Tree diversity and identity modulate the growth response of thermophilous deciduous forests to climate warming

Tree diversity and species identity are known to play an important role in modulating forest productivity and its capacity to buffer the effects of climatic events. The FunDivEurope exploratory platform allowed us to analyse this modulating effect in a medium-term time span, after an abrupt rise to a new stable level of the average summer temperature of ca 2°C, in Mediterranean forests in central Italy. This paper aims to answer the following questions: 1) did increasing temperature and drought events affect the growth of thermophilous deciduous forests? 2) Was this effect buffered in mixed stands compared to monocultures? 3) Did co-occurring tree species with different ecological characteristics, from more mesophilous to more xerophilous, have different responses? In 2012 and 2017, wood cores were collected from 659 trees in 36 plots representative of thermophilous deciduous forests. The selected tree species were Castanea sativa, Ostrya carpinifolia, Quercus cerris, Quercus ilex and Quercus petraea. In the sampling plots, they were present in pure stands and mixtures from two to four species. After measuring annual rings on cores, chronologies of basal area increment were built, and inventory data were used to estimate tree growth. Results showed a strong reduction of growth, lasting at least 18 years, after the temperature rise. Tree diversity significantly reduced the growth drop after the sudden and stable rise in summer average temperature. Tree mixture effect on growth stability appeared to be dependent on the tree species present in the mixture. Temperature rise and associated drought events, even without changes in rainfall, are one of the main challenges that European forests will face in the current scenarios of climate change. Tree diversity can buffer the effects of climate change over periods of at least 15 years and should be considered in forest management plans.