Abstract
Key message
The absence of larch budmoth outbreaks and subsequent consequences on tree rings together with a distinct climate–growth relationship enhance the dendroclimatic potential of larch ring width data from the Tatra Mountains.
Abstract
Regular population oscillations are generally considered to arise from trophic interactions, though it is unclear how such cycles are affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Cyclic outbreaks of the larch budmoth (LBM; Zeiraphera diniana), perhaps the most prominent example of periodic insect population dynamics, leave distinct “fingerprints” in the annual rings of host trees, and have been reconstructed over 1,200 years in the European Alps. Although LBM individuals are known to exist in other regions, it is unclear whether recurrent mass outbreaks historically occurred elsewhere. Here, we present new larch (Larix decidua) host and pine (Pinus cembra) non-host chronologies from the Slovakian Tatra that comprise 323 ring width samples dating back to 1612 AD. May–June and May–July temperatures control larch and pine growth (r 1951–2011 = 0.63 and 0.57; p < 0.001), respectively. LBM outbreak-induced defoliation patterns and subsequent ring width reductions were absent over the past three centuries, during which larch (host) and pine (non-host) growth was significantly synchronized (r 1725–2012 = 0.48; p < 0.001). Spatially limited host forests of overall low stand densities along the northwestern Carpathian arc together with a relatively warm climate envelope are most likely responsible for the absence of cyclic LBM outbreaks. Tree-ring chronologies from these ecotones, free of pulsed disruptions, therefore, represent unique paleoclimatic archives ideal for reconstructing interannual to multi-centennial variations in Eastern European summer temperature.
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Author contribution statement
This study was realized in collaboration between all authors: UB, TK and OK carried out field and laboratory work. UB and OK designed the study, computed and analyzed the data. Interpretation, discussion of and conclusions from results were a joint work of all authors. The text was written by OK and UB and revised by JE, AL, LS, and ED.
Acknowledgments
Ulf Büntgen was supported by the Operational Programme of Education for Competitiveness of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Project: Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought, No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248). Dr. Peter Fleischer from the State forests of TANAP kindly organized and contributed to fieldwork. We thank Marek Turcani for information about historical occurrence of insect outbreaks in the Tatra Mountains.
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All authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Communicated by E. Liang.
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Konter, O., Esper, J., Liebhold, A. et al. Tree-ring evidence for the historical absence of cyclic larch budmoth outbreaks in the Tatra Mountains. Trees 29, 809–814 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1160-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1160-0