Climate warming-induced replacement of mesic beech by thermophilic oak forests will reduce the carbon storage potential in aboveground biomass and soil

• Published in: Annals of forest science. Vol. 78; no. 4
• Main Authors: Kasper, Jan, Weigel, Robert, Walentowski, Helge, Gröning, Anja, Petritan, Any Mary, Leuschner, Christoph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 01-12-2021; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Nature (since 2011)/EDP Science (until 2010)
• Subjects: Agricultural sciences; Beech; Bioclimatology; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbon; Carbon sequestration; Climate; Climate change; Drought; Ecological succession; Ecology, environment; Ecosystems; Environment; Fagus sylvatica; Forest biomass; Forestry; Forestry Management; Forests; Global warming; Heat; Life Sciences; Oak; Plant species; Pools; Research Paper; Silviculture; Silviculture, forestry; Soils; Species composition; Temperature effects; Tree Biology; Wood Science & Technology; Woodlands; Beech-oak ecotone; Climate turning point; Above ground carbon; Soil nutrient pools; Soil carbon; Quercus petraea; Fagus sylvatica
• ISSN: 1286-4560; 1297-966X
• DOI: 10.1007/s13595-021-01081-0

Key message
Climate-warming related replacement of beech by oak forests in the course of natural forest succession or silvicultural decisions may considerably reduce ecosystem carbon storage of central European woodlands.
Context
Climate warming may change the carbon (C) storage in forest biomass and soil through future shifts in tree species composition. With a projected warming by 2–3 K over the twenty-first century, silvicultural adaptation measures and natural succession might lead to the replacement of European beech forests by thermophilic oak forests in drought- and heat-affected regions of central and south-eastern Europe, but the consequences for ecosystem C storage of this species shift are not clear.
Aims
To quantify the change in C storage in biomass and soil with a shift from beech (
Fagus sylvatica
) to oak forest (
Quercus petraea, Q. frainetto, Q. cerris
), we measured the aboveground biomass (AGC) and soil C pools (SOC).
Methods
AGC pools and SOC stocks to − 100 cm depth were calculated from forest inventory and volume-related SOC content data for beech, mixed beech-oak and oak forests in three transects in the natural beech-oak ecotone of western Romania, where beech occurs at its heat- and drought-induced distribution limit.
Results
From the cooler, more humid beech forests to the warmer, more xeric oak forests, which are 1–2 K warmer, AGC and SOC pools decreased by about 22% (40 Mg C ha
−1
) and 20% (17 Mg C ha
−1
), respectively. The likely main drivers are indirect temperature effects acting through tree species and management in the case of AGC, but direct temperature effects for SOC.
Conclusion
If drought- and heat-affected beech forests in Central Europe are replaced by thermophilic oak forests in future, this will lead to carbon losses of ~ 50–60 Mg ha
−1
, thus reducing ecosystem carbon storage substantially.