EGU2018 (Vienna, Austria – 8-13 Apr 2018) – Call for abstracts

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly
Austria Center Vienna (ACV)

Dear researcher,
as convener and co-convener we’re pleased to invite you to submit an abstract to EGU2018 section

“BG2.23: Mediterranean forests under pressure: current knowledge and future science directions”  (find a description below)

The abstract submission deadline is 10th January 2018, 13:00 CET.

This session aims at promoting a lively discussion on the issue of forest vulnerability caused by climate changes, with special focus on causes and mechanisms that induce forests to decline in drought-prone areas. Taking into account your research interests, please consider the option of presenting any recent results in this session. Please visit this page to initiate a submission.

This year it’s a pleasure to have confirmed invited speakers:

• Prof. Josep Penuelas (CREAF, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, SPAIN)
• Dr. William Anderegg (University of Utah, USA)

We look forward to seeing you in Vienna.
Kind regards,
Francesco Ripullone, Giovanna Battipaglia, Veronica De Micco and Jesus J. Camarero

Session Description
BG2.23
Mediterranean forest under pressure: current knowledge and future science directions

Convener: Francesco Ripullone
Co-Conveners: Giovanna Battipaglia, Veronica De Micco, Jesus Julio Camarero

In recent decades, forest vulnerability is rapidly increasing worldwide; forest dieback episodes have been recorded in all biomes affecting different tree species. In particular, several cases of widespread dieback and increased mortality rates have been described for Mediterranean tree and shrub species. These dieback cases are revealing the high vulnerability of some Mediterranean forests, manifested as a loss in tree vigour (leaf shedding, canopy and shoot dieback), growth decline and sometimes tree death. Such dieback phenomena seem to be a response to the rapid temperatures rise and associated drying trends. These cases, extended to a larger scale, can have the potential to rapidly alter forest ecosystem services, with important implications on the carbon-water balance, plant communities and tree population dynamics.
This session focuses on efforts to improve our understanding on how Mediterranenan forest ecosystems respond to changes in climate and to increasing occurrence of extreme events such as heat waves and severe drought stress. In particular, there is increasing awareness on the need to evaluate which functional and structural traits make some tree species more prone to drought-induced dieback. Contributions include both observational, theoretical and as well as experimental studies, spanning a range of scales and conditions. Contributions on studies in semi-arid and other drought-prone ecosystems are also welcome.