Relative decline in density of Northern Hemisphere tree species in warm and arid regions of their climate niches.

ABSTRACT: Although climate change is expected to drive tree species toward colder and wetter regions of their distribution, broadscale empirical evidence is lacking. One possibility is that past and present human activities in forests obscure or alter the effects of climate. Here, using data from more than two million monitored trees from 73 widely distributed species, we quantify changes in tree species density within their climatic niches across Northern Hemisphere forests. We observe a reduction in mean density across species, coupled with a tendency toward increasing tree size. However, the direction and magnitude of changes in density exhibit considerable variability between species, influenced by stand development that results from previous stand-level disturbances. Remarkably, when accounting

SUBMITTER: Astigarraga J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11252807 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature