Olano (2026) Intra-annual decoupling of climate-growth responses and saturation thresholds in a Pyrenean mixed conifer forest

Identification

• Journal: Dendrochronologia
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-06
• Authors: José Miguel Olano
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126601

Research Groups

• EiFAB-iuFOR, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain)
• Department of Forest Science, Universidad de Valladolid (Spain)

Short Summary

This study investigates the intra-annual decoupling of climate-growth responses and saturation thresholds in a Pyrenean mixed conifer forest. The research reveals that even under hyperhumid conditions, precipitation remains a primary driver of radial growth near the Mediterranean bioclimatic boundary.

Objective

• Investigate how four co-occurring conifers respond to climate near the Mediterranean bioclimatic boundary.
• Examine the intra-annual decoupling of earlywood and latewood responses to climate.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Montane forest in the Pyrenees, Spain (1195 m a.s.l.).
• Temporal Scale: 1950–2020 period.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Generalized Additive Models (GAMs), multiple regression.
• Data sources: Tree-ring width chronologies, climate data from SiCLIMA database.

Main Results

• The three evergreen species shared a strong common signal dominated by summer precipitation.
• Earlywood and latewood responded to distinct temporal windows: earlywood reflected a legacy of previous-year water availability, whereas latewood was tightly coupled to current-year summer precipitation.
• GAMs consistently outperformed linear models for latewood, revealing saturation responses ranging from approximately 100 mm in Picea (August) to 200–300 mm in Pinus and Abies (July-August).

Contributions

• This study demonstrates the importance of intra-annual growth partitioning in resolving differential responses across the growing season.
• The results highlight the need for non-linear modeling approaches to capture threshold-driven climate-growth relationships.

Funding

• This research was funded by projects and programs from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Citation

@article{Olano2026Intraannual,
  author = {Olano, José Miguel},
  title = {Intra-annual decoupling of climate-growth responses and saturation thresholds in a Pyrenean mixed conifer forest},
  journal = {Dendrochronologia},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126601},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126601}
}