Impacts of Climate Change on the Tree Line

Authors: J. Grace¹; F. Berninger²; L. Nagy¹

Source: Annals of Botany, Volume 90, Number 4, 1 October 2002 , pp. 537-544(8)

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract:

The possible effects of climate change on the advance of the tree line are considered. As temperature, elevated CO₂ and nitrogen deposition co-vary, it is impossible to disentangle their impacts without performing experiments. However, it does seem very unlikely that photosynthesis per se and, by implication, factors that directly influence photosynthesis, such as elevated CO₂, will be as important as those factors which influence the capacity of the tree to use the products of photosynthesis, such as temperature. Moreover, temperature limits growth more severely than it limits photosynthesis over the temperature range 5–20 °C. If it is assumed that growth and reproduction are controlled by temperature, a rapid advance of the tree line would be predicted. Indeed, some authors have provided photographic evidence and remotely sensed data that suggest this is, in fact, occurring. In regions inhabited by grazing animals, the advance of the tree line will be curtailed, although growth of trees below the tree line will of course increase substantially.

Keywords: Key words: Review; tree line; krummholz; alpine; arctic; CO2; N-deposition; global warming.

Document Type: Review article

Affiliations: 1: Institute of Ecology & Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JU, UK and 2: Department of Forest Ecology, PO Box 27, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland

Publication date: 2002-10-01

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• Annals of Botany is an international plant science journal with editorial offices in Australia, China, Japan, Mainland Europe, UK and USA. It is published monthly in both electronic and printed forms with at least one extra issue each year that focuses on a particular theme in plant biology. The Journal is managed by the Annals of Botany Company, a not-for-profit educational charity established to promote plant science worldwide.

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