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Growth and carbon isotopes of Mediterranean trees reveal contrasting responses to increased carbon dioxide and drought

Oecologia volume 174, pages 307–317 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Forest dynamics will depend upon the physiological performance of individual tree species under more stressful conditions caused by climate change. In order to compare the idiosyncratic responses of Mediterranean tree species (Quercus faginea, Pinus nigra, Juniperus thurifera) coexisting in forests of central Spain, we evaluated the temporal changes in secondary growth (basal area increment; BAI) and intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) during the last four decades, determined how coexisting species are responding to increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations (C a) and drought stress, and assessed the relationship among iWUE and growth during climatically contrasting years. All species increased their iWUE (ca. +15 to +21 %) between the 1970s and the 2000s. This increase was positively related to C a for J. thurifera and to higher C a and drought for Q. faginea and P. nigra. During climatically favourable years the study species either increased or maintained their growth at rising iWUE, suggesting a higher CO2 uptake. However, during unfavourable climatic years Q. faginea and especially P. nigra showed sharp declines in growth at enhanced iWUE, likely caused by a reduced stomatal conductance to save water under stressful dry conditions. In contrast, J. thurifera showed enhanced growth also during unfavourable years at increased iWUE, denoting a beneficial effect of C a even under climatically harsh conditions. Our results reveal significant inter-specific differences in growth driven by alternative physiological responses to increasing drought stress. Thus, forest composition in the Mediterranean region might be altered due to contrasting capacities of coexisting tree species to withstand increasingly stressful conditions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, the Director and park rangers of the Alto Tajo Natural Park for permission and facilities provided. Meteorological data were provided by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Meteorología. We are very grateful to David L. Quiroga, Arben Q. Alla and Enrique Palma for their valuable support in the field, and to Adrián Escudero, Teresa E. Gimeno, Silvia Matesanz and three anonymous referees for suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry for Innovation and Science with the grants FPI (CGL2007-66066-C04-02) to E. G., Consolider Montes (CSD2008 00040) and VULGLO (CGL2010 22180 C03 03) and by the Community of Madrid grant REMEDINAL 2 (CM S2009 AMB 1783). J. J. Camarero acknowledges the support of ARAID. This study was conceived and performed within the Globimed network (www.globimed.net).

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Affiliations

  1. LINCGlobal, Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN, CSIC, Serrano 115 dpdo., 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Elena Granda & Fernando Valladares

  2. Departamento de Biologia Aplicada, FCAV, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”-UNESP, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

    Davi Rodrigo Rossatto

  3. ARAID, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, IPE, CSIC, Avda. Montañana 1005, 50192, Zaragoza, Spain

    J. Julio Camarero

  4. Departament d’Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Julio Camarero

  5. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences, AGROTECNIO Center, University of Lleida, Avda. Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain

    Jordi Voltas

  6. Departamento de Biología y Geología, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933, Móstoles, Spain

    Fernando Valladares

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  1. Elena Granda
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  2. Davi Rodrigo Rossatto
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  3. J. Julio Camarero
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  4. Jordi Voltas
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Correspondence to Elena Granda.

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Communicated by Dan Yakir.

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Granda, E., Rossatto, D.R., Camarero, J.J. et al. Growth and carbon isotopes of Mediterranean trees reveal contrasting responses to increased carbon dioxide and drought. Oecologia 174, 307–317 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2742-4

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Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Intrinsic water-use efficiency
  • Tree rings
  • Physiological responses
  • Atmospheric carbon dioxide