Factors affecting tree drought stress in Hyrcanian forests

Document Type : Scientific article

Authors

1 PhD Student, Department of Forest Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Forest Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. Iran.

3 Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Iran

4 Ph.D. in Forest Soil Science, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University

5 John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Abstract

Background and Objective: Drought, driven by water scarcity, disrupts forest dynamics, with projections indicating an upward trend. Forest responses to drought vary based on climatic conditions and environmental factors, making it essential to assess drought severity as a first step toward effective management. Simulation models like Medfate offer valuable insights for predicting drought and informing management strategies. This study evaluates drought conditions in northern Iran’s forests, aiming to identify key influencing factors. The analysis incorporates structural (tree height, diameter, and density), climatic (temperature and precipitation), topographic (slope, aspect, and elevation), and soil-related (texture, acidity, nitrogen, and organic carbon) variables. Examining drought indices in the Hyrcanian forests provides crucial information for water resource management and conservation planning. The findings can support long-term predictions and adaptive strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on these forests.
Material and Methods: This research was conducted across the entire Hyrcanian forest region in northern Iran. Data were sourced from the national forest inventory, covering variables such as geographic coordinates, elevation, slope, aspect, tree species, diameter, and height for each sample plot. Meteorological data, including precipitation and temperature, were obtained from NASA’s POWER project. After data collection, tree density per hectare and basal area were calculated. The drought coefficient was estimated using the Medfate package in R. Generalized linear models (GLM) and cross-validation with the caret package were used for data analysis, and the relative importance of drought-influencing variables was determined. To develop a drought severity zoning map, variogram analysis was conducted in GS+, followed by ordinary kriging for spatial interpolation, with final refinements in ArcGIS.
Results: The GLM model demonstrated strong predictive performance for the drought index (R² = 0.57, MAE = 0.06, RMSE = 0.08). Analysis revealed that the drought coefficient had a significant positive correlation with slope, forest density, basal area, sand percentage, soil nitrogen, and temperature. In contrast, elevation, diameter at breast height, organic carbon, and precipitation showed a significant negative correlation with drought severity. Relative importance analysis identified forest density, precipitation, and basal area per hectare as the most influential variables. The kriging model confirmed a strong spatial structure (64%) for the drought coefficient. Model validation indicated minimal bias and high accuracy in estimating drought severity (R² = 0.85, MAE = 0.09, RMSE = 0.01). The zoning map revealed that drought severity was higher in the eastern Hyrcanian forests compared to the western regions.
Conclusion: This study highlights tree density as the most critical factor influencing drought severity in the Hyrcanian forests. In high-density areas, intensified competition for water leads to greater uptake by trees, depleting soil moisture. Additionally, increased evapotranspiration and canopy interception further reduce available water, exacerbating drought conditions. The eastern Hyrcanian forests are particularly vulnerable due to lower precipitation and humidity levels. These findings emphasize the urgency of implementing targeted management strategies to mitigate drought effects. One recommended approach is selective thinning in drought-prone areas to alleviate water competition. Additionally, slope plays a significant role in drought severity, underscoring the need for restoration efforts in highly affected regions. The study also underscores the importance of further research on drought’s impact on biodiversity, forest health, and nutrient cycling. The insights gained from this research can guide the development of conservation and management strategies to enhance forest resilience in northern Iran.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Adams, H.D.; Guardiola-Claramonte, M.; Barron-Gafford, G.A.; Villegas, J.C.; Breshears, D.D.; Zou, C.B.; Troch, P.A.; Huxman, T.E., Temperature sensitivity of drought-induced tree mortality portends increased regional die-off under global-change-type drought. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences 2009 106(17), 7063-7066.
Asgharpour, E.; Azadfar, D.; Saeedi, Z, Evaluation of Acer cappadocicum Gled seedlings to drought stress. Journal of Plant Research (Iranian Journal of Biology) 2017, 30(1), 1-11. (In Persian)
Allen, C.D.; Macalady, A.K.; Chenchouni, H.; Bachelet, D.; McDowell, N.; Vennetier, M.; Kitzberger, T.; Rigling, A.; Breshears, D.D.; Hogg, E.H., A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and Management 2010 259, 660–684.
Allen, C.D.; Breshears, D.D; McDowell, N.G., On underestimation of global vulnerability to tree mortality and forest die‐off from hotter drought in the Anthropocene. Ecosphere 2015 6(8), 1-55.
Alexander, L.V., Global observed long-term changes in temperature and precipitation extremes: A review of progress and limitations in IPCC assessments and beyond. Weather and Climate Extremes 2016 11, 4–16.
Bennett, A.C.; Dargie, G.C.; Cuni-Sanchez, A.; Tshibamba Mukendi, J.; Hubau, W.; Mukinzi, J.M.; Phillips, O.L.; Malhi, Y.; Sullivan, M.J.; Cooper, D.L.; Adu-Bredu, S., Resistance of African tropical forests to an extreme climate anomaly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2021, 118(21), 2003169118.
Bens, O.; Wahl, N.A.; Fischer, H.; Hüttl, R.F., Water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity in sandy cambisols: impacts of forest transformation on soil hydrological properties. European Journal of Forest Research 2007, 126, 01-109.
Biecek, P.; Burzykowski, T.; Explanatory model analysis: explore, explain, and examine predictive models. CRC Press 2021
Boggs, J.L.; McNulty, S.G.; Pardo, L.H., Changes in conifer and deciduous forest foliar and forest floor chemistry and basal area tree growth across a nitrogen (N) deposition gradient in the northeastern US. Environmental Pollution 2007, 149(3), 303-314.
Bottero, A.; D'Amato, A.W.; Palik, B.J.; Bradford, J.B.; Fraver, S.; Battaglia, M.A.; Asherin, L.A. Density‐dependent vulnerability of forest ecosystems to drought. Journal of Applied Ecology 2017, 54(6), 1605-1614.
Bradford, J.B.; Shriver, R.K.; Robles, M.D.; McCauley, L.A.; Woolley, T.J.; Andrews, C.A.; Crimmins, M.; Bell, D.M., Tree mortality response to drought‐density interactions suggests opportunities to enhance drought resistance. Journal of Applied Ecology 2022, 59(2), 549-559.
Brodribb, T. J.; Powers, J.; Cochard, H.; Choat, B., Hanging by a thread? Forests and drought. Science 2020 368, 261–266.
Dai, A., Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models. Nature Climate Change 2013 3, 52–58.
Daws, M. I.; Mullins, C. E.; Burslem, D. F. R. P.; Paton, S. R.; Dalling, J. W., Topographic position affects the water regime in a semideciduous tropical forest in Panam’a. Plant and Soil 2002, 238, 79–90.
De Cáceres, M.; Molowny-Horas, R.; Cabon, A.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.; Mencuccini, M.; García-Valdés, R.; Nadal-Sala, D.; Sabaté, S.; Martin-StPaul, N.; Morin, X.; Batllori, E., MEDFATE 2.8. 1: A trait-enabled model to simulate Mediterranean forest function and dynamics at regional scales. Geoscientific Model Development Discussions 2022, 1-52.
Gazol Burgos, A.; Camarero, J.J.; Vicente Serrano, S.M.; Sánchez-Salguero, R.; Gutiérrez, E.; Luis, M.D.; Sangüesa-Barreda, G.; Novak, K.; Rozas, V.; Tíscar, P.A.; Linares, J.C., Forest resilience to drought varies across biomes. Global change biology 2018 24(5), 2143-2158.
Gora, E. M.; Esquivel-Muelbert, A., Implications of size-dependent tree mortality for tropical forest carbon dynamics. Nature Plants 2021 7, 384–391.
Granier, C.; Bessagnet, B.; Bond, T.; D’Angiola, A.; Denier van der Gon, H.; Frost, G.J.; Heil, A.; Kaiser, J.W.; Kinne, S.; Klimont, Z.; Kloster, S., Evolution of anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions of air pollutants at global and regional scales during the 1980–2010 period. Climatic change 2011 109, 163-190.
Guarín, A.; Taylor, A. H., Drought triggered tree mortality in mixed conifer forests in Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Forest Ecology Managament 2005, 218, 229–244.
Gunaratne, M.D.N.; De Silva, S.H.N.P., Amarasinghe, R.K.; Can NASA Power Climatic Data Fill the Gap of Climatic Data Required for Agriculture and Forest Ecosystems Modeling? In Proceedings of International Forestry and Environment Symposium 2022, 141p.
He, H.S.; Gustafson, E.J.; Lischke, H., Modeling forest landscapes in a changing climate: theory and application. Landscape Ecology 2017 32, 1299-1305.
Hojjati, S.M.; Tafazoli, M.; Asadian, M.; Baluee, A., Estimation of carbon sequestration and forest soil respiration using machine learning‎‎ models in Eastern Forests of Mazandaran Province. Forest Research and Development 2022, 8(4), 371-388. (In Persian)
Hu, Z.; Wang, G.; Sun, X., Precipitation and air temperature control the variations of dissolved organic matter along an altitudinal forest gradient, Gongga Mountains, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 2017, 24, 10391-10400.
Huang, S, Deng, H., Data Analytics: A Small Data Approach. CRC Press 2021
Jactel, H.; Petit, J.; Desprez‐Loustau, M.L.; Delzon, S.; Piou, D.; Battisti, A.; Koricheva, J., Drought effects on damage by forest insects and pathogens: a meta‐analysis. Global Change Biology 2012, 18(1), 267-276.
Jafari, Z.; Matinkhah, S.H.; Ebrahimi, K., Study of Physiological Indices of Some Drought Resistance Trees in Natural Conditions. Desert Management 2020, 7(14), 107-118. (in Persian)
Jahanbazy Goujani, H.; Hosseini Nasr, S.M.; Sagheb-Talebi, K.; Hojjati, S.M., Effect of drought stress induced by altitude, on four wild almond species. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 2013, 21(2), 373-386. (In Persian)
Jian, Z.; Shongming, H.; Fangliang, H., Half-century evidence from western Canada shows forest dynamics are primarly driven by competition followed by climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2015 12, 4009–4014.
Julio Camarero, J.; Gazol, A.; Sangüesa-Barreda, G.; Cantero, A.; Sánchez-Salguero, R.; Sánchez-Miranda, A.; Granda, E.; Serra-Maluquer, X.; Ibáñez, R.; Forest growth responses to drought at short-and long-term scales in Spain: squeezing the stress memory from tree rings. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2018, 6, 9.
Khoshravesh, M.; Mirnaseri, M.; Pesarakloo, M., Change detection of precipitation trend of northern part of Iran using Mann–Kendall Non-Parametric Test. Journal of Watershed Management Research 2017, 8(16), 223-231. (In Persian)
Kramer, P., Physiology of woody plants, Elsevier. 2012
Kropp, H.; Loranty, M.M.; Natali, S.M.; Kholodov, A.L.; Alexander, H.D.; Zimov, N.S.; Mack, M.C.; Spawn, S.A., Tree density influences ecohydrological drivers of plant–water relations in a larch boreal forest in Siberia. Ecohydrology 2019, 12(7), e2132.
Li, J.; Gao, X.; Yan, A.; Chang, S.; Li, Q., Altitudinal differentiation of forest resilience to drought in a dryland mountain. Forests 2023, 14(7), 1284.
Ma, Z.; Liu, H.; Mi, Z.; Zhang, Z.; Wang, Y.; Xu, W.; Jiang, L.; He, J.S., Climate warming reduces the temporal stability of plant community biomass production. Nature Communications 2017 8, 1–7.
Marvie Mohadjer, MR., Silviculture. Tehran: Tehran University Press 2007
McLaughlin, B.C.; Blakey, R.; Weitz, A.P.; Feng, X.; Brown, B.J.; Ackerly, D.D.; Dawson, T.E.; Thompson, S.E., Weather underground: Subsurface hydrologic processes mediate tree vulnerability to extreme climatic drought. Global change biology 2020, 26(5), 3091-3107.
Merlin, M.; Perot, T.; Perret, S.; Korboulewsky, N.; Vallet, P., Effects of stand composition and tree size on resistance and resilience to drought in sessile oak and Scots pine. Forest Ecology and Management 2015, 339, 22-33.
Nadal-Sala, D.; Grote, R.; Kraus, D.; Hochberg, U.; Klein, T.; Wagner, Y.; Tatarinov, F.; Yakir, D.; Ruehr, N.K., Integration of tree hydraulic processes and functional impairment to capture the drought resilience of a semi-arid pine forest. Biogeosciences Discussions 2023, 1-35.
Nelder, J. A.; Baker, R. J., Generalized Linear Models. Wiley Online Library, New Jersey. 1972
Rawls, W.J.; Pachepsky, Y.A.; Ritchie, J.C.; Sobecki, T.M.; Bloodworth, H., Effect of soil organic carbon on soil water retention. Geoderma 2003, 116(1-2), 61-76.
Roche, J.W.; Ma, Q.; Rungee, J.; Bales, R.C., Evapotranspiration mapping for forest management in California's Sierra Nevada. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2020, 3, 69.
Rohani, K.; Hosseini Nasr, S.M.; Asadi, H.; Tafazoli, M., The effect of recreation, rural population and forest roads on the diversity of forest‎ understory species (case study: Zarin Abad Forests of Sari)‎. Forest Research and Development 2022, 8(2), 165-179. (In Persian)
Ruiz-Benito, P.; Madrigal-Gonzalez, J.; Ratcliffe, S.; Coomes, D.A.; Kändler, G.; Lehtonen, A.; Wirth, C.; Zavala, M.A., Stand structure and recent climate change constrain stand basal area change in European forests: a comparison across boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean biomes. Ecosystems 2014, 17, 1439-1454.
Saeidi Abueshaghi, Z.; Pilehvar, B.; Sayedena, S.V., Vegetative and physiological responses of purple seedlings to water stress. Forest Research and Development 2023, 9(3), 349-363. (In Persian)
Sagheb Talebi, K.S.; Sajedi, T.; Pourhashemi, M., Forests of Iran. A treasure from the past, a hope for the future, Springer Netherlands 2014
Schmitt, A.; Trouvé, R.; Seynave, I.; Lebourgeois, F., Decreasing stand density favors resistance, resilience, and recovery of Quercus petraea trees to a severe drought, particularly on dry sites. Annals of Forest Science 2020, 77, 1-21.
Schenk, H.J; Jackson, R.B., Rooting depths, lateral root spreads and below-ground/above-ground allometries of plants in water-limited ecosystems. Journal of Ecology 2002 480-494.
Schwartz, N.B.; Feng, X.; Muscarella, R.; Swenson, N.G.; Umaña, M.N.; Zimmerman, J.K.; Uriarte, M., Topography and traits modulate tree performance and drought response in a tropical forest. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 2020, 3, 596256.
Sparks, A.H., nasapower: a NASA POWER global meteorology, surface solar energy and climatology data client for R. Journal of Open Source Software 2018, 3(30), 1035.
Steckel, M.; Moser, W.K.; del Río, M.; Pretzsch, H., Implications of reduced stand density on tree growth and drought susceptibility: a study of three species under varying climate. Forests 2020, 11(6), 627.
Tafazoli, M.; Atarod, P.; Hojjati, S.M.; Tafazoli, M., Rainfall interception by Quercus castaneifolia, Acer velutium, and Pinus brutia plantations within the growing season in Darabkola Forest of Mazandaran Province. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research 2015, 23(1), 1-12. (In Persian)
Tafazoli, M.; Attarod, P.; Hojjati, S.M.; Tafazoli, M., Throughfall Chemistry of Persian Maple (Acer velutinim) and Turkish Pine (Pinus brutia) Plantations in East of Mazandaran. Ecology of Iranian Forest 2019, 7(14), 39-47. (In Persian)
Tilman, D., The ecological consequences of changes in biodiversity: a search for general principles. Ecology 1999 80(5), 1455-1474.
Torres‐Ruiz, J.M.; Cochard, H.; Delzon, S.; Boivin, T.; Burlett, R.; Cailleret, M.; Corso, D.; Delmas, C.E.; De Caceres, M.; Diaz‐Espejo, A.; Fernández‐Conradi, P., Plant hydraulics at the heart of plant, crops and ecosystem functions in the face of climate change. New Phytologist 2024, 241(3), 984-999.
Valizadeh, E.; Asadi, H.; Jaafari, A.; Tafazoli, M., Machine learning prediction of tree species diversity using forest structure and environmental factors: a case study from the Hyrcanian forest, Iran. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2023, 195(11), 1334.
Vicente-Serrano, S.M.; Lopez-Moreno, J.I.; Beguería, S.; Lorenzo-Lacruz, J.; Sanchez-Lorenzo, A.; García-Ruiz, J.M.; Azorin-Molina, C.; Morán-Tejeda, E.; Revuelto, J.; Trigo, R.; Coelho, F., Evidence of increasing drought severity caused by temperature rise in southern Europe. Environmental Research Letters 2014 9(4), 044001.
Vose, J.M.; Clark, J.S.; Luce, C.H.; Patel-Weynand, T., Effects of drought on forests and rangelands in the United States: a comprehensive science synthesis. 2015
Wang, M.; Guo, X.; Zhang, S.; Xiao, L.; Mishra, U.; Yang, Y.; Zhu, B.; Wang, G.; Mao, X.; Qian, T.; Jiang, T., Global soil profiles indicate depth-dependent soil carbon losses under a warmer climate. Nature communications 2022, 13(1), 1-11.
Weil, RR.; Brady, NC., The nature and properties of soils. 15th ed. Doral (FL): Pearson. 2016
Xu, H.; Huang, L.; Chen, J.; Zhou, H.; Wan, Y.; Qu, Q.; Wang, M.; Xue, S., Changes in soil microbial activity and their linkages with soil carbon under global warming. Catena 2023, 232, 107419.
Yousefpour, R.; Jacobsen, J.B.; Thorsen, B.J.; Meilby, H.; Hanewinkel, M.; Oehler, K., A review of decision-making approaches to handle uncertainty and risk in adaptive forest management under climate change. Annals of forest science 2012 69, 1-15.
Zamora-Pereira, J.C.; Yousefpour, R.; Cailleret, M.; Bugmann, H.; Hanewinkel, M., Magnitude and timing of density reduction are key for the resilience to severe drought in conifer-broadleaf mixed forests in Central Europe. Annals of Forest Science 2021, 78(3), 1-28.
Forest Research and Development
Volume 10, Issue 4
March 2025
Pages 431-451

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics