Treeline-Quo Vadis? An Ecophysiological Approach

At high elevation or latitude, the margin of the life-form tree is set by low temperature, with trees defined as upright woody species taller than 2-3 m. Globally, the temperature limit of the life-form tree occurs whenever the growing season mean soil temperature declines to 6.7 +/- 0.8 degrees C. Disturbance and human land use, however, can cause trees to be absent from the climatic treeline. After addressing definitions and concepts related to treeline ecophysiology and examining treeline structure and dynamics, the focus will be on future treeline developments with respect to climate, competition and land use change. Finally, changes in economic structure and land use within the treeline ecotone are outlined with respect to net ecosystem production and year-round evapotranspiration.

Automated summary

The margin of the life-form tree in high elevation or latitude areas is determined by low temperature, with trees defined as upright woody species taller than 2-3m. The global temperature limit of the life-form tree occurs when the mean soil temperature in the growing season declines to 6.7 +/- 0.8 degrees C. However, disturbance and human land use can lead to the absence of trees at the climatic treeline.