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Tree-ring growth and stable isotopes (13C and 15N) detect effects of wildfires on tree physiological processes in Pinus sylvestris L.

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Abstract

Forest fires may alter the physiological and growth processes of trees by causing stress in trees and modifying the availability of soil nutrient. We investigated if, after a high-severity fire, changes in tree-ring growth can be observed, as well as changes in the nitrogen and carbon isotope composition of tree rings of surviving trees. Two wildfires that occurred in Pinus sylvestris L. stands in Northern Italy, one at the beginning and one at the end of the vegetative season, were chosen as the focus of this study. After the fires, the surviving trees showed growth suppression with very narrow tree rings or locally absent rings. The carbon isotope ratio was more negative in tree rings formed in the 5 years following fire, indicating better water supply in a situation of less competition. The nitrogen isotope ratio followed opposite trends in the two wildfire stands. In trees cored in the stand where the fire happened at the beginning of the vegetative season, there was no change in the nitrogen isotope ratio, whereas in samples collected in the other fire site, higher nitrogen isotope ratios were observed in the tree rings formed after the fire, reflecting changes in the soil nitrogen supply. Modifications in the growth and isotope composition of the fire-stressed trees disappeared from 6 to 10 years after the fire. By studying trees before and after fire, we were able to show that fire affects not only the growth of surviving trees, but also their physiological processes.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Magdalena Noetzli (WSL) for her help with analyses, to Fabio Meloni, Riccardo Ceccato and Danilo Godone (all at University of Turin) for help with field work, to Daniele Castagneri (University of Turin) for useful comments on a previous draft of the paper, to Silvia Dingwall for revising our English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Rachele Beghin, Paolo Cherubini & Giovanna Battipaglia

  2. Department of AgroSelviTer, Università di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci, 44, 10095, Grugliasco, Italy

    Rachele Beghin & Giovanni Bovio

  3. ENEA, via Anguillarese 301, 00123, Rome, Italy

    Giovanna Battipaglia

  4. PSI Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland

    Rolf Siegwolf & Matthias Saurer

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  1. Rachele Beghin
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  2. Paolo Cherubini
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  4. Rolf Siegwolf
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  5. Matthias Saurer
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Correspondence to Paolo Cherubini.

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Communicated by A. Braeuning.

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Beghin, R., Cherubini, P., Battipaglia, G. et al. Tree-ring growth and stable isotopes (13C and 15N) detect effects of wildfires on tree physiological processes in Pinus sylvestris L.. Trees 25, 627–636 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0539-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0539-9

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