Varying effects of tree composition, diversity and structure on the microclimate of European forests

Background/Question/Methods

: Due to climate change, European forests face rising temperatures and increasing severity and frequency of droughts. However, forests may potentially buffer a significant part of the negative climate-change effects. These buffering effects likely depend on forest structure, composition, and diversity, which can be manipulated by forest management to support these climate-change mitigation functions. Here, we present the results of the project in which we measured soil moisture, temperature, and air temperature in forest stands with varying species composition and species diversity in temperate planted forests of Central Europe.

Results/Conclusions

: The most pronounced difference in the measured microclimate variables was found between pure coniferous and pure broadleaved forest stands. Broadleaved forests had greater summer maximum and winter minimum air and soil temperatures but conserved better soil moisture, especially in late summer and autumn. Mixed forests had microclimate very similar to pure conifer forests, which indicates that conifers are the primary driver of microclimate in the mixed stands. We also found that Increasing tree density reduced temperature extremes but decreased soil moisture. These results suggest that foresters may influence forest microclimate by varying tree composition and structure. However, the species that mediate temperature extremes may differ from those that best conserve soil moisture.