J. For. Sci., 2016, 62(2):53-64 | DOI: 10.17221/104/2015-JFS

Contrasting growth and water use efficiency after thinning in mixed Abies pinsapo-Pinus pinaster-Pinus sylvestris forestsOriginal Paper

R.M. Navarro-Cerrillo1, R. Sánchez-Salguero2, R. Herrera3, C.J. Ceacero Ruiz4, J.M. Moreno-Rojas5, R.D. Manzanedo6, J. López-Quintanilla7
1 Departamento Ingeniería Forestal, DendrodatLab- ERSAF, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
2 Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
3 Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas, Venezuela
4 Departamento Fisiología, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
5 Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Córdoba, Spain
6 Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
7 Consejería Medio-Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio, Málaga, Spain

Foresters frequently lack sufficient information about thinning intensity effects to optimize semi-natural forest management and their effects and interaction with climate are still poorly understood. In an Abies pinsapo-Pinus pinaster-Pinus sylvestris forest with three thinning intensities, a dendrochronologial approach was used to evaluate the short-term responses of basal area increment (BAI), carbon isotope (δ13C) and water use efficiency (iWUE) to thinning intensity and climate. Thinning generally increased BAI in all species, except for the heavy thinning in P. sylvestris. Across all the plots, thinning increased 13C-derived water-use efficiency on average by 14.49% for A. pinsapo, 9.78% for P. sylvestris and 6.68% for P. pinaster, but through different ecophysiological mechanisms. Our findings provide a robust mean of predicting water use efficiency responses from three coniferous species exposed to different thinning strategies which have been modulated by climatic conditions over time.

Keywords: basal area increment; carbon isotopes; dendroecology; naturalization

Published: February 29, 2016  Show citation

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Navarro-Cerrillo RM, Sánchez-Salguero R, Herrera R, Ceacero Ruiz CJ, Moreno-Rojas JM, Manzanedo RD, López-Quintanilla J. Contrasting growth and water use efficiency after thinning in mixed Abies pinsapo-Pinus pinaster-Pinus sylvestris forests. J. For. Sci. 2016;62(2):53-64. doi: 10.17221/104/2015-JFS.
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