Timing and duration of European larch growing season along altitudinal gradients in the Swiss Alps

Autoren

L Moser
P Fonti
U Buntgen
J Esper
J Luterbacher
J Franzen
D Frank

DOI

10.1093/treephys/tpp108

eISSN

1758-4469

ISSN

0829-318X

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

Tree Physiology

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2009

Paginierung

225 - 233

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2010

Status

Published

Herausgeber

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpp108

Datum der Datenerfassung

2020

Titel

Timing and duration of European larch growing season along altitudinal gradients in the Swiss Alps

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Data source: Crossref

Abstract

The 2007 European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) growing season was monitored along two elevational transects in the Lötschental valley in the Swiss Alps. Phenological observations and weekly microcore sampling of 28 larch trees were conducted between April and October 2007 at seven study sites regularly spaced from 1350 to 2150 m a.s.l. on northwest- and southeast-facing slopes. The developmental stages of nearly 75,000 individual cells assessed on 1200 thin sections were used to investigate the links between the trees' thermal regimes and growth phases including the beginning and ending of cell enlargement, wall thickening and maturation of the stem wood. Needles appeared approximately 3-4 weeks earlier than stem growth. The duration of ring formation lasted from mid-May to the end of October, with the length of the growing season decreasing along elevation from 137 to 101 days. The onset of the different growing seasons changed by 3-4 days per 100 m elevation; the ending of the growing season, however, appeared minimally related to altitude. If associated with the monitored altitudinal lapse rate of -0.5 degrees C per 100 m, these results translate into a lengthening of the growing season by approximately 7 days per degree Celsius. This study provides new data on the timing and duration of basic growth processes and contributes to quantification of the impacts of global warming on tree growth and productivity.

Addresses

Institute of Geography, Climatology and Meteorology Research Group, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Autoren

Lea Moser
Patrick Fonti
Ulf Büntgen
Jan Esper
Jürg Luterbacher
Julia Franzen
David Frank

DOI

10.1093/treephys/tpp108

eISSN

1758-4469

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 20008326

Open access

false

ISSN

0829-318X

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

Tree physiology

Schlüsselwörter

Larix
Altitude
Temperature
Seasons
Cell Differentiation
Switzerland

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print-Electronic

Online publication date

2009

Paginierung

225 - 233

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2010

Status

Published

Datum der Datenerfassung

2009

Titel

Timing and duration of European larch growing season along altitudinal gradients in the Swiss Alps.

Sub types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Data source: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

The 2007 European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) growing season was monitored along two elevational transects in the Lötschental valley in the Swiss Alps. Phenological observations and weekly microcore sampling of 28 larch trees were conducted between April and October 2007 at seven study sites regularly spaced from 1350 to 2150 m a.s.l. on northwest- and southeast-facing slopes. The developmental stages of nearly 75,000 individual cells assessed on 1200 thin sections were used to investigate the links between the trees' thermal regimes and growth phases including the beginning and ending of cell enlargement, wall thickening and maturation of the stem wood. Needles appeared approximately 3-4 weeks earlier than stem growth. The duration of ring formation lasted from mid-May to the end of October, with the length of the growing season decreasing along elevation from 137 to 101 days. The onset of the different growing seasons changed by 3-4 days per 100 m elevation; the ending of the growing season, however, appeared minimally related to altitude. If associated with the monitored altitudinal lapse rate of -0.5 degrees C per 100 m, these results translate into a lengthening of the growing season by approximately 7 days per degree Celsius. This study provides new data on the timing and duration of basic growth processes and contributes to quantification of the impacts of global warming on tree growth and productivity.

Autoren

Lea Moser
Patrick Fonti
Ulf Büntgen
Jan Esper
Jürg Luterbacher
Julia Franzen
David Frank

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20008326

DOI

10.1093/treephys/tpp108

ISSN

0829-318X

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

2

Zeitschrift

Tree Physiol

Schlüsselwörter

Altitude
Cell Differentiation
Larix
Seasons
Switzerland
Temperature

Sprache

eng

Country

Canada

Paginierung

225 - 233

PII

tpp108

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2010

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2010

Titel

Timing and duration of European larch growing season along altitudinal gradients in the Swiss Alps.

Sub types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

30

Data source: PubMed

Timing and duration of European larch growing season along altitudinal gradients in the Swiss Alps

Tools