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Climate‐ and successional‐related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality
Author(s) -
RuizBenito Paloma,
Ratcliffe Sophia,
Zavala Miguel A.,
MartínezVilalta Jordi,
VilàCabrera Albert,
Lloret Francisco,
MadrigalGonzález Jaime,
Wirth Christian,
Greenwood Sarah,
Kändler Gerald,
Lehtonen Aleksi,
Kattge Jens,
Dahlgren Jonas,
Jump Alistair S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/gcb.13728
Subject(s) - climate change , ecology , deciduous , taiga , dominance (genetics) , ecological succession , temperate forest , mediterranean climate , biology , temperate climate , geography , biochemistry , gene
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.