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Warm Summers (warm + summer)
Selected AbstractsImpact of past and present land-management on the C-balance of a grassland in the Swiss AlpsGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 11 2008NELE ROGIERS Abstract Grasslands cover about 40% of the ice-free global terrestrial surface, but their quantitative importance in global carbon exchange with the atmosphere is still highly uncertain, and thus their potential for carbon sequestration remains speculative. Here, we report on CO2 exchange of an extensively used mountain hay meadow and pasture in the Swiss pre-Alps on high-organic soils (7,45% C by mass) over a 3-year period (18 May 2002,20 September 2005), including the European summer 2003 heat-wave period. During all 3 years, the ecosystem was a net source of CO2 (116,256 g C m,2 yr,1). Harvests and grazing cows (mostly via C export in milk) further increased these C losses, which were estimated at 355 g C m,2 yr,1 during 2003 (95% confidence interval 257,454 g C m,2 yr,1). Although annual carbon losses varied considerably among years, the CO2 budget during summer 2003 was not very different from the other two summers. However, and much more importantly, the winter that followed the warm summer of 2003 observed a significantly higher carbon loss when there was snow (133±6 g C m,2) than under comparable conditions during the other two winters (73±5 and 70±4 g C m,2, respectively). The continued annual C losses can most likely be attributed to the long-term effects of drainage and peat exploitation that began 119 years ago, with the last significant drainage activities during the Second World War around 1940. The most realistic estimate based on depth profiles of ash content after combustion suggests that there is an 500,910 g C m,2 yr,1 loss associated with the decomposition of organic matter. Our results clearly suggest that putting efforts into preserving still existing carbon stocks may be more successful than attempts to increase sequestration rates in such high-organic mountain grassland soils. [source] Light rings in Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) in semiarid areas of north China and their palaeo-climatological potentialNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 4 2006Eryuan Liang Summary ,,Light rings in conifer trees are characterized by a light-coloured, narrow latewood band of thin-walled tracheids. Most reports on light rings have been for subarctic and subalpine regions, and little is known about their occurrence in semiarid areas. ,,Dendrochronological methods were used to date the occurrence of light rings in Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) in the semiarid region of north China. The anatomical and chemical characteristics and the potential environmental controls of their formation were investigated. ,,Light rings in Chinese pine were dated to the year of their formation. The wall thickness and lumen diameter of the wood cells of light rings and reference rings were distinctly different. However, the configuration of the light-ring latewood cell walls was normal, although they were thinner than average, and their lignification had been completed normally. ,,The climate characteristics that result in light-ring formation appear to be ongoing severe drought from the previous autumn to July of the current year in conjunction with a warm summer, suggesting that light rings can be used as indicators for past drought events. [source] Two decades of responses (1986,2006) to climate by the Laurichard rock glacier, French AlpsPERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES, Issue 4 2009Xavier Bodin Abstract The Laurichard active rock glacier is the permafrost-related landform with the longest record of monitoring in France, including an annual geodetic survey, repeated geoelectrical campaigns from 1979 onwards and continuous recording of ground temperature since 2003. These data were used to examine changes in creep rates and internal structure from 1986 to 2006. The control that climatic variables exert on rock glacier kinematics was investigated over three time scales. Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, the main observed changes were a general increase in surface velocity and a decrease in internal resistivity. At a multi-year scale, the high correlation between surface movement and snow thickness in the preceding December appears to confirm the importance of snow cover conditions in early winter through their influence on the ground thermal regime. A comparison of surface velocities, regional climatic datasets and ground sub-surface temperatures over six years suggests a strong relation between rock glacier deformation and ground temperature, as well as a role for liquid water due to melt of thick snow cover. Finally, unusual surface lowering that accompanied peak velocities in 2004 may be due to a general thaw of the top of the permafrost, probably caused both by two successive snowy winters and by high energy inputs during the warm summer of 2003. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Summer drought: a driver for crown condition and mortality of Norway spruce in NorwayFOREST PATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2004S. Solberg Summary Summer drought, i.e. unusually dry and warm weather, has been a significant stress factor for Norway spruce in southeast Norway during the 14 years of forest monitoring. Dry and warm summers were followed by increases in defoliation, discolouration of foliage, cone formation and mortality. The causal mechanisms are discussed. Most likely, the defoliation resulted from increased needle-fall in the autumn after dry summers. During the monitoring period 1988,2001, southeast Norway was repeatedly affected by summer drought, in particular, in the early 1990s. The dataset comprised 455 ,Forest officers' plots' with annual data on crown condition and mortality. Linear mixed models were used for estimation and hypothesis testing, including a variance,covariance structure for the handling of random effects and temporal autocorrelation. Résumé La sécheresse estivale, c'est à dire un temps exceptionnellement sec et chaud, a été un facteur significatif de stress pour l'Epicéa commun dans le sud-est de la Norvège au cours de 14 années de surveillance. Les étés secs et chauds ont été suivis d'une augmentation de la défoliation, des colorations anormales du feuillage, de la formation de cônes et de la mortalité. Les mécanismes causaux sont discutés. La défoliation peut probablement s'expliquer par une chute automnale des aiguilles après les étés secs. Pendant la période de suivi de 1988 à 2001, le sud-est de la Norvège a été affecté de façon répétée par des sécheresses estivales, en particulier au début des années 1990. La base de données comprend 455 ,parcelles d'agents forestiers' avec des données annuelles sur l'état des houppiers et la mortalité. Des modèles linéaires mixtes ont été utilisés pour tester les hypothèses et faire les estimations, en incluant une structure de variance-covariance pour prendre en compte les effets aléatoires et les auto-corrélations temporelles. Zusammenfassung Sommertrockenheit, d.h. ungewöhnlich trockenes und warmes Wetter, war ein wesentlicher Stressfaktor für die Fichte (Picea abies) in Südwestnorwegen während der 14 Jahre, in denen der Waldzustand bisher erfasst wurde. Nach trockenen und warmen Sommern nahmen der Nadelverlust, die Nadelverfärbung, die Zapfenbildung und die Mortalität zu. Die ursächlichen Mechanismen hierfür werden diskutiert. Am wahrscheinlichsten ist der Blattverlust das Ergebnis eines erhöhten Nadelfalles im Herbst nach einem trockenen Sommer. Während der Beobachtungsperiode von 1988 bis 2001 traten in Südwestnorwegen wiederholt trockene Sommer auf, insbesondere zu Beginn der 90er Jahre. Das Datenset umfasste 455 Stichprobeflächen mit jährlichen Angaben zum Kronenzustand und zur Mortalität. Für die statistische Analyse wurden lineare Modelle mit gemischten Effekten verwendet, einschliesslich einer Varianz-Kovarianzstruktur für die zeitreihenbedingten Autokorrelationen. [source] Using a 1-D mixing model to assess the potential impact of year-to-year changes in weather on the habitat of vendace (Coregonus albula) in Bassenthwaite Lake, CumbriaFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 8 2006D. G. GEORGE Summary 1. Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria is one of only two English lakes containing a population of vendace (Coregonus albula). The spatial distribution and survival of this fish is strongly influenced by the temperature and oxygen content of the water. In summer, this fish moves into deeper, colder water but avoids areas where the oxygen content is low. 2. In recent years, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of vendace found in the lake, a trend that may have been exacerbated by a succession of warm summers. Bassenthwaite only becomes stably stratified during calm, warm periods when a significant proportion of the deep water becomes anoxic. 3. Here, a one dimensional (1-D) process-based temperature-oxygen model is used to simulate the year-to-year variations in the severity of these ,extreme events'. The model is validated using field measurements acquired in the 1990s and used to predict the range of depths accessible to the vendace. 4. An empirical, weather-driven model is then used to ,hindcast' the mixing characteristics of the lake in the 1980s and estimate the proportion of the habitat lost during warm, calm summers. These simulations show that periods of stable thermal stratification have become increasingly common in recent years. In the 1980s, only one ,extreme event' was identified but four such events were recorded in the 1990s. 5. The results are discussed in relation to the conservation status of the species and the potential effect of climate change on its survival in the English Lake District. [source] River corridor plants (Stromtalpflanzen) in Central European lowland: a review of a poorly understood plant distribution patternGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2001Michael Burkart Abstract Aim and location In Central European lowlands certain plant species grow mainly or exclusively in the corridors of large rivers. In German-speaking plant geography, they are known as ,Stromtalpflanzen'. The aim of this paper is to review the literature about definitions, explanations and species characteristics and to suggest future directions in research concerning this species group. Results A preliminary list contains 129 ecologically heterogeneous plant species. The mechanisms generating the peculiar distribution pattern may include hydrochory along river corridors, high levels of disturbance by water, variable water availability including inundation and summer drought, warm summers and high nutrient supply on alluvial soils. There is evidence from observational studies for all above mechanisms. However, none of them has been tested experimentally. Demographic data of river corridor plants are limited to very few species, including mainly invasive annuals (Artemisia annua, Bidens frondosa, Cuscuta campestris, Xanthium albinum) and annual (hemi)parasites (Cuscuta campestris, Melampyrum cristatum). Metapopulation studies do not exist to date for European species. Apart from their habitat requirements, river corridor plants were grouped according to their similarities in overall distribution pattern or their distribution within particular river corridors. Main conclusions River corridor plants include a high proportion of threatened plant species. In order to preserve them, and in order to understand the mechanisms generating the peculiar distribution pattern, much more has to be known about their population biology and metapopulation dynamics. [source] Establishing a missing link: warm summers and winter snow cover promote shrub expansion into alpine tundra in ScandinaviaNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 4 2010Martin Hallinger Summary ,Shrub expansion in alpine and arctic areas is a process with possibly profound implications for ecosystem functioning. The recent shrub expansion has been mainly documented by remote sensing techniques, but the drivers for this process largely remain hypotheses. ,Here, we outline a dendrochronological method, adapted to shrubs, to address these hypotheses and then present a mechanism for the current shrub expansion by linking recent climate change to shrub growth performance in northern Sweden. ,A pronounced increase in radial and vertical growth during recent decades along an elevational gradient from treeline to shrubline indicates an ongoing shrub expansion. Age distribution of the shrub population indicates the new colonization of shrubs at high elevations. ,Shrub growth is correlated with warm summers and winter snow cover and suggests the potential for large-scale ecosystem changes if climate change continues as projected. [source] Phytophthora hydropathica, a new pathogen identified from irrigation water, Rhododendron catawbiense and Kalmia latifoliaPLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 5 2010C. X. Hong A new species of Phytophthora, previously referred to as taxon Dre II, is named Phytophthora hydropathica. It is heterothallic, but all isolates recovered to date are of the A1 compatibility type. Plerotic oospores are produced. Its sporangia are usually obpyriform and are nonpapillate and noncaducous. Isolates of P. hydropathica had nearly identical single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-based DNA fingerprints that are distinct from those of all existing species. Their closest relatives are P. parsiana and P. irrigata. This new species is able to grow at relatively high temperatures, with an optimum of 30°C and a maximum of 40°C. It was frequently isolated from irrigation water during warm summers. This species caused leaf necrosis and shoot blight of Rhododendron catawbiense and collar rot of Kalmia latifolia at two nurseries where irrigation reservoirs yielded P. hydropathica. Its potential impact on other horticultural crops is discussed. 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