Increased water deficit decreases Douglas fir growth throughout western US forests
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Abstract
Changes in tree growth rates can affect tree mortality and forest feedbacks to the global carbon cycle. As air temperature increases, evaporative demand also increases, increasing effective drought in forest ecosystems. Using a spatially comprehensive network of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) chronologies from 122 locations that experience distinctly different climate in the western United States, we show that increased temperature decreases growth via vapor pressure deficit (VPD) across all latitudes. Under an ensemble of global circulation models, we project an increase in both the mean VPD associated with the lowest growth extremes and the probability of exceeding these VPD values. As temperature continues to increase in future decades, we can expect deficit-related stress to increase and consequently Douglas-fir growth to decrease throughout its US range.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Increased water deficit decreases Douglas fir growth throughout western US forests |
| Series title | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.1602384113 |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue | 34 |
| Year Published | 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | National Academy of Sciences of the United States |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Climate Science Center |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 9557 |
| Last page | 9562 |
| Country | United States |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |