Constraints to growth of boreal forests (original) (raw)

Botany

Nature volume 405, pages 904–905 (2000) Cite this article

Abstract

Understanding how the growth of trees at high latitudes in boreal forest is controlled is important for projections of global carbon sequestration and timber production in relation to climate change. Is stem growth of boreal forest trees constrained by the length of the growing season when stem cambial cells divide1, or by the length of the period when resources can be captured2? In both cases, the timing of the thaw in the spring is critical: neither cambial cell division nor uptake of nutrients and carbon dioxide can occur while the soil is frozen. Here we argue, on the basis of long-term observations made in northern Saskatchewan and Sweden, that the time between the spring thaw and the autumn freeze determines the amount of annual tree growth, mainly through temperature effects on carbon-dioxide uptake in spring and on nutrient availability and uptake during summer, rather than on cambial cell division.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 52 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.83 per issue

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Figure 1: Annual increment of stem volume in stands of young Norway spruce during a nutrient-optimization experiment, and relative effect of soil warming on the annual volume production at Flakaliden in northern Sweden.

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Vaganov, E. A., Hughes, M. K., Kirdyanov, A. V., Schweingruber, F. H. & Silkin, P. P. Nature 400, 149–151 (1999).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  2. Bergh, J. & Linder, S. Glob. Change Biol. 5, 245–253 (1999).
    Article ADS Google Scholar
  3. Goulden, M. L. et al. Science 279, 214–217 (1998).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  4. Jarvis, P. G. et al. 1996 Boreas data, Oak Ridge National Laboratory archive (Oak Ridge, TN).
  5. Bergh, J., McMurtrie, R. E. & Linder, S. Forest Ecol. Mgmt 110, 125– 139 (1998).
    Article Google Scholar
  6. Malhi, Y., Baldocchi, D. D. & Jarvis, P. G. Plant Cell Envir. 22, 715– 740 (1999).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  7. Gower, S. T. et al. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 29029– 29041 (1997).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  8. Jarvis, P. G. et al. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 28953– 28966 (1997).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  9. Linder, S. Ecol. Bull. (Copenhagen) 44, 178–190 (1995).
    CAS Google Scholar
  10. Bergh, J., Linder, S., Lundmark, T. & Elfving, B. Forest Ecol. Mgmt 119, 51–62 ( 1999).
    Article Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JU, UK
    Paul Jarvis
  2. Department for Production Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7042, Uppsala, SE-750 07, Sweden
    Sune Linder

Authors

  1. Paul Jarvis
  2. Sune Linder

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jarvis, P., Linder, S. Constraints to growth of boreal forests.Nature 405, 904–905 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35016154

Download citation

This article is cited by