Effect of Climate Change on the Growth of Endangered Scree Forests in Krkonoše National Park (Czech Republic)

• Main Authors: Vojtěch Hájek, Stanislav Vacek, Zdeněk Vacek, Jan Cukor, Václav Šimůnek, Michaela Šimková, Anna Prokůpková, Ivo Králíček, Daniel Bulušek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Forests
• Subjects: mixed forests; dendrochronology; forest structure; biodiversity; rocky soils
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/8/1127

Scree forests with large numbers of protected plants and wildlife are seriously threatened by climate change due to more frequent drought episodes, which cause challenges for very stony, shallow soils. The effect of environmental factors on the radial growth of five tree species—European beech (<i>Fagus sylvatica</i> L.), Norway spruce (<i>Picea abies</i> (L.) Karst.), sycamore maple (<i>Acer pseudoplatanus</i> L.), European ash (<i>Fraxinus excelsior</i> L.), and mountain elm (<i>Ulmus glabra</i> Huds.)—was studied in the mixed stands (105–157 years) in the western Krkonoše Mountains (Czech Republic) concerning climate change. These are communities of maple to fir beechwoods (association <i>Aceri-Fagetum sylvaticae</i> and <i>Luzulo-Abietetum albae</i>) on ranker soils at the altitude 590–700 m a.s.l. Production, structure, and biodiversity were evaluated in seven permanent research plots and the relationships of the radial growth (150 cores) to climatic parameters (precipitation, temperature, and extreme conditions) and air pollution (SO₂, NO_X, ozone exposure). The stand volume reached 557–814 m³ ha⁻¹ with high production potential of spruce and ash. The radial growth of beech and spruce growing in relatively favorable habitat conditions (deeper soil profile and less skeletal soils) has increased by 16.6%–46.1% in the last 20 years. By contrast, for sycamore and ash growing in more extreme soil conditions, the radial growth decreased by 12.5%–14.6%. However, growth variability increased (12.7%–29.5%) for all tree species, as did the occurrence of negative pointer years (extremely low radial growth) in the last two decades. The most sensitive tree species to climate and air pollution were spruce and beech compared to the resilience of sycamore and ash. Spectral analysis recorded the largest cyclical fluctuations (especially the 12-year solar cycle) in spruce, while ash did not show any significant cycle processes. The limiting factors of growth were droughts with high temperatures in the vegetation period for spruce and late frosts for beech. According to the degree of extreme habitat conditions, individual tree species thus respond appropriately to advancing climate change, especially to an increase in the mean temperature (by 2.1 °C), unevenness in precipitation, and occurrence of extreme climate events in the last 60 years.