Large old trees increase growth under shifting climatic constraints: Aligning tree longevity and individual growth dynamics in primary mountain spruce forests

• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16461
• Publication Date: 2022-09-30T14:46:58Z
• Authors: Krešimir Begović; Jonathan S. Schurman; Marek Svitok; Jakob Pavlin; Thomas Langbehn; Kristyna Svobodová; Martin Mikoláš; Pavel Janda; Michal Synek; William Marchand; Lucie Vitková; Daniel Kozák; Ondrej Vostarek; Vojtech Čada; Radek Bače; Miroslav Svoboda
• Keywords: Forest dynamics; Old-growth forest

In a world of accelerating changes in environmental conditions driving tree growth, tradeoffs between growth rate and longevity could curtail the abundance large old trees (LOTs), with potentially dire consequences for biodiversity carbon storage. However, influence tree-level on forest structure at landscape scales will also depend disturbances, which shape size age distribution, whether LOTs can benefit from improved growing due to climate warming. We analyzed temporal spatial variation radial patterns ~5000 Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] H. Karst) live dead Western Carpathian primary stands. applied mixed-linear modeling quantify importance LOT histories stand dynamics (i.e., competition disturbance factors) lifespan. Finally, we assessed regional synchronization variability over 20th century, modeled effects recent trends. Tree varied considerably among stands, implying an important role as constraint. Slow juvenile longer period suppressed prolonged lifespan, while increasing severity shorter time since last decreased it. The highest was not achieved only by continuous slow but those followed subsequent releases. Growth trend analysis demonstrated increase absolute rates response warming, late summer temperatures trend. Contrary our expectation that would eventually exhibit declining rates, oldest (>400 years) continuously throughout their lives, indicating high phenotypic plasticity biomass, strong sink forests under rising temperatures, intensifying droughts, bark beetle outbreaks.