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Title: Simulating the physiological basis of tree ring responses to environmental changes

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6607501

The detection of possible forest growth responses to changes in atmospheric CO/sub 2/ or air pollutants is very difficult by statistical analysis of tree ring chronologies, and a complementary modeling approach has been initially tested. In this new approach, a linked set of mechanistic transport models of carbon, water, and chemical dynamics in soil-plant-litter systems (UTM) is used to generate a matrix of simulated annual stem-wood increment and winter carbon storage values for a range of degree day, water stress, and atmospheric CO/sub 2/ concentrations. These values represent potential tree growth responses as determined by hourly time-step physiological processes. The matrix is accessed by a forest succession model (FORET) according to selected degree day and water stress values or by use of actual site data. These potential growth responses are modified to realized annual increments according to the competition algorithms of the succession simulator using yearly time steps. A 12% increase in stem-wood production was predicted for an oak-hickory (Quercus-Carya spp.) forest in eastern Tennessee by the UTM for both a change in atmospheric CO/sub 2/ from 260 to 340 and from 340 to 600 ..mu..L/L.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
6607501
Report Number(s):
CONF-8804148-5; ON: DE89004168
Resource Relation:
Conference: Conference on forest growth: process modeling of responses to environmental stress, Gulf Shores, AL, USA, 19 Apr 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English