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

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

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

244 Scopus citations

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 2150m 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 ~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 101days. 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°C per 100 m, these results translate into a lengthening of the growing season by ~7days 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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)225-233
Number of pages9
JournalTree Physiology
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2009
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Elevational transect
  • Forest growth
  • Growing season length
  • Phenology
  • Temperature lapse rate
  • Xylogenesis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Plant Science

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