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Martínez-Vilalta J, García-Valdés R, Jump A, Vilà-Cabrera A, Mencuccini M. Accounting for trait variability and coordination in predictions of drought-induced range shifts in woody plants. New Phytol 2023; 240:23-40. [PMID: 37501525 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Functional traits offer a promising avenue to improve predictions of species range shifts under climate change, which will entail warmer and often drier conditions. Although the conceptual foundation linking traits with plant performance and range shifts appears solid, the predictive ability of individual traits remains generally low. In this review, we address this apparent paradox, emphasizing examples of woody plants and traits associated with drought responses at the species' rear edge. Low predictive ability reflects the fact not only that range dynamics tend to be complex and multifactorial, as well as uncertainty in the identification of relevant traits and limited data availability, but also that trait effects are scale- and context-dependent. The latter results from the complex interactions among traits (e.g. compensatory effects) and between them and the environment (e.g. exposure), which ultimately determine persistence and colonization capacity. To confront this complexity, a more balanced coverage of the main functional dimensions involved (stress tolerance, resource use, regeneration and dispersal) is needed, and modelling approaches must be developed that explicitly account for: trait coordination in a hierarchical context; trait variability in space and time and its relationship with exposure; and the effect of biotic interactions in an ecological community context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Martínez-Vilalta
- CREAF, E08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Raúl García-Valdés
- CREAF, E08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
- Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), E25280, Solsona, Spain
- Department of Biology, Geology, Physics and Inorganic Chemistry, School of Experimental Sciences and Technology, Rey Juan Carlos University, E28933, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alistair Jump
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, UK
| | - Albert Vilà-Cabrera
- CREAF, E08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, Stirling, UK
| | - Maurizio Mencuccini
- CREAF, E08193, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, E08010, Barcelona, Spain
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Vilà-Cabrera A, Astigarraga J, Jump AS, Zavala MA, Seijo F, Sperlich D, Ruiz-Benito P. Anthropogenic land-use legacies underpin climate change-related risks to forest ecosystems. Trends Plant Sci 2023; 28:1132-1143. [PMID: 37263916 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Forest ecosystems with long-lasting human imprints can emerge worldwide as outcomes of land-use cessation. However, the interaction of these anthropogenic legacies with climate change impacts on forests is not well understood. Here, we set out how anthropogenic land-use legacies that persist in forest properties, following alterations in forest distribution, structure, and composition, can interact with climate change stressors. We propose a risk-based framework to identify anthropogenic legacies of land uses in forest ecosystems and quantify the impact of their interaction with climate-related stress on forest responses. Considering anthropogenic land-use legacies alongside environmental drivers of forest ecosystem dynamics will improve our predictive capacity of climate-related risks to forests and our ability to promote ecosystem resilience to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Vilà-Cabrera
- CREAF, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain; Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK; Universidad de Alcalá, Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Julen Astigarraga
- Universidad de Alcalá, Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alistair S Jump
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Miguel A Zavala
- Universidad de Alcalá, Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco Seijo
- Instituto de Empresa, School of Global and Public Affairs, Madrid, Spain
| | - Dominik Sperlich
- Department of Forestry Economics and Forest Planning, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Paloma Ruiz-Benito
- Universidad de Alcalá, Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; Universidad de Alcalá, Grupo de Investigación en Teledetección Ambiental, Departamento de Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
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Vilà-Cabrera A, Premoli AC, Jump AS. Refining predictions of population decline at species' rear edges. Glob Chang Biol 2019; 25:1549-1560. [PMID: 30793443 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
According to broad-scale application of biogeographical theory, widespread retractions of species' rear edges should be seen in response to ongoing climate change. This prediction rests on the assumption that rear edge populations are "marginal" since they occur at the limit of the species' ecological tolerance and are expected to decline in performance as climate warming pushes them to extirpation. However, conflicts between observations and predictions are increasingly accumulating and little progress has been made in explaining this disparity. We argue that a revision of the concept of marginality is necessary, together with explicit testing of population decline, which is increasingly possible as data availability improves. Such action should be based on taking the population perspective across a species' rear edge, encompassing the ecological, geographical and genetic dimensions of marginality. Refining our understanding of rear edge populations is essential to advance our ability to monitor, predict and plan for the impacts of environmental change on species range dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Vilà-Cabrera
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Andrea C Premoli
- Universidad Nacional del Comahue, INIBIOMA-CONICET, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Alistair S Jump
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
- CREAF Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Ruiz-Benito P, Ratcliffe S, Zavala MA, Martínez-Vilalta J, Vilà-Cabrera A, Lloret F, Madrigal-González J, Wirth C, Greenwood S, Kändler G, Lehtonen A, Kattge J, Dahlgren J, Jump AS. Climate- and successional-related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality. Glob Chang Biol 2017; 23:4162-4176. [PMID: 28418105 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Revised: 02/06/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Intense droughts combined with increased temperatures are one of the major threats to forest persistence in the 21st century. Despite the direct impact of climate change on forest growth and shifts in species abundance, the effect of altered demography on changes in the composition of functional traits is not well known. We sought to (1) quantify the recent changes in functional composition of European forests; (2) identify the relative importance of climate change, mean climate and forest development for changes in functional composition; and (3) analyse the roles of tree mortality and growth underlying any functional changes in different forest types. We quantified changes in functional composition from the 1980s to the 2000s across Europe by two dimensions of functional trait variation: the first dimension was mainly related to changes in leaf mass per area and wood density (partially related to the trait differences between angiosperms and gymnosperms), and the second dimension was related to changes in maximum tree height. Our results indicate that climate change and mean climatic effects strongly interacted with forest development and it was not possible to completely disentangle their effects. Where recent climate change was not too extreme, the patterns of functional change generally followed the expected patterns under secondary succession (e.g. towards late-successional short-statured hardwoods in Mediterranean forests and taller gymnosperms in boreal forests) and latitudinal gradients (e.g. larger proportion of gymnosperm-like strategies at low water availability in forests formerly dominated by broad-leaved deciduous species). Recent climate change generally favoured the dominance of angiosperm-like related traits under increased temperature and intense droughts. Our results show functional composition changes over relatively short time scales in European forests. These changes are largely determined by tree mortality, which should be further investigated and modelled to adequately predict the impacts of climate change on forest function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paloma Ruiz-Benito
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
- Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
| | - Sophia Ratcliffe
- Department of Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Miguel A Zavala
- Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
| | - Jordi Martínez-Vilalta
- CREAF, Campus de Bellaterra (UAB) Edifici C, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
- Universidad Autònoma Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Albert Vilà-Cabrera
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Francisco Lloret
- CREAF, Campus de Bellaterra (UAB) Edifici C, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
- Universidad Autònoma Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
| | - Jaime Madrigal-González
- Grupo de Ecología y Restauración Forestal, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
| | - Christian Wirth
- Department of Systematic Botany and Functional Biodiversity, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, UK
| | - Sarah Greenwood
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Gerald Kändler
- Forest Research Institute Baden-Wurttemberg, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Jens Kattge
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, UK
- Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Jonas Dahlgren
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Alistair S Jump
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
- CREAF, Campus de Bellaterra (UAB) Edifici C, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
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Vilà-Cabrera A, Saura-Mas S, Lloret F. Effects of fire frequency on species composition in a Mediterranean shrubland. Écoscience 2015. [DOI: 10.2980/15-4-3164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Vilà-Cabrera A, Martínez-Vilalta J, Vayreda J, Retana J. Structural and climatic determinants of demographic rates of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula. Ecol Appl 2011; 21:1162-72. [PMID: 21774421 DOI: 10.1890/10-0647.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The demographic rates of tree species typically show large spatial variation across their range. Understanding the environmental factors underlying this variation is a key topic in forest ecology, with far-reaching management implications. Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) covers large areas of the Northern Hemisphere, the Iberian Peninsula being its southwestern distribution limit. In recent decades, an increase in severe droughts and a densification of forests as a result of changes in forest uses have occurred in this region. Our aim was to use climate and stand structure data to explain mortality and growth patterns of Scots pine forests across the Iberian Peninsula. We used data from 2392 plots dominated by Scots pine, sampled for the National Forest Inventory of Spain. Plots were sampled from 1986 to 1996 (IFN2) and were resampled from 1997 to 2007 (IFN3), allowing for the calculation of growth and mortality rates. We fitted linear models to assess the response of growth and mortality rates to the spatial variability of climate, climatic anomalies, and forest structure. Over the period of approximately 10 years between the IFN2 and IFN3, the amount of standing dead trees increased 11-fold. Higher mortality rates were related to dryness, and growth was reduced with increasing dryness and temperature, but results also suggested that effects of climatic stressors were not restricted to dry sites only. Forest structure was strongly related to demographic rates, suggesting that stand development and competition are the main factors associated with demography. In the case of mortality, forest structure interacted with climate, suggesting that competition for water resources induces tree mortality in dry sites. A slight negative relationship was found between mortality and growth, indicating that both rates are likely to be affected by the same stress factors. Additionally, regeneration tended to be lower in plots with higher mortality. Taken together, our results suggest a large-scale self-thinning related to the recent densification of Scots pine forests. This process appears to be enhanced by dry conditions and may lead to a mismatch in forest turnover. Forest management may be an essential adaptive tool under the drier conditions predicted by most climate models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Vilà-Cabrera
- CREAF, Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, Autonomous University of Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
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