Forest Ecosystems最新文献

{"title":"Extraction of eucalyptus age and estimation of its aboveground biomass in China with the integration of empirical model and machine learning algorithm","authors":"Chunxian Tang, Guiying Li, Dengsheng Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2026.100440","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fecs.2026.100440","url":null,"abstract":"Eucalyptus plantations are extensively distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and play important roles in timber production, economic development, and regional carbon cycles. Due to its fast growth and short rotation periods, mapping of high spatial resolution eucalyptus age and its aboveground biomass (AGB) distribution becomes an urgent task, but such products are unavailable due to the difficulty in distinguishing eucalyptus from other tree species and lack of suitable methods to accurately estimate eucalyptus age and AGB. This study aims to develop a new approach to extract eucalyptus age and a new procedure to estimate AGB through integration of an empirical model and machine learning algorithm in subtropical and tropical regions of China. The eucalyptus distribution was first developed using Sentinel-2 imagery and its forest age in unit of months was then generated with a continuous threshold-based decision strategy based on monthly median composites of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the difference between NDVI and the normalized burn ratio (NBR) (DIF) from Landsat and Sentinel-2 time series data. The Chapman-Richards function was used to build a growth model based on eucalyptus age, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) approach was used to identify key environmental factors for use in the AGB modeling procedure. The results showed that a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.54 years was obtained, much lower than existing age products. About 77% of eucalyptus plantations were four years or younger. The predicted eucalyptus AGB in China was 217.41 million tons in 2023, with RMSE of 21.18 t·ha<ce:sup loc=\"post\">−1</ce:sup> and relative RMSE (RMSEr) of 22.41%. This study provided the first products of eucalyptus distribution with 10 m spatial resolution, the estimated age and AGB distributions with 30 m resolution in China in 2023. The proposed framework provides a new insight for age extraction and AGB estimation for other tree species. The results from this research provide a fundamental data source for eucalyptus forest resource management, carbon assessment, and policy-making.","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147464861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Causes of co-existence of cool-temperate Fagus and warm-loving evergreen Quercus forests in central Italy during the Holocene thermal maximum","authors":"Giorgia Beffa ,&nbsp;Erika Gobet ,&nbsp;Sevil Coşgun ,&nbsp;Riccardo Dotta ,&nbsp;Luc Hächler ,&nbsp;Marina Alexandra Morlock ,&nbsp;Laura Sadori ,&nbsp;Patrick Schläfli ,&nbsp;Christoph Schwörer ,&nbsp;Lieveke van Vugt ,&nbsp;Hendrik Vogel ,&nbsp;Paul David Zander ,&nbsp;Martin Grosjean ,&nbsp;Willy Tinner","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100345","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100345","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mediterranean forest communities are particularly diverse but at risk due to their sensitivity to global warming. Understanding the long-term vulnerability of Mediterranean vegetation to climate change is crucial for conservation and management purposes. Studies on past changes of forest communities in response to climate change at ecologically meaningful resolutions (i.e., decadal time scales) are therefore essential, but still very rare. The Holocene thermal maximum (HTM; ca. 10,000–5,000 ​cal ​years before the present (BP)) may be used to study species and community responses to warmer conditions than during recent decades. We performed high-resolution multiproxy palaeoecological analyses on sediments from crater Lake Mezzano in central Italy to reconstruct vegetation, diversity, and fire dynamics between 8,450 and 7,050 ​cal ​years BP. Ordination, cross-correlation, and species-response analyses were used to investigate the response of Mediterranean forest communities to HTM climate warming, human impact, and fire. Vegetational changes prior to 7,450 ​cal ​years BP were driven by climate. <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> spread into mixed deciduous oak forests during the Early Holocene in response to declining seasonality (cooler summers and warmer winters). Subsequently, <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> declined and evergreen <em>Quercus ilex</em> expanded after 8,200 ​cal ​years BP when the climate became warmer. Although reduced, <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> remained important together with deciduous oaks. The co-existence of <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> and evergreen <em>Quercus</em> forests is extremely rare today. Human impact significantly affected forest vegetation after 7,450 ​cal ​years BP, when Neolithic agricultural activities became important, ultimately extirpating these special communities but fostering the overall biodiversity. However, their past occurrence in several central Italian calderas during the HTM suggests that these environments provided habitats that permitted the thriving of cool-temperate forests of <em>Fagus sylvatica</em> under mesomediterranean conditions, with summers ca. 1–2 ​°C warmer than today. Cool and moist calderas may thus become increasingly important for maintaining Mediterranean mesophilous forest species under global warming conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100345"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144212104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A two-scale framework for mapping site productivity of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. plantations in northern Spain in the context of climate change and using spatially explicit environmental variables as predictors","authors":"Iyán Teijido-Murias ,&nbsp;Carlos A. López-Sánchez ,&nbsp;Pilar García-Manteca ,&nbsp;Juan Daniel García-Villabrille ,&nbsp;Alberto Rojo-Alboreca ,&nbsp;Federico Ruiz ,&nbsp;Marcos Barrio-Anta","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100344","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100344","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research aimed to obtain accurate estimates of the productivity of eucalyptus plantations under different climate change scenarios without the need for additional fieldwork. Thus, we used tree growth data from 1,102 research plots, existing spatially continuous environmental data, and the random forest (RF) algorithm to construct raster-based models. We constructed models to predict site index (SI) at landscape scale (250 ​m·pixel⁻¹), which is useful for planning purposes and for analyzing the effect of climate change on productivity, and at forest plot scale (resolutions of 10, 25, 50, and 100 ​m·pixel⁻¹), which is essential for predicting plantation yields. All models explained ∼50% of site index variability, as is usual in this type of study. We found that the different spatial resolutions of predictor variables did not affect the amount of variability explained. This finding may be due to two opposing effects on the explained variability at finer scales: a positive effect, as finer scales enable capture of microscale landform variability through a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), and a negative effect due to the introduction of “noise” when downscaling the climatic and lithological information from coarser scales. Elevation and the climatic variables (mainly temperature) were the most important predictor variables: For every 100 ​m-increase in elevation, the productivity decreased by on average 0.3–0.9 ​m of site index (1–1.3 ​m³·ha⁻¹·year⁻¹ of maximum mean annual increment in volume) and for each degree-Celsius-increase in annual mean temperature, productivity increased by about 2.2 ​m in site index (3 ​m³·ha⁻¹·year⁻¹ of maximum mean annual increment in volume). Due to the forecasted increase in temperatures under climate change, productivity is expected to increase significantly in <em>Eucalyptus globulus</em> plantations in northern Spain in the coming decades, by between 1.68% and 3.38% of the current average site index under the most pessimistic climate change scenario and between 1.79% and 2.48% of the current average site index for the moderate scenario. We conclude that currently available spatially continuous environmental data can be used to develop accurate raster data models for predicting site productivity for <em>E</em>. <em>globulus</em> without the need for fieldwork. The spatially explicit maps produced in the study provide support to forest planners, forest managers, private landowners and politicians, enabling well-founded decisions to be made regarding selection of the best sites for afforestation and providing accurate yield predictions for the plantations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100344"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The origin and beginnings of modern Continuous Cover Forestry in Europe","authors":"Arne Pommerening ,&nbsp;Ulrika Widman ,&nbsp;Janusz Szmyt","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100348","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100348","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is a type of forest management that is based on ecological, environmental, and biological principles. Specific definitions of CCF greatly vary and the concept usually includes a number of tenets or criteria. The most important tenet of CCF is the requirement to abandon the practice of large-scale clearfelling in favour of selective thinning/harvesting and natural regeneration methods.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>CCF is commonly believed to have its main origin in an academic debate that was conducted through publications in a number of European and North American countries towards the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Our findings are exclusively based on a literature review of the history of CCF and they revealed that the European origins of CCF go much further back to a form of farm forestry that started to be practised in Central Europe in the 17th century. Eventually, this type of farm forestry led to the formation of the single-tree selection system as we know it today. Another influential tradition line contributing to modern CCF is individual-based forest management, which breaks forest stands down into small neighbourhood-based units. The centres of these units are dominant frame trees which form the framework of a forest stand. Consequently, management is only carried out in the local neighbourhood of frame trees. Individual-based forest management also modified inflexible area-control approaches of plantation forest management in favour of the flexible size-control method.</div></div><div><h3>Results and conclusions</h3><div>We found evidence that the three aforementioned tradition lines are equally important and much interacted in shaping modern CCF. Since CCF is an international accomplishment, it is helpful to thoroughly study the drivers and causes of such concepts. Understanding the gradual evolution can give valuable clues for the introduction and adaptation of CCF in countries where the concept is new.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100348"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144147623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Both composition and configuration of forests and urban development shape bat activity and diversity in North American temperate forests","authors":"Sihao Chen ,&nbsp;Han Li","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Temperate forest ecosystems are important habitats for many bat species. However, these habitats are increasingly affected by anthropogenic disturbances, particularly urban development, leading to landscapes with varying land cover composition and configuration. Limited research has examined how forest and urban landscape composition and configuration influence bat activity and diversity. Using a multi-year statewide bat acoustic monitoring dataset from North Carolina, USA, we investigated the effects of forest and urban composition and configuration at multiple spatial scales on bat activity and diversity. First, we constructed single-variable landscape index regression models and found that both the composition and configuration of forests and urban developments influenced bat activity and diversity in a species-specific manner. Next, we applied a hierarchical partitioning approach to compare the relative contributions of composition and configuration indices in explaining variance in bat activity. For big brown bats and hoary bats, evergreen forest and urban development composition indices contributed the most to explaining activity variance. In contrast, for eastern red bats, evening bats, and tricolored bats, deciduous forest fragmentation indices describing landscape configuration were the most influential factors. Silver-haired bat activity variance was primarily explained by an evergreen forest fragmentation index. Lastly, urban development configuration indices were the strongest predictors of Mexican free-tailed bat activity and total bat activity. These results suggest that forest and urban landscape configuration should be considered in conservation and management planning for North American temperate forest ecosystems, particularly in regions that have not experienced drastic deforestation in recent decades.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100357"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144365826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of broadleaf tree introduction on rhizosphere fungal communities and root phosphorus-cycling genes in conifers of near-natural transformed plantations","authors":"Zhanpeng Ye ,&nbsp;Chen Ning ,&nbsp;Ting Liu ,&nbsp;Meirong Yan ,&nbsp;Wenyan Cai ,&nbsp;Jiyang Xiao ,&nbsp;Wende Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Phosphorus (P) is crucial for plant growth. However, its low availability in subtropical soils necessitates that trees rely on microorganisms for effective P acquisition. The introduction of broadleaf trees has been shown to facilitate P acquisition in coniferous plantations by altering the rhizosphere fungal communities. Despite this, functional shifts in these communities and the expression of root phosphorus cycling genes (PCGs) remain inadequately understood. This study investigated coniferous <em>Pinus massoniana</em> and <em>Cunninghamia lanceolata</em> plantations interplanted with broadleaf species associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. Rhizosphere soil and fine roots from the conifers were analyzed to examine soil bioavailable P fractions, root mycorrhizal colonization, rhizosphere fungal community composition, enzyme function predictions, and root PCGs expression. We found that citric-P in rhizospheric soil of <em>P. massoniana</em> increased with the introduction of <em>Quercus gilva</em> (an ECM-associated tree species), whereas Bray-P content in the rhizosphere of <em>C. lanceolata</em> decreased upon the introduction of either <em>Q. gilva</em> or <em>Phoebe zhennan</em> (an ECM-associated tree species). Moreover, the relative abundance of saprophytic fungi (e.g., <em>Mortierella</em>) increased following the introduction of broadleaf trees. Specifically, the introduction of <em>Q. gilva</em> was associated with elevated levels of organic P mineralization genes (e.g., <em>phoA</em>) and enzymes (e.g., phytases and acid phosphatase (ACP)) in conifers. In contrast, the introduction of <em>P. zhennan</em> increased the expression of inorganic P solubilization genes (such as <em>qppC</em> in <em>P. massoniana</em> roots and <em>ppa</em> in <em>C. lanceolata</em> roots). Key contributors to P absorption in conifer roots included <em>Cenococcum</em>, <em>Rhizopogon</em>, and <em>Glomus</em>. This study advances our understanding of P cycling in coniferous rhizospheres and the dynamics of coexisting mycorrhizal tree systems, yielding valuable insights into sustainable management of plantation ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100378"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biotic and abiotic factors jointly drive the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in forests worldwide","authors":"Zixuan Wang ,&nbsp;Haihua Shen ,&nbsp;Aijun Xing ,&nbsp;Jingyun Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100340","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100340","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sensitivity of soil respiration (<em>R</em>_s) to temperature (<em>Q</em>₁₀) is a key parameter for benchmarking the carbon (C) cycle and climate feedbacks in the context of global warming. However, previous studies on the factors that drive forest soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ have focused mostly on abiotic factors, such as climate and soil, while the role of biotic factors has been less examined. Here, we compiled a global dataset of 766 soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ values and 17 matched biotic and abiotic factors to explore the factors that drive the variability of global forest soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ using a random forest (RF) model. Our findings showed that soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ increased with microbial biomass carbon (MBC), which was the most important predictor. Additionally, soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ was positively correlated with leaf phosphorus content (LPC) but was negatively correlated with leaf N:P, indicating that plant ecological stoichiometry might be a factor that explained soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ variability. All abiotic factors, including climate, soil properties, and elevation, had great predictive power and were significantly related to soil <em>Q</em>₁₀. By comparing the soil <em>Q</em>₁₀ in multispecies forests and monocultures, we found that <em>Q</em>₁₀ in the mixed needle-leaved and broad-leaved forests (NF &amp; BF) was lower than in monocultures. Our study revealed that, in addition to abiotic factors, biotic factors were also strong predictors of forest soil <em>Q</em>₁₀, which can deepen our understanding of soil respiration in response to global warming and provide insights for improving carbon cycle models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100340"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143942783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insights for effective applied research: Four case studies with advice for young researchers","authors":"Jerome K. Vanclay","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The selected case studies illustrate a series of key factors that make a publication impactful in the sense of providing deep insight or durable utility. Some of these factors include: establishing key information to help clients perform better, enabling multiple ways to fact-check forecasts, providing good documentation that is easy to understand, ensuring all stakeholders are involved, focusing on potential solutions rather than the apparent problem, being open to alternative interpretations and prepared to change research direction as needed, finding practical analogues when the ideal task is too challenging, ensuring redundancy in case something goes wrong, and carefully reviewing all aspects of one's work to find possible improvements.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100362"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144516022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of forest management and habitat continuity on the genetic structure and ecological corridors of target epiphytic moss species: A landscape genetic study of Dicranum viride","authors":"Adrian Wysocki ,&nbsp;Sylwia Wierzcholska ,&nbsp;Jarosław Proćków ,&nbsp;Kamil Konowalik","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Habitat fragmentation in forest ecosystems poses a major threat to biodiversity, disrupting ecological corridors, limiting gene flow, and threatening persistence, especially for forest-dependent species. Among these species, woodland specialist bryophytes represent one of the most endangered groups, with <em>Dicranum viride</em>, an epiphytic moss of high conservation value protected under international regulations, exemplifying this conservation concern. Despite its legal status, the factors that influence its genetic connectivity and dispersal potential remain poorly understood. In this study, we integrated molecular analyses based on genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers with spatial modelling, including least-cost path (LCP) analyses and circuit-based connectivity models, to assess the impact of forest continuity and management on the genetic structure and ecological corridors of <em>D. viride</em> across temperate forest ecosystems of Central Europe. Our results revealed a complex dispersal dynamic that combines short-distance clonal propagation with rare long-distance dispersal events. Genetic clustering analyses indicated that long-term forest continuity supports unique genetic lineages. LCP analyses and circuit-based connectivity models demonstrated that naturally regenerating forests (reflecting management regime) and forests with long-term continuity (reflecting habitat age and historical stability) provide dispersal corridors with the highest habitat permeability. Our findings highlight the critical role of long-term habitat stability in maintaining the genetic diversity and population dynamics of <em>D. viride</em>. Conservation strategies should prioritise the protection of mature forests, the maintenance of ecological corridors, and the integration of retention forestry practices to support epiphytic bryophytes. Our study improves the understanding of how landscape connectivity influences the persistence of rare epiphytic bryophytes, offering practical insights for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable forest management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100373"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Allometric equations quantify accelerated growth and carbon fixation in trees of northeastern north America","authors":"John Schwarzmann ,&nbsp;Donald M. Waller","doi":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100347","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fecs.2025.100347","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A tree's basal area (BA) and wood volume scale exponentially with tree diameter in species-specific patterns. Recent observed increases in tree growth suggest these allometric relationships are shifting in response to climate change, rising CO₂ levels, and/or changes in forest management. We analyzed 9,214 cores from nine conifer and 11 broadleaf species grown in managed mixed-species stands in the upper Midwest to quantify how well diameter (diameter at breast height (DBH)) serves to predict BA growth and above-ground wood and carbon (C). These samples include many large trees. We fit mixed models to predict BA growth and above-ground biomass/C from diameter, tree height, and the BA of nearby trees while controlling for site effects. Models account for 55%–83% of the variance in log(recent growth), improving predictions over earlier models. Growth-diameter scaling exponents covary with certain leaf and stem (but not wood) functional traits, reflecting growth strategies. LogBA increment scales linearly with log(diameter) as trees grow bigger in 16/20 species and growth actually accelerates in <em>Quercus rubra</em> L. Three other species plateau in growth. Growth only decelerates in red pine, <em>Pinus resinosa</em> Ait. Growth in whole-tree, above-ground biomass, and C accelerate even more strongly with diameter (mean exponent: 2.08 vs. 1.30 for BA growth). Sustained BA growth and accelerating wood/C growth contradict the common assumption that tree growth declines in bigger trees. Yield tables and silvicultural guidelines should be updated to reflect these current relationships. Such revisions will favor delaying harvests in many managed stands to increase wood production and enhance ecosystem values including C fixation and storage. Further research may resolve the relative roles of thinning, climatic conditions, nitrogen inputs, and rising CO₂ levels on changing patterns of tree growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54270,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecosystems","volume":"14 ","pages":"Article 100347"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144253914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}