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Oak decline in Helsinki portrayed by tree-rings, climate and soil data

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Abstract

Oak decline has recently been observed in and around Helsinki. Tree-ring widths of pedunculate oak were used to assess pre-mortem growth patterns, their dependence on climatic factors and linkages to soil thickness. Tree-ring chronologies were constructed in three tree vigour classes (healthy, declining and dying oaks). Characteristic “summer response” was found as a positive influence of summer precipitation was the most important climatic factor limiting the radial growth in all vigour classes. On the other hand, a differing “winter response” was found for tree-rings of dying and other classes of oaks. The growth of dying oaks was more sensitive to variations in mid-winter temperatures, due presumably to higher risk of frost damage to their roots. Recent summer droughts, which may have increased the potential for bark necrosis due to reinforcing effects from defoliation in decreasing the capability of oaks to acclimatize to winter frost, may thus have played a role in this decline. Amplified water stress was indicated by dendrochronological parameters on sites with shallow soils.

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Acknowledgements

We thank two anonymous referees for critical review of the manuscript. Oaks were cored in Villa Anneberg under licence from the City of Helsinki (HKR 2007-814). This study was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant #122033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    S. Helama

  2. Institute of Geography, University of Tartu, Vanemuise St. 46, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    A. Läänelaid

  3. The City of Helsinki, The Public Works Department, Street and Park Division, P.O. Box 1515, 00099, Helsinki, Finland

    J. Raisio

  4. Finnish Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 503, 00101, Helsinki, Finland

    H. Tuomenvirta

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Helama, S., Läänelaid, A., Raisio, J. et al. Oak decline in Helsinki portrayed by tree-rings, climate and soil data. Plant Soil 319, 163–174 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9858-z

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