Warmer temperatures’ advantage isn’t seen in the trees of Canadian boreal forests (Image by Gord McKenna via Flickr CC BY ND NC 2.0)
Warmer temperatures and higher levels of carbon dioxide associated with climate change were supposed to bode well for tree growth. But a recent study shows that this advantage isn’t seen in the trees of Canadian boreal forests. Researchers collected and analyzed tree-ring data and satellite images to determine how the changing temperatures and CO2 emissions have influenced the growth of trees in the boreal forests across the country. They found no evidence of growth stimulation over the past 60 years. Authors say that amount of precipitation, and therefore access to water, seems to be key in driving forest expansion.
Authors:
Martin P. Girardin, Olivier Bouriaud, Edward H. Hogg, Werner Kurz, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Juha M. Metsaranta, Rogier de Jong, David C. Frank, Jan Esper, Ulf Büntgend, Xiao Jing Guo, and Jagtar Bhatti
Corresponding author:
Martin P. Girardin, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Quebec, Email: martin.girardin@canada.ca.
Original paper published in PNAS on December 12, 2016.
