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Pinus halepensis Mill. crown development and fruiting declined with repeated drought in Mediterranean France

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Abstract

The objectives of this study were to describe and quantify Aleppo pine aerial primary growth processes and to assess their relationships with climate. Primary growth (branch length growth, branching rate, polycyclism, needle number and size, fruiting), i.e. crown development and reproduction, was reconstructed for the last 16 years in Mediterranean France. From 1998 to 2007, climate has been far hotter and drier than normal in South-eastern France. All variables related to crown development and fruiting, as well as radial growth, significantly declined after 2003 heat wave and during repeated droughts from 2004 to 2007. A partial recovery of most parameters occurred from 2008 to 2010 on vigorous branches while frail branches showed less improvement. The limited crown development during unfavourable years may significantly hold back tree potential photosynthetic biomass for several following years and contribute to a slower than expected recovery of tree growth or to delayed die-back.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Christian Ripert, Roland Estève, Willy Martin, Aminata N’Diaye Boucabar, Frederic Faure-Brac and Maël Grauer for their assistance in the field and laboratory work, as well as Régine Verlaque and Bruno Vila, curators from Marseille University herbarium, who contributed material to control needle length. This research was funded by the French National Research Agency (DROUGHT + project, No ANR-06-VULN-003-04), the French Ministry for Ecology, Energy and Sustainable Development (GICC–REFORME project, No MEED D4E CV05000007), the Conseil Général des Bouches-du-Rhône (CG13), ECCOREV Research Federation (FR3098), the “F-ORE-T” LTER network and Cemagref.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEMAGREF, Ecosystèmes Méditerranéens et Risques, 3275 Route de Cézanne CS 40061, 13182, Cedex 5, Aix en Provence, France

    François Girard, Michel Vennetier & Samira Ouarmim

  2. ECCOREV FR 3098, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Michel Vennetier

  3. IMEP, Faculté des Sciences de St Jérôme, Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niemen, Boite 441, 13397, Marseille, Cedex 20, France

    Frédéric Guibal & Christophe Corona

  4. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus de Fuentenueva, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Asier Herrero

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  1. François Girard
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Correspondence to Michel Vennetier.

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Communicated by K. Puettmann.

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Girard, F., Vennetier, M., Guibal, F. et al. Pinus halepensis Mill. crown development and fruiting declined with repeated drought in Mediterranean France. Eur J Forest Res 131, 919–931 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-011-0565-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-011-0565-6

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