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Pubblicazioni Scientifiche

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Pubblicazioni per anno
Widespread Crown Defoliation After a Drought and Heat Wave in the Forests of Tuscany (Central Italy) and Their Recovery—A Case Study From Summer 2017
Mostra abstract
An anomalous event of drought and heat occurred in central Italy during the summer of 2017. Based on the SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) and data from the European Space Agency, this event started in November 2016 and was characterized by a strong reduction of precipitation and soil moisture, especially in lowland areas with Mediterranean climate. The aim of this case report were to describe the impact of this event on representative forest communities in central Italy, to analyze the different responses of deciduous and evergreen tree and shrub species in contrasting environmental conditions and to assess their subsequent capacity of recovery or, if not, mortality. Trees suffered severe impacts consisting of widespread crown defoliation, leaf desiccation, crown dieback and whole tree mortality. Deciduous tree species (Fagus sylvatica, Quercus pubescens, Quercus cerris) shed their leaves during the summer, but apical buds and twigs were preserved. This allowed these species to produce new shoots in the following year (2018) and to restore the canopy closure of the stands. Mediterranean evergreen broadleaves, such as Quercus ilex and Phillyrea latifolia suffered of total or partial crown desiccation with wilting leaves and branch dieback. These species partially resprouted in 2018 from axillary and latent buds. The case presented here is discussed within the wider context of the impacts of climate change on Mediterranean forests. Future research directions should include an effective forest monitoring system that combines terrestrial and remote sensing surveys, ad hoc field climate change experiments and silvicultural trials from the perspective of proactive management for the adaptation of forests to future climatic conditions. © Copyright © 2019 Pollastrini, Puletti, Selvi, Iacopetti and Bussotti.
Continental Contrasts in Climate Extremes That Control Tree Fecundity
Clark , James S. , Andrus , Robert A. , Arianoutsou , Margarita , Ascoli , Davide , Bergeron , Yves , Bogdziewicz , Michał , Boivin , Thomas , Bonal , Raúl , Caignard , Thomas , Cailleret , Maxime , Calama , Rafael A. , Camarero , Jesús Julio , Chianucci , Francesco , Cienciala , Emil , Courbaud , Benoít , Delzon , Sylvain , Dietze , Michael C. , Espelta , Josep Maria , Fady , Bruno , Fyllas , Nikolaos M. , Gilbert , Gregory S. , Gratzer , Georg , Guignabert , Arthur , Hacket-Pain , Andrew J. , Hampe , Arndt , Hanley , Mick E. , Hille Ris Lambers , Janneke , Holik , Jan , Hoshizaki , K. , Hu , Miao , Ibáñez , Inés , Işık , Fatih , Jenkins , Lauren , Johnstone , Jill F. , Journé , Valentin , Kadioglu , Alper Kaan , Kızılaslan , İrem Sena , Knops , Johannes Michael Hubertus , Kobe , Richard K. , Köse , Nesibe , Külah , Eylül U. , Kunstler , Georges , LaMontagne , Jalene M. , Ledwoń , Mateusz , Lehtonen , Aleksi , Loewe-Muñoz , Verónica F. , Lutz , James A. , Mårell , Anders , Meyer , Kira , Moran , Emily V. , Motta , Renzo , Myers , Jonathan A. , Nagel , Thomas A. , Pérez-Ramos , Ignacio M. , Piechnik , Łukasz , Podgórski , Tomasz , Poulton-Kamakura , Renata , Qiu , Tong , Redmond , Miranda D. , Reid , Chantal D. , Rodman , Kyle C. , Rodríguez-Sánchez , Francisco , Šamonil , Pavel , Šebeň , Vladimír , Seget , Barbara , Sharma , Shubhi , Socha , Jarosław Ł. , Steele , Michael A. , Straub , Jacob N. , Sutton , Samantha , Thomas , Peter A. , Vacchiano , Giorgio , Venner , Marie Claude , Venner , Samuel , Zavala , Miguel A. , Zheng , Shiqi , Żywiec , Magdalena
Mostra abstract
In 2023, more than half of olive harvests (Olea europaea) across Spain, Greece, and Türkiye were lost to drought. The same year late freeze destroyed 90% of the peach crop (Prunus persica) on the Georgia Piedmont and the apple crop (Malus domestica) in central New York, Vermont, and southern Quebec. Climate extremes now rank with the costliest threats to agriculture, but their role in forest recovery from diebacks that are happening globally is unknown for lack of tree fecundity estimates in forests. Tolerance of climate extremes could depend on past exposure but constrained by phylogenetic conservatism. We report a continental scale analysis of climate extremes and forest fecundity across North America and Europe showing that responses to late freeze and drought are happening now. Species differences are not explained by the traits typically included in ecological studies and they are weakly associated with phylogeny. Late freeze, that is, freezing temperatures that follow the onset of flower development in spring, is shown to be “normal” in North America, but not Europe, potentially explaining failed seed production due to delayed onset and the resultant shorter growing period by North American transplants dating back at least to the 18th century. Drought has thus far had the greatest impacts in dry forested regions, but here too, species differences are not explained by traditional trait values. If responses have been buffered from drought and late freeze by past exposure, acclimation and local adaptation prove inadequate as extremes intensify. © 2026 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.