Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Forest Functions

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Hazards and Risk Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 5059

Special Issue Editors

Institute for Mediterranean Agriculture and Forest Systems ISAFoM, National Research Council of Italy, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Interests: forest ecology; forest management; carbon allocation; ecophysiology
Institute of BioEconomy of the National Research Council of Italy, (CNR - IBE), 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy
Interests: carbon cycle of forest ecosystems; eddy covariance; sustainable forest management; long-term ecological research; ecophysiology
Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Research Council of Italy, (CNR - IRET), 05010 Porano (TR), Italy
Interests: stable isotopes; Xylogenesis; dendrochronology; adaptation to climate change
Institute of Geography, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
Interests: dendroclimatology; dendroecology; wood formation; xylogenesis; tropical dendrochronology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the 1950s, global climate change has caused an increase in the frequency, intensity, and scale of extreme weather events (e.g., droughts, flooding, heat waves, windstorm, frost). Such events are recognized among the major drivers of current and future forest dynamics, affecting their productivity and composition. Extreme weather events affect the physiology of trees, with responses that are related both to tolerance and resilience. Nevertheless, these stressful events induce many interconnected effects, which can potentially and profoundly alter the functionality of ecosystems at different spatial and timescales. Globally, drought is recognized as the most widespread factor affecting forest functions and tree mortality. Still, in different areas, forests also have to face other extreme weather events, which can be very stressful and even destructive, with a significant reduction of their climate change mitigation capacity and of other ecosystem services.

Future climate change scenarios forecast an increased frequency of such conditions, calling for a better understanding of forest response to extreme weather events.

With this aim, we invite colleagues to contribute to this Special Issue with studies from several fields, targeting physiological and ecophysiological mechanisms; short-, medium-, and long-term responses of forests, experimental and modeling analyses, and others, in order to promote better knowledge on how forests respond to extreme events with a view to inform adaptation strategies for the preservation, management, and future development of forest ecosystems.

Dr. Ettore D'Andrea
Dr. Giorgio Matteucci
Dr. Negar Rezaie
Prof. Dr. Achim Bräuning
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • extreme climatic events
  • disturbances
  • carbon sequestration
  • biodiversity
  • ecosystem services
  • forest management
  • resilience
  • adaptation
  • mitigation
  • ecophysiological response mechanisms

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5602 KiB  
Article
Hurricanes Substantially Reduce the Nutrients in Tropical Forested Watersheds in Puerto Rico
by Jiamei Sun, Xinyuan Wei, Yu Zhou, Catherine Chan and Jiaojiao Diao
Forests 2022, 13(1), 71; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/f13010071 - 04 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1927
Abstract
Because nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus are generally limited in tropical forest ecosystems in Puerto Rico, a quantitative understanding of the nutrient budget at a watershed scale is required to assess vegetation growth and predict forest carbon dynamics. Hurricanes are the most frequent [...] Read more.
Because nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus are generally limited in tropical forest ecosystems in Puerto Rico, a quantitative understanding of the nutrient budget at a watershed scale is required to assess vegetation growth and predict forest carbon dynamics. Hurricanes are the most frequent disturbance in Puerto Rico and play an important role in regulating lateral nitrogen and phosphorus exports from the forested watershed. In this study, we selected seven watersheds in Puerto Rico to examine the immediate and lagged effects of hurricanes on nitrogen and phosphorous exports. Our results suggest that immediate surges of heavy precipitation associated with hurricanes accelerate nitrogen and phosphorus exports as much as 297 ± 113 and 306 ± 70 times than the long-term average, respectively. In addition, we estimated that it requires approximately one year for post-hurricane riverine nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations to recover to pre-hurricane levels. During the recovery period, the riverine nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations are 30 ± 6% and 28 ± 5% higher than the pre-hurricane concentrations on average. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Forest Functions)
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13 pages, 2831 KiB  
Article
Early Growth Responses of Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr. Seedling to Short-Term Extreme Climate Events in Summer
by Nam-Jin Noh, Gwang-Jung Kim, Yowhan Son and Min-Seok Cho
Forests 2021, 12(11), 1595; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/f12111595 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1786
Abstract
Extreme climate events such as heat waves, drought, and heavy rainfall are occurring more frequently and are more intense due to ongoing climate change. This study evaluated the early growth performance of one-year-old Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr. seedlings under open-field extreme climate conditions [...] Read more.
Extreme climate events such as heat waves, drought, and heavy rainfall are occurring more frequently and are more intense due to ongoing climate change. This study evaluated the early growth performance of one-year-old Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr. seedlings under open-field extreme climate conditions including experimental warming and different precipitation regimes. We recorded the survival rate, root collar diameter, height, biomass, shoot-to-root ratio, and seedling quality index using nine treatments (three temperature levels, i.e., control, warming by 3 °C and by 6 °C, × three precipitation levels, i.e., control, drought, and heavy rainfall) in July and August 2020. The survival rate of seedlings did not differ between treatments, showing high values exceeding 94% across treatments. The measured shoot height was largest under warming by 3 °C and high rainfall, indicating that moderate warming increased seedling height growth in a moist environment. Heavy rainfall decreased stem volume by 21% and 25% under control and warming by 6 °C treatments, respectively. However, drought manipulation using rain-out shelters did not decrease the growth performance. Overall, extreme climate events did not affect the survival rate, biomass, shoot-to-root ratio, and seedling quality index of L. kaempferi. We thus conclude that, regarding growth responses, L. kaempferi seedlings may be resistant to short-term extreme warming and drought events during summer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Forest Functions)
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