Increasing temperatures over an 18-year period shortens growing season length in a beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)-dominated forest
(2019) Annals of Forest Science — Vol. 76, n° 3 (2019), p. art. 75 (2019)
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Hurdebise, Quentin 
- Abstract
- & Keymessage Usinglong-termmeasurementsinamaturebeech(FagussylvaticaL.)-dominatedforestlocatedineastBelgium, thispapershowedthatspringandautumntemperatureincreasesduringthelasttwodecadesledtoanearlierendandashortening of the growing season. These phenological shifts impact negatively but not significantly the forest annual net ecosystem productivity. & Context Themechanismscontrollingtemperateforestphenologyarenotfullyunderstoodnoraretheimpactsofclimatechange and the consequences for forest productivity. & Aims The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how temperate forest phenology and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) interplay and respond to temperature and its evolution. & Methods Indicators of leaf phenology and productivity dynamics at the start and the end of the growing season, as well as combinations of these indicators (length of the growing season), were derived from a long-term (1997–2014) dataset of eddy covariance and light transmission measurements taken over a mature beech-dominated temperate forest. & Results The start and the end of the growing season were correlated to spring (and autumn, for the end) temperatures. Despite no trends in annual average temperatures being detected during the observation period, April and November temperatures significantlyincreased.Asaresult,anearlierbutslowerstart andanearlierend,inducingashorter lengthofthegrowingseason, were observed over the studied period. The first shift positively impacts the mixed forest NEP but is mainly related to the presence of conifers in the subplot. The earlier end of the growing season, more related to beech phenology, negatively impacts the forest NEP. Overall, these two effects partially compensate each other, leading to a non-significant impact on NEP. & Conclusion Increasing temperatures over the 18-year studied period shortened the growing season length, without affecting significantlythemixedforestNEP.However,asbeechesareonlyaffectedbytheearlierendofthegrowingseason,thissuggestsa phenologically driven beech productivity reduction in the forest.
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Citations
Hurdebise, Q., Aubinet, M., Heinesch, B., & Vincke, C. (2019). Increasing temperatures over an 18-year period shortens growing season length in a beech (Fagus sylvatica L.)-dominated forest. Annals of Forest Science, 76(3 (2019)), art. 75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-019-0861-8 (Original work published 2019)