Dataset Information

Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome.

ABSTRACT: Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001-2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions across the globe. Disturbances in protected areas are smaller and more complex in shape compared to their surroundings affected by human land use. This signal disappears in areas with high recent natural disturbance activity, underlining the potential of climate-mediated disturbance to transform forest landscapes.

SUBMITTER: Sommerfeld A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6195561 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome.

Sommerfeld Andreas A Senf Cornelius C Buma Brian B D'Amato Anthony W AW Després Tiphaine T Díaz-Hormazábal Ignacio I Fraver Shawn S Frelich Lee E LE Gutiérrez Álvaro G ÁG Hart Sarah J SJ Harvey Brian J BJ He Hong S HS Hlásny Tomáš T Holz Andrés A Kitzberger Thomas T Kulakowski Dominik D Lindenmayer David D Mori Akira S AS Müller Jörg J Paritsis Juan J Perry George L W GLW Stephens Scott L SL Svoboda Miroslav M Turner Monica G MG Veblen Thomas T TT Seidl Rupert R

Nature communications 20181019 1

Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were consistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001-2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their su ...[more]

PMID: 30341309

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Project description:Natural disturbance regimes are changing substantially in forests around the globe. However, large-scale disturbance change is modulated by a considerable spatiotemporal variation within biomes. This variation remains incompletely understood particularly in the temperate forests of Europe, for which consistent large-scale disturbance information is lacking. Here, our aim was to quantify the spatiotemporal patterns of forest disturbances across temperate forest landscapes in Europe using remote sensing data and determine their underlying drivers. Specifically, we tested two hypotheses: (1) Topography determines the spatial patterns of disturbance, and (2) climatic extremes synchronize natural disturbances across the biome. We used novel Landsat-based maps of forest disturbances 1986-2016 in combination with landscape analysis to compare spatial disturbance patterns across five unmanaged forest landscapes with varying topographic complexity. Furthermore, we analyzed annual estimates of disturbances for synchronies and tested the influence of climatic extremes on temporal disturbance patterns. Spatial variation in disturbance patterns was substantial across temperate forest landscapes. With increasing topographic complexity, natural disturbance patches were smaller, more complex in shape, more dispersed, and affected a smaller portion of the landscape. Temporal disturbance patterns, however, were strongly synchronized across all landscapes, with three distinct waves of high disturbance activity between 1986 and 2016. All three waves followed years of pronounced drought and high peak wind speeds. Natural disturbances in temperate forest landscapes of Europe are thus spatially diverse but temporally synchronized. We conclude that the ecological effect of natural disturbances (i.e., whether they are homogenizing a landscape or increasing its heterogeneity) is strongly determined by the topographic template. Furthermore, as the strong biome-wide synchronization of disturbances was closely linked to climatic extremes, large-scale disturbance episodes are likely in Europe's temperate forests under climate changes.

Dataset Information

Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome.

Publications

Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome.

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