Heat wave impacts on tree growth and recovery in temperate forests depend on leaf phenology
Climate change is leading to more frequent and severe extreme climate events, such as hot spells. However, we lack information on how trees recover after heat waves in terms of wood anatomy, radial growth (basal area increment, BAI), and wood δ13C, a proxy of intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE). T...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/418877 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/418877 https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105028334073 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Dendroecology Early leafing tree species Heat stress Temperate forests |
| Sumario: | Climate change is leading to more frequent and severe extreme climate events, such as hot spells. However, we lack information on how trees recover after heat waves in terms of wood anatomy, radial growth (basal area increment, BAI), and wood δ13C, a proxy of intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE). This lack of information on recovery is notable in temperate forests, where heat waves reduce productivity and trigger canopy dieback. We filled this research gap by assessing the impacts of the 2022 heat wave on two temperate forests located at high (Cernobbio) and low elevation (Monza) sites in northern Italy. Eight winter-deciduous tree species were sampled with different leaf phenology (early leafing species, Betula pendula, Quercus robur; intermediate leafing species, Fagus sylvatica, Acer pseudoplatanus; and late leafing species, Tilia cordata, Castanea sativa, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus pubescens). Some species experienced a severe BAI reduction during 2022 (B. pendula, -58%; Q. robur, -48 %), others showed a moderate drop (A. pseudoplatanus, -5 %; F. excelsior, -5 to -34 %; T. cordata, -29 %; C. sativa, -25 %; Q. pubescens, -18 %), whereas F. sylvatica showed a slight increase (+ 3 %). Negative growth legacies were detected in F. excelsior at the low-elevation site. F. excelsior, A. pseudoplatanus and Q. pubescens were the most sensitive species to summer maximum temperatures and drought severity. In the case of A. pseudoplatanus, the ray parenchyma fraction declined in 2022, indicating lower C storage. A. pseudoplatanus (-26.1‰) and F. excelsior (-25.6 ‰) showed the highest wood δ13C values. Radial growth data indicate that the two early leafing species were the most negatively impacted by heat stress. |
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