{"id":112119,"date":"2026-01-17T03:18:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=112119"},"modified":"2026-01-17T13:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T12:01:32","slug":"forests-under-climate-stress-why-trees-are-growing-less-despite-an-early-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/environment\/forests-under-climate-stress-why-trees-are-growing-less-despite-an-early-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Forests under climate stress \u2013 Why trees are growing less despite an early start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Climate change is causing trees to sprout earlier in spring. Nevertheless, some tree species are growing less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A TreeNet study led by the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL shows that increasing heat and drought are slowing down the growth of the most common tree species in Switzerland. This has consequences for carbon storage and forestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Due to global warming, stem growth in trees now begins several days earlier than it did ten years ago.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite the earlier start to the season, the most common Swiss tree species are showing a declining growth trend because heat and drought are reducing the number of effective growing days. Spruce, silver fir and beech are particularly affected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Slower growth means less carbon storage and new challenges for forest use.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is getting warmer. While our environment is suffering from the consequences of climate change, there has been a small glimmer of hope: our forests absorb carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) from the air and store it in wood. In theory, warmer conditions and an extended growing season could have helped forests capture even more CO\u2082. \u201cBut this assumption doesn\u2019t hold up,\u201d says Arun Bose, an ecologist at WSL. \u201cIt was believed that a longer warm season might offset some of the negative effects of climate change. Unfortunately, that is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his study, Bose and colleagues evaluated the growth of five of the most common tree species at 48 locations in Switzerland. \u201cOver the last eleven years, the growing season has shifted forward by several days. This is the period of the year when trees can&nbsp;photosynthesise,\u201d explains Bose. However, the earlier start to the season does not automatically lead to more growth \u2013 on the contrary. Between 2012 and 2022, annual radial stem growth declined in many stands. Increased heat waves and dry spells put trees under stress and inhibit their growth. The decline is particularly pronounced in silver fir, beech and spruce, while oak and pine trees annual growth rates remain stable. One thing is certain, however: none of the tree species studied benefited from the warmer climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Consequences for carbon storage and forestry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trees grow when sufficient water is available. If it is too hot and too dry, more water evaporates than can be absorbed by the roots \u2013 the tree becomes stressed and growth stops. Depending on the tree species and weather conditions, this leaves only 40 to 110 days of growth per year. \u201cIn the end, a few days and hours determine how much a tree grows,\u201d explains Bose. \u201cIf some of these are lost due to increased heat and dry periods, a large part of the annual stem growth is missing.\u201d An earlier start is therefore of little use if heat and drought shorten the critical growth phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has consequences for the services that forests provide. Trees absorb CO<sub>2<\/sub> and store it in wood. Put simply, the larger the stem diameter, the more carbon is bound in a tree. If the effective growth period of the most important species decreases, their absorption capacity also decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Forestry is also affected. If the summer months become warmer and drier, forestry operations will tend to harvest less wood. In addition, management practices will have to be adapted to climate change. \u201cHow trees respond to climate change depends on both their location and species. That is why it is important to assess management strategies locally and species-specifically,\u201d emphasises Bose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How the measurements were taken<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image \">\n<figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><a class=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsl.ch\/fileadmin\/user_upload\/News\/2025\/12_weniger_Holzzuwachs\/Bild1_dendrometer_quer_Zweifel.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wsl.ch\/fileadmin\/_processed_\/3\/7\/csm_Bild1_dendrometer_quer_Zweifel_a2559af32a.jpg\" alt=\"The picture shows an instrument attached to a tree trunk. It consists of metallic parts and tubes.\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.498802417975136;width:330px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Point dendrometers are mounted on the stem and continuously measure, in the micrometre range, how the tree stem expands and shrinks. Photo: Roman Zweifel, WSL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study examined a total of 228 trees at 48 Swiss forest sites. The data comes from high-resolution measurements taken by the international observation and research network TreeNet. This network uses point dendrometers, measuring instruments attached to the stem that record the smallest changes in the diameter of tree stems. This makes it possible to see when new wood is actually being formed or whether the stem is simply expanding or contracting due to water uptake or loss. The data allows the water balance and radial stem growth to be analysed on an hourly basis and climate effects to be documented in real time. See also the video <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Vavpdv55ARE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018The thing \u2013 point dendrometer\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:17px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bose A.K., Etzold S., Meusburger K., Gessler A., Baltensweiler A., Braun S., \u2026 Zweifel R. (2025) Decreasing stem growth in common European tree species despite earlier growth onset. Glob. Chang. Biol. 31(7), e70318 (17 pp.). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/gcb.70318 |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dora.lib4ri.ch\/wsl\/islandora\/object\/wsl:40954\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Institutional Repository DORA<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/treenet.info\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TreeNet<\/a>\u00a0is an environmental monitoring network for measuring tree growth and drought.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<h5 class=\"green\">Source<\/h5>\r\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsl.ch\/en\/news\/forests-under-climate-stress-why-trees-are-growing-less-despite-an-early-start\/\">Eidg. 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Nevertheless, some tree species are growing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":85567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Forests under climate stress \u2013 Why trees are growing less despite an early start - Sonnenseite - \u00d6kologische Kommunikation mit Franz Alt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Climate change is causing trees to sprout earlier in spring. Nevertheless, some tree species are growing less. 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