Disentangling the role of climate and soil on tree growth and its interaction with seed origin

Amsterdam

2018

393–401

Sonderdruck

203486

Highlights: We disentangle the relative roles of climate and soil of planting locations and provenance origins on juvenile tree growth. Climate and soil of the planting location are dominant drivers of growth wheras provenance origin play minor role. The relative effects of climate and soil vary among different provenance groups. Climatic constraints are dominant, if materials from colder origin and higher altitude are planted. Soil and climate conditions are equally important if provenances originating from warm sites planted.
When considering options for adapting forests under climate change, climate is treated as the dominant driver of forest growth, while soil properties are often ignored mainly due to shortage of accurate data. The effects of climate and soil on forest growth may vary due to local adaptation to both climate and soil, and these local adaptations might need to be considered when transferring seed provenances under climate change.

Data from 29 provenance trials of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) across a wide gradient of planting conditions in Austria was used to develop Structural Equation Models (SEMs) to quantified the role of climatic and soil drivers and their interactions on juvenile growth performance and to test if provenance origin affects the relative importance of these drivers.
Keywords: Adaptation; Climate change; Forest growth; Norway spruce; Picea abies; Provenance trials; Soil; Seed origin; Structural equation model
Schlüsselwörter: Anpassung; Klimawandel; Waldwachstum; Spitzfichte; Picea abies; Provenienzversuche; Boden; Samenherkunft; Strukturgleichungsmodell