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Drought as an Inciting Mortality Factor in Scots Pine Stands of the Valais, Switzerland

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Abstract

During the 20th century, high mortality rates of Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) have been observed over large areas in the Rhône valley (Valais, Switzerland) and in other dry valleys of the European Alps. In this study, we evaluated drought as a possible inciting factor of Scots pine decline in the Valais. Averaged tree-ring widths, standardized tree-ring series, and estimated annual mortality risks were related to a drought index. Correlations between drought indices and standardized tree-ring series from 11 sites showed a moderate association. Several drought years and drought periods could be detected since 1864 that coincided with decreased growth. Although single, extreme drought years had generally a short-term, reversible effect on tree growth, multi-year drought initiated prolonged growth decreases that increased a tree’s long-term risk of death. Tree death occurred generally several years or even decades after the drought. In conclusion, drought has a limiting effect on tree growth and acts as a bottleneck event in triggering Scots pine decline in the Valais.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Bärbel Zierl (Forest Ecology, Zürich, Switzerland) and Esther Hegglin (Zug, Switzerland) for their support in the field. We are also indebted to Felix Kienast and Fritz Schweingruber (both WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland) for use of their tree-ring data. Thanks are due to Ludger Wenzelides (Forest Ecology, Zürich, Switzerland) for creating the GIS map, to Thomas Wohlgemuth (WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland) for his helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, and to Rosemary Sherriff (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA) for improving the language of the manuscript. We would also like to thank the Seminar for Statistics (ETH, Zürich, Switzerland) for statistical advice. We appreciate helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers and the editor. Finally, we are grateful to the Forest Service of the canton of Valais for their generous support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Ecology, Department of Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), ETH-Zentrum, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Christof Bigler & Harald Bugmann

  2. Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Guggenheim Geography, CB 260, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    Christof Bigler

  3. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Otto Ulrich Bräker, Matthias Dobbertin & Andreas Rigling

  4. Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, 213 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, California, 94720-3114, USA

    Matthias Dobbertin

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  1. Christof Bigler
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Correspondence to Christof Bigler.

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Bigler, C., Bräker, O.U., Bugmann, H. et al. Drought as an Inciting Mortality Factor in Scots Pine Stands of the Valais, Switzerland. Ecosystems 9, 330–343 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-005-0126-2

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