J. For. Sci., 2016, 62(12):553-561 | DOI: 10.17221/83/2016-JFS

Do changes in meteorological parameters and evapotranspiration affect declining oak forests of Iran?Original Paper

P. Attarod1, F. Rostami1, A. Dolatshahi1, S.M.M. Sadeghi1, G. Zahedi Amiri1, V. Bayramzadeh2
1 Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
2 Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran

Decline of the Zagros forests of western Iran dominated by oak trees is assumed to be highly connected with changes in meteorological parameters. To examine this hypothesis, we aimed at observing the long-term trends of meteorological parameters and reference evapotranspiration (ET0) in the Zagros region. Long-term (1961-2010) data of air temperature (Ta), relative humidity (RH), precipitation (P), and wind speed (WS) were obtained from meteorological stations located in the Zagros region. The Penman-Monteith equation was applied to calculate ET0. The results indicated that since 2000, coinciding with the emerging oak decline, meteorological parameters and ET0 have been changed: Ta +0.6°C, P -60 mm, RH -3%, WS +0.4 m.s-1, and ET0 +0.25 mm.day-1. Although this research confirmed a significant relationship between oak decline and changes in meteorological parameters, full datasets recorded in different parts of the Zagros region are essential for a reasonable research to fully explain this hypothesis. Managers should think of the expected changes in meteorological parameters and evapotranspiration owing to global warming.

Keywords: air temperature; global warming; Penman-Monteith equation; precipitation; reference evapotranspiration

Published: December 31, 2016  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Attarod P, Rostami F, Dolatshahi A, Sadeghi SMM, Zahedi Amiri G, Bayramzadeh V. Do changes in meteorological parameters and evapotranspiration affect declining oak forests of Iran? J. For. Sci. 2016;62(12):553-561. doi: 10.17221/83/2016-JFS.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Aber J., Neilson R.P., McNulty S., Lenihan J.M., Bachelet D., Drapek R.J. (2001): Forest processes and global environmental change: Predicting the effects of individual and multiple stressors. BioScience, 51: 735-751. Go to original source...
    2. Allen R.G., Pereira L.S., Raes D., Smith M. (1998): Crop Evapotranspiration - Guidelines for Computing Crop Waterrequirements. Rome, FAO: 326.
    3. Anderson J., Chung F., Anderson M., Brekke L., Easton D., Ejeta M., Peterson R., Snyder R. (2008): Progress on incorporating climate change into management of California's water resources. Climatic Change, 87: 91-108. Go to original source...
    4. Attarod P., Kheirkhah F., Khalighi Sigaroodi S., Sadeghi S.M.M. (2015): Sensitivity of reference evapotranspiration to global warming in the Caspian region, north of Iran. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 17: 869-883.
    5. Bultot F., Dupriez G.L., Gellens D. (1988): Estimated annual regime of energy balance components, evapotranspiration and soil moisture for a drainage basin in case of a CO2 doubling. Climatic Change, 12: 39-56. Go to original source...
    6. Clatterbuck W.K., Kauffman B.W. (2006): Managing Oak Decline. Lexington, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Publication: 6.
    7. Croitoru A.E., Piticar A., Imbroane A.M., Burada D.C. (2013): Spatiotemporal distribution of aridity indices based on temperature and precipitation in the extraCarpathian regions of Romania. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 112: 597-607. Go to original source...
    8. Fathizadeh O., Attarod P., Pypker T.G., Darvishsefat A.A., Zahedi Amiri G. (2013): Seasonal varibility of rainfall interception and canopy storage capacity measured under individual oak (Quercus brantii) trees in western Iran. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 15: 175-188.
    9. Freer-Smith P.H., Read D.B. (1995): The relationship between crown condition and soil solution chemistry in oak and Sitka spruce in England and Wales. Forest Ecology and Management, 79: 185-196. Go to original source...
    10. Führer E. (1998): Oak decline in central Europe: A synopsis of hypotheses. In: McManus M.L., Liebhold A.M. (eds): Proceedings: Population Dynamics, Impacts, and Integrated Management of Forest Defoliating Insects, Banská Štiavnica, Aug 18-23, 1996: 7-24.
    11. Goyal R.K. (2004): Sensitivity of evapotranspiration to global warming: A case study of arid zone of Rajasthan (India). Agricultural Water Management, 69: 1-11. Go to original source...
    12. Hansen A., Dale V.H. (2001): Biodiversity in United States forests under global climate change. Ecosystems, 4: 161-163. Go to original source...
    13. Hansen A.J., Neilson R.P., Dale V.H., Flather C., Iverson L., Currie D.J., Bartlein P. (2001): Global change in forests: Responses of species, communities, and biomes. BioScience, 51: 765-779. Go to original source...
    14. IPCC (2007): Summary for policymakers. In: Solomon S., Qin D., Manning M., Chen Z., Marquis M., Averyt K.B., Tignor M., Miller H.L. (eds): Contribution of Working Group I to the 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, New York, Cambridge University Press: 1-18.
    15. IPCC (2013): Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Cambridge, New York, Cambridge University Press: 1535.
    16. Mahmood R. (1997): Impacts of air temperature variations on the boro rice phenology in Bangladesh: Implications for irrigation requirements. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 84: 233-247. Go to original source...
    17. Martin P., Rosenberg N.J., McKenney M.S. (1989): Sensitivity of evapotranspiration in wheat field, afforest and a grassland to change in climate and direct effect of carbon dioxide. Climatic Change, 14: 117-151. Go to original source...
    18. Matsumoto K., Ohta T., Nakai T., Kuwada T., Daikoku K., Iida S., Yabuki H., Kononov A.V., Molen M.K., Kodama Y., Maximov T.C., Dolman A.J., Hattori (2008): Energy consumption and evapotranspiration at several boreal and temperate forests in the Far East. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 148: 1978-1989. Go to original source...
    19. Misik T., Varga K., Veres Z.S., Kárász I., Tóthmérész B. (2013): Long-term response of understorey cover, basal area and diversity to stand density in a mixed oak forest on the Síkfőkút plot in Hungary. Forest Science, 59: 319-327. Go to original source...
    20. Němec J., Schaake J. (1982): Sensitivity of water resources system to climate variation. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 27: 327-343. Go to original source...
    21. Oki T., Kanae S. (2006): Global hydrological cycles and world water resources. Science, 313: 1068-1072. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    22. Rosenberg N.J., McKenney M.S., Martin P. (1989): Evapotranspiration in greenhouse warmed world: A review and a simulation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 47: 303-320. Go to original source...
    23. Sabziparvar A.A., Tabari H. (2010): Regional estimation of reference evapotranspiration in arid and semi-arid regions. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Enginnering, 136: 724-731. Go to original source...
    24. Sadeghi S.M.M., Attarod P., Pypker T.G., Dunkerley D. (2014): Is canopy interception increased in semiarid tree plantations? Evidence from a field investigation in Tehran, Iran. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 38: 792-806. Go to original source...
    25. Tabari H. (2010): Evaluation of reference crop evapotranspiration equations in various climates. Water Resources and Management, 24: 2311-2337. Go to original source...
    26. Tabari H., Marofi S., Aeini A., Talaee P.H., Mohammadi K. (2011): Trend analysis of reference evapotranspiration in the western half of Iran. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 151: 128-136. Go to original source...
    27. Thomas F.M., Büttner G. (1998): Nutrient relations in healthy and damaged stands of mature oaks on clayey soils: Two case studies in northwestern Germany. Forest Ecology and Management, 108: 301-319. Go to original source...
    28. Walther G.R., Post E., Convey P., Menzel A., Parmesan C., Beebee T.J.C., Fromentin J.M., Hoegh O., Guldberg O., Bairlein F. (2002): Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature, 416: 389-395. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    29. Zhang L., Dawes W.R., Walker G.R. (2001): Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes at catchment scale. Water Resources Research, 37: 701-708. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content