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Growth recovery of mature Norway spruce and European beech from chronic O3 stress

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Abstract

Elevated O3 levels can strongly impair the health and vitality of forest ecosystems. Free-air exposure systems reveal that forest tree and stand growth can be reduced strongly under chronic O3 stress. Detailed knowledge of the effect of O3 exposure on photosynthesis, carbon sequestration, allometry and growth during chronic stress is available. However, knowledge of growth response after O3 reduction is scarce. Here, we analyse the growth of mature Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in the free-air O3 fumigation experiment at Kranzberg Forest. We compare tree growth over a 9-year period (2008–2016) after exposure to O3 (2000–2007). During 2 × O3 exposure, the annual basal area growth of Norway spruce and European beech decreased by 24 and 32%, respectively. After cessation of 2 × O3 exposure, the annual basal area growth of Norway spruce and European beech not only recovered but exceeded the growth of the trees in the control condition by 14 and 24%, respectively. The growth resilience and resistance of trees previously exposed to 2 × O3 towards drought stress and late frost was hardly lower than that of the trees in the control condition. The capacity for growth recovery even after long-term chronic O3 stress emphasizes the strong beneficial effect of air pollution control on the health of forest ecosystems and on the global land carbon sink.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Bavarian State Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture, and Forestry for permanent support of the project W 07 “Long-term experimental plots for forest growth and yield research” (# 7831-22209-2013), to Bayerische Staatsforsten (BaySF) for supporting the establishment of the plots, and to the German Science Foundation and the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection for providing the funds for the projects PR 292/12-1 “Tree and stand-level growth reactions on drought in mixed versus pure forests of Norway spruce and European beech”. Thanks are also due to Manuela Baumgarten for providing the time series of the ambient O3 concentration for Fig. 1, to Laura Zeller for assisting in the data evaluation, to Ulrich Kern for the graphical artwork, to Charlotte Pretzsch for English language revision and to the anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript through constructive criticism.

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  1. Chair for Forest Growth and Yield Science, Center of Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354, Freising, Germany

    Hans Pretzsch & Gerhard Schütze

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  1. Hans Pretzsch
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  2. Gerhard Schütze
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HP initiated the study and wrote the manuscript. GS carried out the field work and the data analyses.

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Correspondence to Hans Pretzsch.

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Communicated by Rüdiger Grote.

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Pretzsch, H., Schütze, G. Growth recovery of mature Norway spruce and European beech from chronic O3 stress. Eur J Forest Res 137, 251–263 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-018-1106-3

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