Imprisoned in the Cretan mountains: How relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) trees cope with Mediterranean climate.
- Fazan L Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Biology and Botanical Garden, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. Electronic address: laurence.fazan@unifr.ch.
- Guillet S Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland; Dendrolab.ch, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraichers 13, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: sebastien.guillet@unige.ch.
- Corona C GEOLAB UMR CNRS 6042, Rue Ledru 4, FR-63057 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 1, France. Electronic address: christophe.corona@univ-bpclermont.fr.
- Kozlowski G Department of Biology and Botanical Garden, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Natural History Museum Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland. Electronic address: gregor.kozlowski@unifr.ch.
- Stoffel M Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl Vogt 66, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland; Dendrolab.ch, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraichers 13, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: markus.stoffel@unige.ch.
- 2017-05-13
Published in:
- The Science of the total environment. - 2017
English
We investigate the sensitivity of the relict, endemic Cretan tree species Zelkova abelicea (Lam.) Boiss. (Ulmaceae) to several climate variables (temperature, precipitation and drought). For this purpose, we establish the first centennial tree-ring chronology for the species, and the first ever tree-ring chronology for a broadleaved species on Crete. We demonstrate the strong sensitivity of Z. abelicea towards precipitation and drought in late spring to early summer and the absence of a significant response to abundant precipitation occurring during winter or early spring. Whereas the late spring sensitivity is strong and consistent through time, the species seems to be experiencing a loss of signal towards early summer conditions since the 1970s, interpreted as an earlier cessation of cambial activity due to the increase in summer drought conditions on Crete. However, despite a reduced vegetative period, no significant decrease in radial growth of Z. abelicea was observed in the tree-ring series for the last decades, thus highlighting the capacity of Z. abelicea to withstand changing environmental conditions.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.047
- PMID 28499228
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.rero.ch/global/documents/170403
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