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Key message Moderate-severity fire disturbances can accelerate upslope shifts of alpine treelines by reducing interspecific interactions, providing additional evidence for the species interaction mechanism in controlling treeline dynamics. Abstract Biotic interactions between trees and other plants may modulate the responses of alpine treelines to climate. Moderate disturbances could, therefore,...
Key messageMinimum wood density exhibits strong responses to precipitation and, thus, it is a robust proxy of early season water availability. Abstract Tracheids fulfil most wood functions in conifers (mechanical support and water transport) and earlywood tracheids account for most hydraulic conductivity within the annual tree ring. Dry conditions during the early growing season, when earlywood...
Key message Intra-annual increment patterns and wood production are coupled with rainfall seasonality in five tree species of a Tumbesian tropical dry forest. However, climatic responses show variation among species. Abstract In many tropical dry forests, information on radial-growth rates and phenology of wood formation is still lacking. However, such information is needed to better manage these...
Key messageWinter and spring wet and cool conditions often linked to El Niño enhance growth in five Mexican pine species which showed different responses to drought. Abstract Climate warming could intensify drought stress in NW México mountains as the Sierra Madre Occidental which are not only centers of pine diversification but also subject to a high hydroclimatic variability. In this region, rainfall...
Key messageThe threshold minimum air temperature driving xylem growth of alpine Rhododendron aganniphum is lower than that commonly observed at the treeline of conifers. Abstract Understanding how alpine shrubs grow and which environmental factors drive their biomass gain could help to functionally differentiate trees and shrubs. The cambium is the main meristem responsible for wood formation in...
Key messageThe post-fire growth responses and changes in wood C and N isotope composition depend on site water availability and fire severity in Mediterranean Aleppo pine forests. Abstract Mediterranean forests are subjected to recurrent wildfires and summer droughts. Under warmer and drier conditions, it is required to determine how Mediterranean pines...
Key messageField survey methods influence the assessment of treeline structure and inferences on reconstructed treeline dynamics. Abstract Numerous field studies have described the structure of alpine treeline ecotones encompassing the forest limit and treeline to infer their dynamics in response to climate warming. However, the inferred treeline dynamics...
Key MessageIn the Pyrenees low temperature and scarce precipitation limit radial growth at treeline.The climatic drivers of treeline formation in mid-latitude mountains are temperature and also moisture variability. Abstract Alpine treelines are often induced by a threshold of minimum temperatures above which tree growth is generally not possible anymore. However, this worldwide pattern may...
Understanding the relationships between bud size and position and bud fate through time is crucial for identifying and subsequently modeling the mechanisms underlying tree architecture. However, there is a lack of information on how bud size drives crown architectural patterns in coexisting tree species. We studied bud demography in two coexisting Mediterranean oak species with contrasting leaf habit...
Defoliation by herbivores may alter the source:sink balance of trees leading to transient decreases in carbon (C) stores. When C stores are replenished concurrently with re-growth both processes may compete, store formation proceeding at the expenses of growth. However, the interactions between both processes are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of defoliation by the pine processionary...
Short- and long-term growth responses to drought and climatic influences still remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the impact of climatic drivers (temperature, precipitation) and drought, using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) calculated at different time scales (1–48 months), on earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) widths in Pinus halepensis. Nine forests subjected to dry...
In trees, reproduction constitutes an important resource investment which may compete with growth for resources. However, detailed analyses on how growth and fruit production interact at the shoot level are scarce. Primary canopy growth depends on the development of current-year shoots and their secondary growth might also influence the number and size of fruits supported by them. We hypothesise that...
Long-term data on radial increment dynamics in Mediterranean species may identify which climatic variables are the main constraints for radial growth and at which temporal scales they act. To this end, we examined stem radial fluctuations in Quercus ilex L., the dominant evergreen oak species in the Western Mediterranean Basin, over a period of 11 years (1994–2004) at a coastal site in north-eastern...
Masting is the intermittent and synchronous production of large crops, but its relation to tree growth remains elusive despite the ecological relevance of mast seeding. The production of huge fruit crops has been linked to the accumulation and consumption of resources as nutrients and carbohydrates, but no conclusive assessment has supported this assumption. To evaluate if masting takes place once...
Recent land-use changes in intensively managed forests such as Mediterranean coppice stands might profoundly alter their structure and function. We assessed how the abandonment of traditional management practices in coppice stands, which consisted of short cutting-cycles (10–15 years), has caused overaging (stems are usually much older than when they were coppiced) and altered their wood anatomy and...
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