Identifying the relationships of climate and physiological responses of a beech forest using the Standardised Precipitation Index: a case study for Slovakia

Abstract

The paper presents relationship between the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) and physiological responses of individual trees in a beech stand using an example of an experimental plot in Bienska valley (Zvolen, Slovakia). SPI is a widely used tool for monitoring both short-term and long-term droughts, and for the assessments of drought impacts on agriculture. Due to the complex ecosystem bonds, monitoring of drought in forests often requires a sophisticated technological approach. The aim of the paper was to correlate the SPI on the physiological responses of trees that were recorded during the performed physiological research (sap flow, and stem circumference increment) at the site in the growing seasons (May to September) of the years 2012-2014. The results revealed a relationship between the index and the physiological responses, although the problem with the impact of other environmental factors has also come up. The secondary correlation, in which soil water potential that significantly affects physiological responses of forest tree species was used as a dependent variable, showed a tighter relationship with the SPI. We found the highest correlation between the soil water potential and the values of SPI aggregated for five weeks. This indicates that the beech forest has a five week resistance to drought stress. The results also enable simple monitoring of the initiation of the drought stress by applying SPI for five weeks.

Keywords

• drought
• physiological responses
• beech
• standardised precipitation index
• soil water potential