Scientific Area
TREE RING-CLIMATE RELATIONSHIP IN ATLAS CEDAR AND ALEPPO PINE IN NORTHWESTERN ALGERIA
ID: 613 / 340
Category: Abstract
Track: Pending
Proposed Symposium Title: TREE RING-CLIMATE RELATIONSHIP IN ATLAS CEDAR AND ALEPPO PINE IN NORTHWESTERN ALGERIA
Authors:
Mohamed SARMOUM (1)
Fatiha ABDOUN (2)
Affiliations: 1Plant physiology and soilless culture laboratory, FSNV, Ibn Khaldoun University Tiaret, Algeria mohamed.sarmoum@univ-tiaret.dz 2Plant ecology and environment laboratory, FSB, University of Science and Technology (USTHB) Algiers, Algeria
Abstract:
In the context of global and climatic changes, forest species are showing changes in their productivity, growth and range distribution. The Aleppo pine is a typically Mediterranean species with a wide geographical distribution. Atlas cedar is an endemic species in Algeria and Morocco.
Tree-ring and climate relationships were studied in Atlas cedar and Aleppo pine populations in northwestern Algeria. The aim of this work is to understand the response of each of the two species to climate change marked by persistent drought over the past three decades.
Although the two species are exposed to similar ecological conditions, their response to climate is not the same. Atlas cedar show positive relationships with annual and monthly precipitation for several months, especially in winter and spring. This sensitivity is more marked in populations located at low altitude and/or on a sandstone substrate.The Aleppo pine has positive relationships with monthly precipitation in spring and negative relationships with minimum temperatures in its upper altitudinal limit. The two species could therefore show mixed responses to climate change, these responses are modulated by environmental conditions such as substrate and altitude.
These results can improve our knowledge of the response and resilience to drought for both species and guide future reforestation and ecological restoration projects.