Warm springs alter timing but not total growth of temperate deciduous trees

London

2022

552-557

Sonderdruck

40003332

As the climate changes, warmer spring temperatures are causing earlier leaf-out and commencement of CO² uptake in temperate deciduous forests, resulting in a tendency towards increased growing season lenght and annual CO² uptake. However, less is known about how spring temperatures affect tree stem growth, which sequensters carbon in wood that has a long residence time in the ecosystem. Here we show that warmer spring temperatures shifted stem diameter growth of deciduous trees earlier but had no consistent effect on peak growing season lenght, maximum growth rates, or annual growth, using dendrometer band measurements from 440 trees across two forests.