European beech reproduction is not reduced by drought, including the 2003, 2018, and 2022 extremes
Abstract
Climate change is intensifying drought stress in temperate forests, but its effects on tree reproduction, central to forest regeneration and migration capability, remain poorly understood. Here, we analyze 221 time series of beech ( Fagus sylvatica ) seed production across Europe to test whether drought reduces seed output. We isolate drought exposure during the flowering, pollination, and seed maturation phases of reproduction, and test for legacy effects on future reproduction. Seed production was not impaired by summer drought, and dry spring conditions were associated with increased output, likely via enhanced pollen dispersal. Thus, once initiated, beech reproduction is not reduced by drought, with no suppression of reproduction the following year. Reproduction was not reduced at the driest sites during exceptional European summer droughts in 2003, 2018, and 2022. Considered alongside prior evidence that drought suppresses forest growth and elevates mortality, these findings indicate that vital rates can respond in opposite directions to the same stressor. Such contrasts may sustain forest reproduction during heat–drought events yet shift demographic balance toward higher mortality and turnover as climatic extremes intensify.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (26)
Jakub Szymkowiak
Forest Biology Center
Michał Bogdziewicz
Forest Biology Center
Dave Kelly
School of Biological Sciences
Jessie Foest
Forest Biology Center
Sabine Braun
Institute for Applied Plant Biology
Burkhard Beudert
Department of Conservation and Research, Bavarian Forest National Park
Francesco Chianucci
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA)—Research Centre for Forestry and Wood
Andrea Cutini
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA), Centro di Ricerca Foreste e Legno
Rachel Gaulton
Fera Science Ltd., York Biotech Campus
Georg Gratzer
Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology, BOKU University
Angelika Kölbl
Department of Conservation and Research, Bavarian Forest National Park
Georges Kunstler
Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire EcoSystémes et Sociétés En Montagne (LESSEM)
Jonathan G. A. Lageard
Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University
Henning Meesenburg
Northwest German Forest Research Institute, Department of Environmental Control, Section Intensive Environmental Monitoring
Francesco Mezzavilla
Via Malviste 4
Martina Mund
Forestry Research and Competence Centre Gotha
Anita Nussbaumer
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Land Change Science
Mario B. Pesendorfer
Department of Ecosystem Management, Climate and Biodiversity, Institute of Forest Ecology, BOKU University
Wolfgang Schmidt
Anne Thimonier
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Land Change Science
Peter A. Thomas
School of Life Sciences, Keele University
Stanislav Vacek
Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague
Zdeněk Vacek
Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague
Arne Verstraeten
Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Environment and Climate Unit
Markus Wagner
Northwest German Forest Research Institute, Department of Environmental Control, Section Intensive Environmental Monitoring
Andrew Hacket-Pain
Department of Geography and Planning