Mixing for resilience? Evaluating the growth and drought response of beech mixed with Douglas fir or silver fir

作者：Isabelle Lanzrein, Marlene Graf, Ronja Wenglein, Rafael Achury, Stefan Scheu, Wolfgang W. Weisser, Peter Annighöfer · 发表于：Forest Ecology and Management · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122959 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Forest ecology and management、Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Tree-ring climate responses

Temperate forests in Central Europe face unprecedented challenges due to increasingly hot and frequent droughts induced by climate change. A key question in forestry is whether mixed stands including drought-tolerant species like the non-native Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) or the native silver fir ( Abies alba ), can enhance drought resilience and improve growth conditions for European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ). We sampled and measured tree ring widths from tree cores for the years 2000–2022 from 94 forest plots of beech/Douglas fir, beech/silver fir mixtures and pure beech stands in northern Bavaria, Germany. We analyzed the effects of species and neighborhood on growth variability, productivity, and drought response. Douglas fir displayed stable growth compared to silver fir and beech. Mixtures of beech/Douglas fir tended to have a lower growth variability, yet this was not significant. In terms of productivity, beech neighboring Douglas fir grew 16 % more and beech neighboring silver fir grew 8 % more than beech in pure stands. Unexpectedly, neighborhood composition did not show clear advantages in beech drought response. Rather, beech basal area increment increased during drought years, whereas conifers experienced growth decline. Despite minor effects of mixture on beech drought response, mixtures are preferable due to their increased productivity, risk spreading and ecosystem services. When considering future forest management, the decision to use Douglas fir o...