Radiocarbon impact in a nearby tree of a light-water VVER type nuclear power plant, Paks, Hungary

Tree-ring series were collected for radiocarbon analyses from the vicinity of Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) and a background area (Dunaföldvár) for a 10-yr period (2000–2009). Samples of holocellulose were prepared from the wood and converted to graphite for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C measurement using the MICADAS at ETH Zürich. The 14C concentration data from these tree rings was compared to the background tree rings for each year. The global decreasing trend of atmospheric 14C activity concentration was observed in the annual tree rings both in the background area and in the area of the NPP. As an average of the past 10 yr, the excess 14C emitted by the pressurized-water reactor (PWR) NPP to the atmosphere shows only a slight systematic excess (~6‰) 14C in the annual rings. The highest 14C excess was 13‰ (in 2006); however, years with the same 14C level as the background were quite frequent in the tree-ring series.

Modeling tree water deficit from microclimate: an approach to quantifying drought stress

Tree water deficit estimated by measuring water-related changes in stem radius (DeltaW) was compared with tree water deficit estimated from the output of a simple, physiologically reasonable model (DeltaW(E)), with soil water potential (Psi(soil)) and atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) as inputs. Values of DeltaW were determined by monitoring stem radius changes with dendrometers and detrending the results for growth, We followed changes in DeltaW and DeltaW(E) in Pinus sylvestris L. and Quercus pubescens Willd. over 2 years at a dry site (2001-2002; Salgesch, Wallis) and in Picea abies (L.) Karst. for 1 year at a wet site (1998; Davos, Graubuenden) in the Swiss Alps. The seasonal courses of DeltaW in deciduous species and in conifers at the same site were similar and could be largely explained by variation in DeltaW(E). This finding strongly suggests that DeltaW, despite the known species-specific differences in stomatal response to microclimate, is mainly explained by a combination of atmospheric and soil conditions. Consequently, we concluded that trees are unable to maintain any particular DeltaW. Either Psi(soil) or VPD alone provided poorer estimates of AWthan a model incorporating both factors. As a first approximation of DeltaW(E), Psi(soil) can be weighted so that the negative mean Psi(soil) reaches 65 to 75% of the positive mean daytime VPD over a season (Q. pubescens: similar to65%, P abies: similar to70%, P sylvestris: similar to75%). The differences in DeltaW among species can be partially explained by a different weighting of Psi(soil) against VPD. The DeltaW of P. sylvestris was more dependent on Psi(soil) than that of Q. pubescens, but less than that of P. abies, and was less dependent on VPD than that of P. abies and Q. pubescens. The model worked well for P. abies at the wet site and for Q. pubescens and P. sylvestris at the dry site, and may be useful for estimating water deficit in other tree species.

The dating of dipterocarp tree rings: establishing a record of carbon cycling and climatic change in the tropics

In a first step to obtain a proxy record of past climatic events (including the El Ni (n) over tildeo-Southern Oscillation) in the normally aseasonal tropical environment of Sabah, a radial segment from a recently fallen dipterocarp (Shorea Superba) was radiocarbon dated and subjected to carbon isotope analysis. The high-precision radiocarbon results fell into the ambiguous modern plateau where several calibrated dates can exist for each sample. Dating was achieved by wiggle matching using a Bayesian approach to calibration. Using the defined growth characteristics of Shorea superba, probability density distributions were calculated and improbable dates rejected. It was found that the tree most likely started growing around AD 1660-1685. A total of 173 apparent growth increments were measured and, therefore, it could be determined that the tree formed one ring approximately every two years. Stable carbon isotope values were obtained from resin-extracted wholewood from each ring. Carbon cycling is evident in the `juvenile effect', resulting from the assimilation of respired carbon dioxide and lower light levels below the canopy, and in the `anthropogenic effect' caused by increased industrial activity in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This study demonstrates that palaeoenvironmental information can be obtained from trees growing in aseasonal environments, where climatic conditions prevent the formation of well-defined annual rings.

The role of tree size in the leafing phenology of a seasonally dry tropical forest in Belize, Central America

Leafing phenology of two dry-forest sites on soils of different depth (S = shallow, D = deep) at Shipstern Reserve, Belize, were compared at the start of the rainy season (April-June 2000). Trees greater than or equal to 2.5 cm dbh were recorded weekly for 8 wk in three 0.04-ha plots per site. Ten species were analysed individually for their phenological patterns, of which the three most common were Bursera simaruba, Metopium brownei and Jatropha gaumeri. Trees were divided into those in the canopy (> 10 cm dbh) and the subcanopy (less than or equal to 10 cm dbh). Site S had larger trees on average than site D. The proportion of trees flushing leaves at any one time was generally higher in site S than in site D, for both canopy and subcanopy trees. Leaf flush started 2 wk earlier in site S than site D for subcanopy trees, but only 0.5 wk earlier for the canopy trees. Leaf flush duration was 1.5 wk longer in site S than site D. Large trees in the subcanopy flushed leaves earlier than small ones at both sites but in the canopy just at site D. Large trees flushed leaves earlier than small ones in three species and small trees flushed leaves more rapidly in two species. Bursera and Jatropha followed the general trends but Metopium, with larger trees in site D than site S, showed the converse with onset of flushing I wk earlier in site D than site S. Differences in response of the canopy and subcanopy trees on each site can be accounted for by the predominance of spring-flushing or stem-succulent species in site S and a tendency for evergreen species to occur in site D. Early flushing of relatively larger trees in site D most likely requires access to deeper soil water reserves but small and large trees utilize stored tree water in site S.

Does low phosphorus supply limit seedling establishment and tree growth in groves of ectomycorrhizal trees in a central African rainforest?

In a forest grove at Korup dominated by the ectomycorrhizal species Microberlinia bisulcata, an experiment tested whether phosphorus (P) was a limiting nutrient. P-fertilization of seven subplots 1995-97 was compared with seven controls. It led to large increases in soil P concentrations. Trees were measured in 1995 and 2000. M. bisulcata and four other species were transplanted into the treatments, and a wild cohort of M. bisulcata seedlings was followed in both. Leaf litter fall from trees and seedlings were analysed for nutrients. Growth of trees was not affected by added P. Transplanted seedlings survived better in the controls than added-P subplots: they did not grow better with added-P.M. bisulcata wildlings survived slightly better in the added-P subplots in yr 1 but not later. Litter fall and transplanted survivors had much higher concentrations of P (not N) in the added-P than control subplots. Under current conditions, it appears that P does not limit growth of trees or hinder seedling establishment, especially of M. bisculcata, in these low-P grove soils.

Reproductive investment and seedling survival of the mast-fruiting rain forest tree, Microberlinia bisulcata A. chev

In the southern part of Korup National Park, Cameroon, the mast fruiting tree Microberlinia bisulcata occurs as a codominant in groves of ectomycorrhizal Caesalpiniaceae within a mosaic of otherwise species-rich lowland rain forest. To estimate the amount of carbon and nutrients invested in reproduction during a mast fruiting event, and the consequential seed and seedling survival, three related field studies were made in 1995. These provided a complete seed and seedling budget for the cohort. Seed production was estimated by counting woody pods on the forest floor. Trees produced on average 26,000 (range 0-92,000) seeds/tree, with a dry mass of 16.6 kg/tree. Seeds were contained in woody pods of mass 307 kg/tree. Dry mass production of pods and seeds was 1034 kg ha(-1), equivalent to over half (55%) of annual leaf litterfall for this species, and contained 13% of the nitrogen and 21% of the phosphorus in annual leaf litterfall. Seed and young-seedling mortality was investigated with open quadrats and cages to exclude vertebrate predators, at two distances from the parent tree. The proportion of seeds on the forest floor which disappeared in the first 6 wk after dispersal was 84%, of which 26.5% was due to likely vertebrate removal, 36% to rotting, and 21.5% to other causes. Vertebrate predation was greater close to the stem than 5 m beyond the crown (41 vs 12% of seeds disappearing) where the seed shadow was less dense. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between mast years at Korup and high dry-season radiation before flowering, and have shown lower leaf-litterfall phosphorus concentrations following mast fruiting. The emerging hypothesis is that mast fruiting is primarily imposed by energy limitation for fruit production, but phosphorus supply and vertebrate predation are regulating factors. Recording the survival of naturally-regenerating M. bisulcata seedlings (6-wk stage) showed that 21% of seedlings survived to 31 mo. A simple three-stage recruitment model was constructed. Mortality rates were initially high and peaked again in each of the next two dry seasons, with smaller peaks in the two intervening wet seasons, these latter coinciding with annual troughs in radiation. The very poor recruitment of M. bisulcata trees in Korup, demonstrated in previous investigations, appears not to be due to a limitation in seed or young-seedling supply, but rather by factors operating at the established-seedling stage.

Swiss tree rings reveal warm and wet summers during medieval times

We present a 1200 year drought reconstruction for the European Alpine region based on carbon isotope variations of tree rings from living larch trees and historic timber. The carbon isotope fractionation at the study site is sensitive to summer precipitation, temperature, and irradiance, resulting in a stable and high correlation with a drought index for interannual to decadal frequencies and possibly beyond (r(2)=0.58 for 1901-2004, July/August). When combining this information with maximum latewood density-derived summer temperature, a strongly reduced occurrence of summer droughts during the warm A.D. 900-1200 period is evident, coinciding with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), with a shift to colder and drier conditions for the subsequent centuries. The warm-wet MCA contrasts strongly with the climate of the drought-prone warm phase of the recent decades, indicating different forcing mechanism for these two warm periods and pointing to beneficial conditions for agriculture and human well-being during the MCA in this region.

The influence of sampling design on tree-ring-based quantification of forest growth

Tree-rings offer one of the few possibilities to empirically quantify and reconstruct forest growth dynamics over years to millennia. Contemporaneously with the growing scientific community employing tree-ring parameters, recent research has suggested that commonly applied sampling designs (i.e. how and which trees are selected for dendrochronological sampling) may introduce considerable biases in quantifications of forest responses to environmental change. To date, a systematic assessment of the consequences of sampling design on dendroecological and-climatological conclusions has not yet been performed. Here, we investigate potential biases by sampling a large population of trees and replicating diverse sampling designs. This is achieved by retroactively subsetting the population and specifically testing for biases emerging for climate reconstruction, growth response to climate variability, long-term growth trends, and quantification of forest productivity. We find that commonly applied sampling designs can impart systematic biases of varying magnitude to any type of tree-ring-based investigations, independent of the total number of samples considered. Quantifications of forest growth and productivity are particularly susceptible to biases, whereas growth responses to short-term climate variability are less affected by the choice of sampling design. The world's most frequently applied sampling design, focusing on dominant trees only, can bias absolute growth rates by up to 459% and trends in excess of 200%. Our findings challenge paradigms, where a subset of samples is typically considered to be representative for the entire population. The only two sampling strategies meeting the requirements for all types of investigations are the (i) sampling of all individuals within a fixed area; and (ii) fully randomized selection of trees. This result advertises the consistent implementation of a widely applicable sampling design to simultaneously reduce uncertainties in tree-ring-based quantifications of forest growth and increase the comparability of datasets beyond individual studies, investigators, laboratories, and geographical boundaries.

Multiple tree-ring proxies (earlywood width, latewood width and δ13C) from pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.), Hungary

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of climatic factors (i.e. monthly mean temperature and total precipitation) on radial growth (earlywood width, latewood width, and total ringwidth) and on latewood stable carbon isotope composition in a pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L) stand in northeastern Hungary. Earlywood widths showed the weakest common variance and lack of statistically significant relationship to monthly precipitation and temperature. Latewood width showed the strongest common chronological signal. Correlation analysis with the monthly climate series pointed out the strongest positive/negative correlation with June precipitation for latewood width/stable carbon isotope ratio. These parameters shared the strongest climatic response also for seasonal scale since the highest correlation coefficients, 0.49 and -0.62 for latewood width and stable carbon isotope ratio, respectively, were obtained for both with a 10-month precipitation total (from previous November to current August of the growing season). A combined parameter, derived as difference between latewood width and stable carbon isotope indices showed improved statistical relationship compared to the hydroclimatic calibration target both for local and regional spatial scales. Spatial correlation analysis indicated that the hydroclimatic signal encoded in these moisture sensitive tree-ring parameters from Bakta Forest is expected to be representative for the northeastern Carpathians and for the large part of the Great Hungarian Plain. In addition, the hydroclimatic signal of latewood width chronology was compared to three independent records. Results showed that neither the strength nor the rank of the similarity of the local hydroclimate signals were stable throughout the past two centuries. Future palaeo(hydro)climatological efforts targeting the Carpathian(-Balkan) region are recommended to track carefully the spatial domains for which a given, local, proxy-derived hydroclimate reconstruction might provide useful information.

Aluminum toxicity to tropical montane forest tree seedlings in southern Ecuador: response of biomass and plant morphology to elevated Al concentrations

In acid tropical forest soils (pH < 5.5) increased mobility of aluminum might limit aboveground productivity. Therefore, we evaluated Al phytotoxicity of three native tree species of tropical montane forests in southern Ecuador. An hydroponic dose-response experiment was conducted. Seedlings of Cedrela odorata L., Heliocarpus americanus L., and Tabebuia chrysantha (Jacq.) G. Nicholson were treated with 0, 300, 600, 1200, and 2400 mu M Al and an organic layer leachate. Dose-response curves were generated for root and shoot morphologic properties to determine effective concentrations (EC). Shoot biomass and healthy leaf area decreased by 44 % to 83 % at 2400 mu M Al, root biomass did not respond (C. odorata), declined by 51 % (H. americanus), or was stimulated at low Al concentrations of 300 mu M (T. chrysantha). EC10 (i.e. reduction by 10 %) values of Al for total biomass were 315 mu M (C. odorata), 219 mu M (H. americanus), and 368 mu M (T. chrysantha). Helicarpus americanus, a fast growing pioneer tree species, was most sensitive to Al toxicity. Negative effects were strongest if plants grew in organic layer leachate, indicating limitation of plant growth by nutrient scarcity rather than Al toxicity. Al toxicity occurred at Al concentrations far above those in native organic layer leachate.

Seedling resistance, tolerance and escape from herbivores: insights from co-dominant canopy tree species in a resource-poor African rain forest

* Although plants can reduce the impacts of herbivory in multiple ways, these defensive traits are often studied in isolation and an understanding of the resulting strategies is incomplete. * In the study reported here, empirical evidence was simultaneously evaluated for the three main sets of traits available to plants: (i) resistance through constitutive leaf traits, (ii) tolerance to defoliation and (iii) escape in space, for three caesalpiniaceous tree species Microberlinia bisulcata, Tetraberlinia bifoliolata and T. korupensis, which co-dominate groves within the lowland primary rain forest of Korup National Park (Cameroon). * Mesh cages were placed around individual wild seedlings to exclude insect herbivores at 41 paired canopy gap and understorey locations. After following seedling growth and survival for c. 2 years, caged and control treatments were removed, leaves harvested to determine nutrient and phenolic concentrations, leaf mass per area estimated, and seedling performance in gaps followed for a further c. 2 years to quantify tolerance to the leaf harvesting. * The more nutrient-rich leaves of the weakly shade-tolerant M. bisulcata were damaged much more in gaps than the two strongly shade-tolerant Tetraberlinia species, which had higher leaf mass per area and concentrations of total phenols. Conversely, the faster-growing M. bisulcata was better able to tolerate defoliation in terms of height growth (reflushing capacity), but not at maintaining overall leaf numbers, than the other two species. * Across gaps, insect-mediated Janzen–Connell effects were most pronounced for M. bisulcata, less so for T. korupensis, and not detectable for T. bifoliolata. The three species differed distinctly in their secondary metabolic profiles. * Taken together, the results suggested a conceptual framework linking the three sets of traits, one in which the three co-dominant species adopt different strategies towards herbivore pressure depending on their different responses to light availability. This study is one of the first in a natural forest ecosystem to examine resistance to, tolerance of, and escape from herbivory among a group of co-occurring tropical tree species.

Tree size and fecundity influence ballistic seed dispersal of two dominant mast-fruiting species in a tropical rain forest

Seed production, seed dispersal, and seedling recruitment are integral to forest dynamics, especially in masting species. Often these are studied separately, yet scarcely ever for species with ballistic dispersal even though this mode of dispersal is common in legume trees of tropical African rain forests. Here, we studied two dominant main-canopy tree species, Microberlinia bisulcata and Tetraberlinia bifoliolata (Caesalpinioideae), in 25 ha of primary rain forest at Korup, Cameroon, during two successive masting events (2007/2010). In the vicinity of c. 100 and 130 trees of each species, 476/580 traps caught dispersed seeds and beneath their crowns c. 57,000 pod valves per species were inspected to estimate tree-level fecundity. Seed production of trees increased non-linearly and asymptotically with increasing stem diameters. It was unequal within the two species’ populations, and differed strongly between years to foster both spatial and temporal patchiness in seed rain. The M. bisulcata trees could begin seeding at 42–44 cm diameter: at a much larger size than could T. bifoliolata (25 cm). Nevertheless, per capita life-time reproductive capacity was c. five times greater in M. bisulcata than T. bifoliolata owing to former’s larger adult stature, lower mortality rate (despite a shorter life-time) and smaller seed mass. The two species displayed strong differences in their dispersal capabilities. Inverse modelling (IM) revealed that dispersal of M. bisulcata was best described by a lognormal kernel. Most seeds landed at 10–15 m from stems, with 1% of them going beyond 80 m (<100 m). The direct estimates of fecundity significantly improved the models fitted. The lognormal also described well the seedling recruitment distribution of this species in 121 ground plots. By contrast, the lower intensity of masting and more limited dispersal of the heavier-seeded T. bifoliolata prevented reliable IM. For this species, seed density as function of distance to traps suggested a maximum dispersal distance of 40–50 m, and a correspondingly more aggregated seedling recruitment pattern ensued than for M. bisulcata. From this integrated field study, we conclude that the reproductive traits of M. bisulcata give it a considerable advantage over T. bifoliolata by better dispersing more seeds per capita to reach more suitable establishment sites, and combined with other key traits they explain its local dominance in the forest. Understanding the linkages between size at onset of maturity, individual fecundity, and dispersal capability can better inform the life-history strategies, and hence management, of co-occurring tree species in tropical forests.