RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Potential climatic influence on maximum stand carrying capacity for 15 Mediterranean coniferous and broadleaf species
A1 Rodríguez de Prado, Diego
A1 San Martín Fernández, Roberto
A1 Bravo Oviedo, Felipe
A1 Herrero de Aza, Celia
K1 Self-thinning
K1 Reineke
K1 Maximum Stand Density Index
K1 Forest Management
K1 National Forest Inventory Data
AB Climate change projections for the Mediterranean basin predict a continuous increase in extreme drought andheat episodes, which will affect forest dynamics, structure and composition. Understanding how climate influencesthe maximum size-density relationship (MSDR) is therefore critical to designing adaptive silviculturalguidelines based on the potential stand carrying capacity of tree species. With this aim, data from the ThirdSpanish National Forest Inventory (3NFI) and WorldClim databases were used to analyze climate-related variationsof the maximum stand carrying capacity for 15 species from the Pinus, Fagus and Quercus genera. First,basic MSDR were fitted using linear quantile regression and observed size-density data from monospecific 3NFIplots. Reference values for maximum stocking, expressed in terms of the Maximum Stand Density Index (SDImax),were estimated by species. Then, climate-dependent MSDR models including 35 annual and seasonal climaticvariables were fitted. The best climate-dependent models, based on the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) index,were used to determine the climatic drivers affecting MSDR, to analyze general and species-specific patterns andto quantify the impact of climate on maximum stand carrying capacity. The results showed that all the selectedclimate-dependent models improved the goodness of fit over the basic models. Among the climatic variables,spring and summer maximum temperatures were found to be key drivers affecting MSDR for the species studied.A common trend was also found across species, linking warmer and drier conditions to smaller SDImax values.Based on projected climate scenarios, this suggests potential reductions in maximum stocking for these species.In this study, a new index was proposed, the Q index, for evaluating the impact of climate on maximum standcarrying capacity. Our findings highlight the importance of using specific climatic variables to better characterizehow they affect MSDR. The models presented in this study will allow us to better explain interactionsbetween climate and MSDR while also providing more precise estimates concerning maximum stocking fordifferent Mediterranean coniferous and broadleaf tree species.
PB Forest Ecology and Management
SN 0378-1127
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/42836
UL http://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/42836
LA eng
NO Forest Ecology and Management, Enero 2020, vol. 460, p. 117824
DS UVaDOC
RD 28-abr-2024