Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carbon isotope discrimination, radial growth, and NDVI share spatiotemporal responses to precipitation in Aleppo pine

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 19 December 2014

Abstract

Key message

A common pattern in Aleppo pine Δ 13 C responses to both spatial and temporal variability in precipitation was observed, with a general agreement between NDVI, Δ 13 C and growth that confirms precipitation as key environmental driver.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the spatiotemporal variability of carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) records and its relationship with radial growth (RG) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data using a tree-ring network of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) in the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. For this purpose, we collected a biennial time series of Δ13C (1949–1998), together with mean annual precipitation, tree-ring width, and remote sensing (NDVI) data for seven locations along a precipitation gradient. We evaluated how intra-site correlations between variables changed across locations, and how inter-site (or spatial) correlations changed across years. We found that correlations between Δ13C and precipitation were higher in dry than in wet sites, in agreement with previous studies. Mean RG and NDVI were good indicators of site-specific Δ13C sensitivity to precipitation. The strongest spatial associations between Δ13C and precipitation were also found during the driest biennia. However, spatial correlations were strongly affected by carryover effects of extreme events. Overall, we found a good agreement between Δ13C, NDVI, and RG, although they showed different response patterns to precipitation. We suggest that the combination of these proxies may be useful for monitoring changes in water-use efficiency and productivity at the regional level.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcaraz-Segura D, Cabello J, Paruelo J (2008) Baseline characterization of major Iberian vegetation types based on the NDVI dynamics. Plant Ecol 202:13–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baquedano FJ, Castillo FJ (2006) Comparative ecophysiological effects of drought on seedlings of the Mediterranean water-saver Pinus halepensis and water-spenders Quercus coccifera and Quercus ilex. Trees 20:689–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck PSA, Andreu-Hayles L, D’Arrigo R et al (2013) A large-scale coherent signal of canopy status in maximum latewood density of tree rings at arctic treeline in North America. Glob Planet Change 100:109–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brayshaw DJ, Rambeau CMC, Smith SJ (2011) Changes in Mediterranean climate during the Holocene: insights from global and regional climate modelling. Holocene 21(1):15–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cernusak LA, Ubierna N, Winter K, Holtum JA, Marshall JD, Farquhar GD (2013) Environmental and physiological determinants of carbon isotope discrimination in terrestrial plants. New Phytol 200:950–965

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Holmes RL (1986) User manual for program ARSTAN. In: Holmes RL, Adams RK, Fritts HC (eds) Tree-ring chronologies of Western North America: California, eastern Oregon and northern Great Basin. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, pp 50–65

    Google Scholar 

  • de Luis M, Cufar K, Filippo IA, Ovak K, Apadopoulos A, Iovesan G, Athgeber CB, Aventós J, Az MA, Mith KT (2013) Plasticity in dendroclimatic response across the distribution range of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). PLoS One 8:e83550

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • del Castillo J, Aguilera M, Voltas J, Ferrio JP (2013) Isoscapes of tree-ring carbon-13 perform like meteorological networks in predicting regional precipitation patterns. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 118:352–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, Richards RA (1984) Isotopic composition of plant carbon correlates with water-use efficiency of wheat genotypes. Aust J Plant Physiol 11:539–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez I, González-Prieto SJ, Cabaneiro A (2007) 13C-isotopic fingerprint of Pinus pinaster Ait. and Pinus sylvestris L. wood related to the quality of standing tree mass in forests from NW Spain. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 19:3199–3206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrio JP, Voltas J (2005) Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in wood constituents of Pinus halepensis as indicators of precipitation, temperature and vapour pressure deficit. Tellus B 57B:164–173

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrio JP, Florit A, Vega A et al (2003) Δ13C and tree-ring width reflect different drought responses in Quercus ilex and Pinus halepensis. Oecologia 137:512–518

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrio JP, Araus JL, Buxó R, Voltas J, Bort J (2005) Water management practices and climate in ancient agriculture: inference from the stable isotope composition of archaeobotanical remains. Veg Hist Archaeobot 14:510–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamon JA, Field CB, Goulden ML et al (1995) Relationships between NDVI, canopy structure, and photosynthesis in three Californian vegetation types. Ecol Appl 5:28–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gandullo JM (1994) Climatología y ciencia del suelo. Fundación Conde del Valle de Salazar, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Gil L, Díaz-Fernández PM, Jiménez P, Roldán M, Alía R, Agúndez D, DeMiguel J, Martín S, DeTuero M (1996) Las Regiones de procedencia de Pinus halepensis Mill. en España. O.A. Parques Nacionales, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Hereş AM, Martínez-Vilalta J, López BC (2012) Growth patterns in relation to drought-induced mortality at two Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sites in NE Iberian Peninsula. Trees Struct Funct 26:621–630

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Immerzeel WW, Rutten MM, Droogers P (2009) Spatial downscaling of TRMM precipitation using vegetative response on the Iberian Peninsula. Remote Sens Environ 113:362–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann RK, D’Arrigo RD, Laskowski C, Myneni RB, Zhou L, Davi NK (2004) The effect of growing season and summer greenness on northern forests. Geophys Res Lett 31:L09205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann RK, D’Arrigo RD, Paletta LF et al (2008) Identifying climatic controls on ring width: the timing of correlations between tree rings and NDVI. Earth Interact 12:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein T, Hemming D, Lin T, Grünzweig JM, Maseyk K, Rotenberg E, Yakir D (2005) Association between tree-ring and needle δ13C and leaf gas exchange in Pinus halepensis under semi-arid conditions. Oecologia 144:45–54

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Korol RL, Kirschbaum MUF, Farquhar GD, Jeffreys M (1999) Effects of water status and soil fertility on the C-isotope signature in Pinus radiata. Tree Physiol 19:551–562

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leavitt SW, Chase TN, Rajagopalan B et al (2008) Southwestern U.S. tree-ring carbon isotope indices as a possible proxy for reconstruction of greenness of vegetation. Geophys Res Lett 35:L12704

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loader NJ, Helle G, Los SO, Lehmkuhl F, Schleser GH (2010) Twentieth-century summer temperature variability in the southern Altai Mountains: a carbon and oxygen isotope study of tree-rings. Holocene 20:1149–1156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín-Benito D, Kint V, del Río M, Muys B, Cañellas I (2011) Growth responses of West-Mediterranean Pinus nigra to climate change are modulated by competition and productivity: past trends and future perspectives. For Ecol Manage 262:1030–1040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maseyk K, Hemming D, Angert A, Leavitt SW, Yakir D (2011) Increase in water-use efficiency and underlying processes in pine forests across a precipitation gradient in the dry Mediterranean region over the past 30 years. Oecologia 167:573–585

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno-Gutiérrez C, Battipaglia G, Cherubini P, Saurer M, Nicolás E, Contreras S, Querejeta JI (2012) Stand structure modulates the long-term vulnerability of Pinus halepensis to climatic drought in a semiarid Mediterranean ecosystem. Plant Cell Environ 35:1026–1039

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Myneni RB, Ramakrishna R, Nemani R, Running SW (1997) Estimation of global leaf area index and absorbed par using radiative transfer models. IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens 35:1380–1393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasquato M (2013) Comparison of parsimonious dynamic vegetation modelling approaches for semiarid climates, PhD Thesis. University of Valencia

  • Sarris D, Siegwolf R, Körner C (2013) Inter- and intra-annual stable carbon and oxygen isotope signals in response to drought in Mediterranean pines. Agric For Meteorol 168:59–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (2010) Keys to Soil Taxonomy, 11th ed.’. USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Treydte K, Frank D, Esper J et al (2007) Signal strength and climate calibration of a European tree-ring isotope network. Geophys Res Lett 34:L24302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voltas J, Chambel MR, Prada MA, Ferrio JP (2008) Climate-related variability in carbon and oxygen stable isotopes among populations of Aleppo pine grown in common-garden tests. Trees Struct Funct 22:759–769

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Voltas J, Camarero JJ, Carulla D, Aguilera M, Ortiz A, Ferrio JP (2013) A retrospective, dual-isotope approach reveals individual predispositions to winter-drought induced tree dieback in the southernmost distribution limit of Scots pine. Plant Cell Environ 36:1435–1448

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh PD, Lawler DM (1981) Rainfall seasonality: description, spatial patterns and change through time. Weather 36:201–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Rich PM, Price KP, Kettle WD (2004) Relations between NDVI and tree productivity in the central Great Plains. Int J Remote Sens 25:3127–3138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren C, McGrath J, Adams M (2001) Water availability and carbon isotope discrimination in conifers. Oecologia 127:476–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author contribution statement

Study idea by J.P.F.; all authors designed the research, analyzed the data, interpreted the results, and wrote the paper.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deptarment Crop and Forest Sciences-AGROTECNIO Center, Universitat de Lleida, Rovira Roure 191, E-25198, Lleida, Spain

    Jorge del Castillo, Jordi Voltas & Juan Pedro Ferrio

Authors
  1. Jorge del Castillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jordi Voltas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Juan Pedro Ferrio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Pedro Ferrio.

Additional information

Communicated by E. Liang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

del Castillo, J., Voltas, J. & Ferrio, J.P. Carbon isotope discrimination, radial growth, and NDVI share spatiotemporal responses to precipitation in Aleppo pine. Trees 29, 223–233 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1106-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-014-1106-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation