Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Climate change is expected to cause major changes in forest ecosystems during the 21st century and beyond. To assess forest impacts from climate change, the existing empirical information must be structured, harmonised and assimilated into a form suitable to develop and test state-of-the-art forest and ecosystem models. The combination of empirical data collected at large spatial and long temporal scales with suitable modelling approaches is key to understand forest dynamics under climate change. To facilitate data and model integration, we identified major climate change impacts observed on European forest functioning and summarised the data available for monitoring and predicting such impacts. Our analysis of c. 120 forest-related databases (including information from remote sensing, vegetation inventories, dendroecology, palaeoecology, eddy-flux sites, common garden experiments and genetic techniques) and 50 databases of environmental drivers highlights a substantial degree of data availability and accessibility. However, some critical variables relevant to predicting European forest responses to climate change are only available at relatively short time frames (up to 10-20 years), including intra-specific trait variability, defoliation patterns, tree mortality and recruitment. Moreover, we identified data gaps or lack of data integration particularly in variables related to local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity, dispersal capabilities and physiological responses. Overall, we conclude that forest data availability across Europe is improving, but further efforts are needed to integrate, harmonise and interpret this data (i.e. making data useable for non-experts). Continuation of existing monitoring and networks schemes together with the establishments of new networks to address data gaps is crucial to rigorously predict climate change impacts on European forests.
Source: Ecological Modelling
Authors: Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Giorgio Vacchiano, Emily R. Lines, Christopher P.O. Reyer, Sophia Ratcliffe, Xavier Morin, Florian Hartig, Annikki Mäkelä, Rasoul Yousefpour, Jimena E. Chaves, Alicia Palacios-Orueta, Marta Benito-Garzón, Cesar Morales-Molino, J. Julio Camarero, Alistair S. Jump, Jens Kattge, Aleksi Lehtonen, Andreas Ibrom, Harry J.F. Owen, Miguel A. Zavala
Institutions: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Universidad de Alcalá, University of Milan, Queen Mary University of London, Leibniz Association, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, National Biodiversity Network Trust, Leipzig University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive, University of Regensburg, University of Helsinki, University of Freiburg, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Université de Bordeaux, UMR BIOdiversity, GEnes & Communities, University of Bern, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, University of Stirling, Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Technical University of Denmark
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,019
Funders: Comunidad de Madrid, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Ministarstvo znanosti i obrazovanja, European Commission, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seventh Framework Programme, Natural Environment Research Council, Seventh Framework Programme
Awards: G1068196549, G1876112825, The International Post doc Fellowship Programme in Plant Sciences, G2117137805, G246587275, G2611360616, G3207356259, G3216000229, G3695576896, G393177772, G3970028842, G4142807181, Klimafolgenabschätzung nach Paris, G471331628, G5240463119, G5702163051, ForeSight: Predicting and monitoring drought-linked forest growth decline across Europe, Initiative d’excellence de l’Université de Bordeaux, G6233960423, G63770550, G7185525546, G7240651115, G7323137322, ERA4CS-Verbundprojekt: ISIpedia - Die offene Klimafolgen-Enzyklopädie - Teilprojekt 1: Gesamt-Koordination, Cross-Sektor Science-Team, Technische Infrastruktur und Datenmanagement, G769460631, G783622188, G783718822, G8181105605, G8909519053, G964467902
OpenAlex ID: W2989663407