What is it about?
Climate-related tree species distribution shifts have long been expected, but observational evidence of the anticipated changes toward cold and wet regions has been relatively elusive. In this paper, we show that climate change is likely to drive tree species towards colder and wetter regions of their distribution across Europe and North America.
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Why is it important?
Although climate change is expected to drive tree species toward colder and wetter regions of their distribution, broadscale empirical evidence is lacking. Our analysis of 73 widely distributed species across Northern Hemisphere reveals a reorganization of density favoring colder and wetter regions of their distributions. However, contrary to the anticipated change toward smaller individuals over time due to climate change, our findings reveal a tendency toward increasing tree size over recent decades.
Perspectives
This study required a significant international effort to pull together and harmonise data from many different sources, and I hope that the species-specific information on the direction and magnitude of climate-driven changes in density can form an important input for conservation, management, and restoration plans.
Julen Astigarraga
Universidad de Alcala de Henares
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Relative decline in density of Northern Hemisphere tree species in warm and arid regions of their climate niches, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2024, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2314899121.
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