forest were the result of connected and overlapping patches smaller than 10 m associated with different disturbances and different responses of understorey trees.  Tree ring series, long term census and fine scale spatio temporal analyses revealed that this forest community has been controlled by two types of disturbance: frequent small disturbances such as single tree fall and less frequent multiple tree falls.

title: AGE STRUCTURE AND DISTURBANCE HISTORY OF A SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN VIRGIN FOREST
abstract: The frequency and intensity of natural disturbances in a montane old growth forest of coniferous (Tsuga) and broad leaved deciduous trees (Liriodendron, Betula, Castanea, Fagus, Acer) were investigated by means of diameter frequency distributions, diameter age regressions, and anal ysis of radial growth patterns. The seven species investigated are represented by all aged populations regardless of the degree of shade tolerance. The age distributions of most species, however, are irregular with several prominent peaks. Apparent coincidence of these peaks among some species suggests a common underlying influence. Radial growth patterns reveal higher than average numbers of abrupt and sustained increases in growth rate in most decades of peak recruitment which, along with other evidence, suggest that disturbance was the principal causal factor. There is evidence for eight partial disturbances in the past 250 yr, each of which generally removed 10%o of the overstory trees. These fairly light disturbances appear to be sufficient to cause major deviations from the theoretical equilibrium diameter distribution of the forest.

title: Microcoring and dendrometer detected intra annual wood formation of Populus euphratica in the Ejina Oasis,northwestern China
abstract: Seasonal stem radial growth and wood formation of trees have become research hotspots because of their significance for dendroclimatological and dendroecological studies. However, until recently, these studies concentrated on coniferous tree species in high altitude and high latitude regions, while detailed information on arid zone riparian forests is scarce. The main focus of this study is to monitor the intra annual dynamics of radial growth and tree ring formation in a deciduous species, Populus euphratica In 2013, we combined the dendrometer and microcoring methods to study this species in the riparian forest of the Ejina Oasis, in arid northwestern China. Vessel enlargement began in early May, and the maximum rate of cell production occurred in early June. The cell division then ceased from early to mid July. The dendrometer method failed to reliably detect the date of growth initiation and cessation, but succeeded to detect the time of maximum growth rate just like the microcoring method did. We found that weekly stem radial increment data described xylem growth more accurately than daily datasets. Based on correlation analysis among climatic and hydrologic variables, and weekly stem radial increment, weekly ring width increase dataset, the depth to groundwater was the main factor that limited tree ring growth. From a practical perspective, such studies of intra annual wood formation can provide empirical guidance for seasonal water allocations within a river basin.

title: Contrasting drivers and trends of coniferous and deciduous tree growth in interior Alaska.
abstract: The boreal biome represents approximately one third of the world's forested area and plays an important role in global biogeochemical and energy cycles. Numerous studies in boreal Alaska have concluded that growth of black and white spruce is declining as a result of temperature induced drought stress. The combined evidence of declining spruce growth and changes in the fire regime that favor establishment of deciduous tree species has led some investigators to suggest the region may be transitioning from dominance by spruce to dominance by deciduous forests and/or grasslands. Although spruce growth trends have been extensively investigated, few studies have evaluated long term radial growth trends of the dominant deciduous species (Alaska paper birch and trembling aspen) and their sensitivity to moisture availability. We used a large and spatially extensive sample of tree cores from interior Alaska to compare long term growth trends among contrasting tree species (white and black spruce vs. birch and aspen) All species showed a growth peak in the mid 1940s, although growth following the peak varied strongly across species. Following an initial decline from the peak, growth of white spruce showed little evidence of a trend, while black spruce and birch growth showed slight growth declines from ~1970 to present. Aspen growth was much more variable than the other species and showed a steep decline from ~1970 to present. Growth of birch, black and white spruce was sensitive to moisture availability throughout most of the tree ring chronologies, as evidenced by negative correlations with air temperature and positive correlations with precipitation. However, a positive correlation between previous July precipitation and aspen growth disappeared in recent decades, corresponding with a rise in the population of the aspen leaf miner (Phyllocnistis populiella) an herbivorous moth, which may have driven growth to a level not seen since the early 20th century. Our results provide important historical context for recent growth and raise questions regarding competitive interactions among the dominant tree species and exchanges of carbon and energy in the warming climate of interior Alaska.

title: Influence of climatic factors and reserve assimilates on the radial growth and carbon isotope composition in tree rings of deciduous and coniferous species
abstract: This paper analyzes variations in the isotope composition of growth rings in coniferous and deciduous species (Picea obovata L. Pinus sylvestris L. Populus tremula L. Betula pubescens Ehrh. growing in the extremely continental climate of Central Siberia. The seasonal variation in carbon isotopes in tree rings is shown to differ significantly in different species (with significant synchrony in interannual variability. Species differences are found in the use of reserve assimilates in the formation of tree rings in the early growing season.

title: Radial stem growth in response to microclimate and soil moisture in a drought prone mixed coniferous forest at an inner Alpine site
abstract: Dendroclimatological studies in a dry inner Alpine environment (750 m a.s.l. revealed different growth response of co occurring coniferous species to climate, which is assumed to be caused by a temporal shift in wood formation among species. The main focus of this study therefore was to monitor intra annual dynamics of radial increment growth of mature deciduous and evergreen coniferous species (Pinus sylvestris, Larix decidua and Picea abies) during two consecutive years with contrasting climatic conditions. Radial stem growth was continuously followed by band dendrometers and modelled using Gompertz functions to determine time of maximum growth. Histological analyses of tree ring formation allowed determination of temporal dynamics of cambial activity and xylem cell development. Daily fluctuations in stem radius and radial stem increments were extracted from dendrometer traces, and correlations with environmental variables were performed. While a shift in temporal dynamics of radial growth onset and cessation was detected among co occurring species, intra annual radial growth peaked synchronously in late May 2011 and early June 2012. Moist atmospheric conditions, i.e. high relative air humidity, low vapour pressure deficit and low air temperature during the main growing period, favoured radial stem increment of all species. Soil water content and soil temperature were not significantly related to radial growth. Although a temporal shift in onset and cessation of wood formation was detected among species, synchronous culmination of radial growth indicates homogenous exogenous and/or endogenous control. The close coupling of radial growth to atmospheric conditions points to the importance of stem water status for intra annual growth of drought prone conifers.

title: Comparing the intra annual wood formation of three European species (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus petraea and Pinus sylvestris) as related to leaf phenology and non structural carbohydrate dynamics.
abstract: Monitoring cambial phenology and intra annual growth dynamics is a useful approach for characterizing the tree growth response to climate change. However, there have been few reports concerning intra annual wood formation in lowland temperate forests with high time resolution, especially for the comparison between deciduous and coniferous species. The main objective of this study was to determine how the timing, duration and rate of radial growth change between species as related to leaf phenology and the dynamics of non structural carbohydrates (NSC) under the same climatic conditions. We studied two deciduous species, Fagus sylvatica L. and Quercus petraea (Matt. Liebl. and an evergreen conifer, Pinus sylvestris L. During the 2009 growing season, we weekly monitored (i) the stem radial increment using dendrometers, (ii) the xylem growth using microcoring and (iii) the leaf phenology from direct observations of the tree crowns. The NSC content was also measured in the eight last rings of the stem cores in April, June and August 2009. The leaf phenology, NSC storage and intra annual growth were clearly different between species, highlighting their contrasting carbon allocation. Beech growth began just after budburst, with a maximal growth rate when the leaves were mature and variations in the NSC content were low. Thus, beech radial growth seemed highly dependent on leaf photosynthesis. For oak, earlywood quickly developed before budburst, which probably led to the starch decrease quantified in the stem from April to June. For pine, growth began before the needles unfolding and the lack of NSC decrease during the growing season suggested that the substrates for radial growth were new assimilates of the needles from the previous year. Only for oak, the pattern determined from the intra annual growth measured using microcoring differed from the pattern determined from dendrometer data. For all species, the ring width was significantly influenced by growth duration and not by growth rate, which differs from previous studies. The observed between species difference at the intra annual scale is key information for anticipating suitability of future species in temperate forests.

title: Inconsistent relationships between annual tree ring widths and satellite measured NDVI in a mountainous subarctic environment
abstract: Recent climate warming has intensified efforts to understand patterns of vegetation productivity at northern high latitudes. Remotely sensed and dendrochronological measurements have indicated significant changes in aboveground vegetation production in these regions, but the relationship between the two indicators remains unclear. We examined the relationship between remotely sensed data, using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and annual ring width indices obtained from trees and shrubs in the boreal mountains of southwest Yukon. A 24 year (1990 2013) trend in annual maximum NDVI was generated from two Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) datasets: the Alaska Composite NDVI (1 km) and the third generation Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS3g) NDVI (8 km) Twenty sites were systematically selected for dendrochronological sampling and chronologies were developed for the dominant coniferous (Picea glauca and Picea mariana) and deciduous (Salix glauca, Alnus crispa, and Populus tremuloides) species at each site. NDVI trends indicated low level greening across much of the region during the 24 year period. However, ring width trends varied in direction and magnitude and the agreement with annual maximum NDVI was low. Correlations between annual ring width indices and biweekly NDVI values were also low, although eight coniferous chronologies did show significant positive correlations with GIMMS3g biweekly data, suggesting that radial growth may be reflected in NDVI at some point during the growing season. Reasons for the inconsistent relationships between ring width and NDVI remain unclear. Future studies should examine the role of climatic variables on the ring width NDVI relationship, especially when multiple datasets and various resolutions are being used. Investigating the relative contributions of plant growth, establishment of new plants, and changes in plant resource allocation to NDVI trends are critical to achieve a more functional understanding of the changes occurring in mountainous boreal ecosystems.