Forest Ecology and Management最新文献

{"title":"Latitudinal variation in constitutive chemical defense compounds in two host plants of Lymantria dispar (Lymantriidae): Betula pendula (Betulaceae) and Larix sibirica (Pinaceae)","authors":"Anna Subbotina ,&nbsp;Elena Chernyak ,&nbsp;Vladislav Soukhovolsky ,&nbsp;Sergey Morozov ,&nbsp;Vyacheslav Martemyanov","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122811","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122811","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dynamics of changes in Earth's climate cause movement of ecotones in the northern direction. Phytophagous insects often expand ahead of populations of their host plants. Due to this range expansion, phytophagous insects will face new populations/species of host plants, which may differ in constitutive chemical defense compounds affecting the insects' growth and development. In this paper, we studied the distribution of potential determinants of toxicity among different populations of host plants of <em>Lymantria dispar</em>: one of the most widespread invasive forest pests in the Holarctic region. We focused on <em>Betula pendula</em> and <em>Larix sibirica</em> populations in Western Siberia, using a 1000-km-long north–south transect covering both <em>L. dispar's</em> historical geographic range and recent natural distribution. We analyzed fatty acids, diterpenoids, β-sitosterol, alcohol nonacosan-10-ol, and nonacosan-10-on in <em>L. sibirica</em> spring needles. We also assayed triterpenoids in <em>B. pendula</em> spring leaves at the same phenological stage, considering these compounds potential bottom-up regulators of pest expansion. We found a significant decrease in concentrations of dehydroabietic acid and nonacosan-10-ol (antifeedant compounds for <em>L. dispar</em>), from south to north in spring needles of <em>L. sibirica</em>. Additionally, we observed a significant increase of fatty-acid levels in these needles along the same south-to-north gradient. There was a nonlinear pattern of the distribution of triterpenoids along the latitudinal gradient in the spring leaves of <em>B. pendula</em> populations. Studies on the variation of plant secondary metabolites — chemical defenses against herbivorous insects — have not been conducted for <em>L. sibirica</em>, and existing research on <em>B. pendula</em> did not include information on the phenological stages of leaf development, despite the known temporal dependence of chemical variability. Our current study fills these gaps. Our findings reveal that dehydroabietic acid and nonacosan-10-ol in <em>L. sibirica</em> may facilitate the northern expansion of the forest defoliator <em>L. dispar</em> and triterpenoids in <em>B. pendula</em> appear unlikely to impede this range shift.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122811"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144106919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interactive effects of species composition, site quality, and drought on growth dynamics of Norway spruce and Scots pine stands in Norway","authors":"Christian Kuehne,&nbsp;Kobra Maleki,&nbsp;Morgane Merlin,&nbsp;Aksel Granhus","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122804","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122804","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Data from the Norwegian national forest inventory spanning from 1994 to 2022 were analyzed to explore the growth dynamics of pure and mixed stands of Norway spruce and Scots pine. The derived large dataset enabled the development of models designed to assess how stand characteristics and drought interactively affect volume increment at the stand and individual tree level. The analysis revealed that pine-dominated stands outperform spruce-dominated stands at lower site qualities, while the opposite was true at higher site qualities. Mixed stands exhibited overyielding, with productivity exceeding the expected combined pure stand productivity of the individual species components. Based on model predictions, relative overyielding increased with stand age and declined with increasing site quality. Transgressive overyielding, where mixed stands outperform pure stands of either species, was predicted for medium site qualities. Drought-induced productivity losses increased with spruce proportion, especially at lower site qualities, and with stand density. The presence of pine in mixed stands mitigated the negative effects of drought on spruce. The findings of this study suggest that pure spruce stands should be avoided on lower-quality sites while mixed stands with appropriate thinning interventions should be promoted to maintain productivity under changing climatic conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122804"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144083895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Invasive Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. hosts more lichens than native tree species – does quantity reflect quality?","authors":"Anna Łubek ,&nbsp;Wojciech Adamowski ,&nbsp;Marcin K. Dyderski ,&nbsp;Sylwia Wierzcholska ,&nbsp;Patryk Czortek","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122812","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122812","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impact of nonnative trees on epiphytic lichen diversity is one of the most significant knowledge gaps in invasion ecology. One notable invader, <em>Prunus cerasifera</em> Ehrh., has been identified as a rapidly spreading nonnative into forest ecosystems, potentially influencing the diversity of epiphytic lichens. The objective of this study was to determine whether the taxonomic and functional diversity of lichens colonizing <em>P. cerasifera</em> bark differs from that observed on native trees composing early successional oak-hornbeam forest. We conducted our study in the surroundings of the Białowieża National Park by surveying epiphytes inhabiting four native trees (<em>Carpinus betulus</em>, <em>Tilia cordata</em>, <em>Quercus robur</em>, and <em>Populus tremula</em>), and non-native <em>P. cerasifera</em>, varying in diameter at breast height (DBH). Using ordination and linear regression, we found that <em>P. cerasifera</em> hosted the highest taxonomic and functional diversity of lichens. For <em>Q. robur</em> and <em>T. cordata</em> we observed a positive relationship between increasing DBH and lichen taxonomic and functional diversity. Similarly, the epiphyte richness increased with DBH in <em>P. cerasifera</em>, but we did not find any relationship between lichen functional diversity and DBH. This suggests that even small <em>P. cerasifera</em> individuals can support a high epiphyte functional diversity, surpassing that of native trees. We provided novel evidence of invasive tree impact on the least analysed group of dependent organisms, broadening functional and phylogenetic range of assessed nonnative trees. In this context, <em>P. cerasifera</em> appears to play a specific function as a host of particular importance for restoring epiphytic biota in transformed ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122812"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144083896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Potential of thinning to increase forest resilience and resistance to drought, pest, windstorm and fire: A meta-analysis","authors":"Catherine Chagnon ,&nbsp;Sébastien Dumont ,&nbsp;Alexandre Morin-Bernard ,&nbsp;Hervé Jactel ,&nbsp;Alexis Achim ,&nbsp;Guillaume Moreau","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122788","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122788","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the pressure on forest ecosystems increases with the occurrence of more severe and frequent natural disturbances, the need for silvicultural treatments to mitigate multiple risks is becoming increasingly apparent. Thinning has been identified as a means of managing stands to enhance resilience and resistance to disturbances. However, the underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disturbance types and tree species and there is a lack of empirical evidence that thinning can effectively mitigate these risks at a broad scale. We conducted a meta-analysis of 50 studies quantifying the effects of thinning treatments on the resilience and resistance of forest stands to four categories of natural disturbances: drought, insects and pathogens, wind, and fire. Meta-analyses were conducted to examine the influence of various moderators, namely the response type (growth, survival, damage), thinning intensity, thinning type, time since the first treatment, stand age and pest type (for insects and pathogens). We found a positive broad-scale effect of thinning on forest resilience and resistance, while the disturbance-specific effect was positive for reducing the impact of drought, pests, and in some cases fire, but not significant for windstorms. Although responses varied among disturbance types, and in some cases response type, thinning type, and time since treatment, a key finding of this study is that no statistically significant negative effect of thinning has been detected with respect to our resilience and resistance indicators. Although thinning should not be considered as a tool that will singlehandedly increase the resilience of forests, our results suggest that for temperate and boreal ecosystems of North America and Europe, thinning can be expected to increase the resilience and resistance of forests to multiple stressors, in a wide range of sites and stand characteristics. Yet, empirical data from Asia, southern hemisphere and tropical forests are needed to enable global-scale conclusions. Moreover, potential detrimental effects of thinning on forest ecology should be carefully assessed before prioritizing thinning as a means of increasing forest resilience and resistance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122788"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144070755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ten-year growth and survival of northern red oak seedlings planted in a Central Appalachian strip clearcut","authors":"Patrick Plaugher ,&nbsp;Jamie Schuler","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122807","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122807","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Upland oaks are a keystone group of trees throughout Central Appalachia. However, there has been difficulty in regenerating oak dominated forests. In addition, existing methods to regenerate oak-dominated forests can be costly, damaging to residual trees, and may require upfront investment before any economic return is seen. Methods which provide a compromise between actively creating competitive oak advance reproduction and providing economic near-term revenues are needed. We hypothesized that a strip clearcut method, where one-half of the area is cut in strips and the residual area is removed 5–10 years after, could create competitive advance reproduction due to improved understory light conditions while providing up front revenue for landowners. We harvested 45 m (150 ft) wide strips oriented north to south on a high-quality site in Central Appalachia in the fall of 2014 and planted 360 northern red oak seedlings the following spring. Seedlings were planted in 8 positions across residual/cut strip pairings which represented a gradient in light availability. Seedling survival was greatest within residual strips, and lowest within cut strips, although average growth was greater in the cut strips. Seedlings along strip edges had the best combination of survival (about 70 %) and growth with the average height of edge seedlings exceeding 91 cm (minimum height of competitive seedlings) in 2024. We also used dominance probabilities to calculate the required planting density to regenerate 20 % stocking of dominant and codominant oaks 20 years after harvest. Ten years following the initial strip harvests, based on the survival and growth of planted seedlings, the required planting density ranged from 2500–4500 trees/ha to meet a 20 % stocking goal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122807"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144070651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parallel but different deaths: sudden drought-trigged mortality in Scots pine versus slow climate- and mistletoe-driven mortality in silver fir","authors":"Álvaro Rubio-Cuadrado ,&nbsp;José Carlos Miranda ,&nbsp;Fernando Montes ,&nbsp;Juan Pablo Crespo-Antia ,&nbsp;Antonio Gazol ,&nbsp;J. Julio Camarero","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122797","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122797","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, forest die-off events have increased worldwide due to warmer droughts, with Southwestern Europe emerging as a mortality hotspot. This region is notably affected by widespread decline and die-off episodes, particularly in mountain forests dominated by <em>Abies alba</em> (silver fir) and <em>Pinus sylvestris</em> (Scots pine). We study four stands (two Scots pine, two silver fir) showing ongoing die-off in the Spanish Pyrenees, near the southwestern edge of both species’ distributions. Our objectives were to analyze growth patterns of declining trees in mortality hotspots, and to study the climatic (drought) and biotic (mistletoe) factors contributing to this decline. Using dendroecological methods and a recently developed change-point analysis approach, we assessed differences in growth patterns at stand and individual tree levels. Results showed that mortality events were recent, especially for Scots pine. Although mortality patterns were tree-specific, Scots pine typically exhibited a sudden growth decline before death or a sudden mortality without prior growth decline, whereas silver fir generally showed gradual and prolonged growth decline preceding mortality. Drought and elevated temperatures were the primary triggers for Scots pine and the warmer-drier silver fir site, with secondary contributors such as historical management and microsite conditions (soil, aspect, slope, moisture, density, size, age, competition). Conversely, in the colder-wetter silver fir site, mistletoe was the sole driver of decline and mortality. These findings highlight the complex interplay of primary and secondary stressors underlying forest die-off.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122797"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of urea fertilization and liming on soil nutrient dynamics following intensive organic matter removal and vegetation control in a Douglas-fir forest","authors":"K.M. Littke ,&nbsp;S.M. Holub ,&nbsp;W.R. Littke ,&nbsp;E.C. Turnblom","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122792","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122792","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Fall River Long-Term Soil Productivity site in coastal WA, USA, examines the long-term effects of organic matter removal and vegetation control on Douglas-fir (<em>Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii</em> (Mirbel) Franco) productivity. Treatments included bole-only (BO), whole-tree (WT), and whole-tree with coarse woody debris removal (WT+), with either five years of complete vegetation control (V: BOV, WTV, WT+V) or only initial control (BO). Previous studies showed that the Fall River soil initially contained high total N and low base cations, and BOV, WTV, and WT+V treatments had reduced soil NO₃, Ca, K, and Mg availability after 18 years. This study tested whether urea fertilization or liming could restore nutrient losses using soil extractions and Plant Root Simulator (PRS) probes over 2 and 5 years. Urea fertilization quickly increased NO₃ availability down to 50 cm, though WT+V plots responded the least. Urea also boosted PRS Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu initially but subsequently reduced PRS Ca and Mg supply rates and soil pH. Liming raised exchangeable Ca and PRS Ca in the forest floor and shallow soil, but not at 20–50 cm where WT+V had the lowest Ca levels. While this study used non-operational vegetation control and organic matter removals, it underscores the role of understory vegetation and harvest residues in retaining soil nutrients and the potential for fertilizers to ameliorate nutrient losses. This study also raises concerns about the effect of urea on base cation leaching in soils with high N and low base cations, which could explain the low observed fertilizer growth response in similar coastal soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122792"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maintaining landscape connectivity for spider assemblages in temperate grasslands: The role of firebreaks in Eucalyptus dunnii plantations","authors":"M. Belén Maldonado ,&nbsp;Álvaro Laborda ,&nbsp;Manuel Cajade ,&nbsp;Damián Hagopián ,&nbsp;Alejandro Brazeiro ,&nbsp;Miguel Simó","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122785","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122785","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Río de la Plata Grasslands have experienced significant land use and land cover changes as a result of agricultural and silvicultural conversion, which have heavily impacted natural environments. In Uruguay, large-scale afforestation has fragmented dominant grassland landscapes. Spiders, as generalist predators sensitive to environmental changes, serve as useful indicators for biodiversity studies in these fragmented environments. This study aims to understand the role of firebreaks within <em>Eucalyptus</em> plantations in Uruguay, hypothesizing that firebreaks might act as connectors for grassland spider populations due to their higher environmental similarity with natural grasslands. Spider assemblages were studied in a grassland-dominated landscape with commercial <em>Eucalyptus dunnii</em> plantations. Local environmental variables were measured, and spiders were collected with two methods —pitfall traps and G-vac (garden vacuum)— across three types of environments: grasslands, firebreaks and tree plantations. Species richness and abundance were significantly higher in grasslands compared to <em>Eucalyptus</em> plantations, but there were no significant differences between grasslands and firebreaks. At family level and among guilds, spider species composition in grasslands was more similar to that of the firebreaks than to that of the tree plantations. Similarity in the species composition was significantly explained by the types of environments (grasslands vs. firebreaks, grasslands vs. <em>Eucalyptus</em> plantations) rather than by the distance between sampling units. Overall, these findings provide new insights into the role of firebreaks in <em>Eucalyptus</em> plantations, suggesting that firebreaks, having environmental characteristics similar to grasslands, could serve as habitats and corridors for numerous spider species, facilitating their establishment, reproduction, and movement within the afforestation landscape.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122785"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Water table depth contributes to tropical Eucalyptus plantation yields in sandstone-derived landscapes","authors":"José Luiz Stape ,&nbsp;Clayton Alcarde Alvares","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122771","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest growth in tropical regions is regulated in part by climatic factors, such as precipitation and temperature, and by soil factors, such as nutrient availability and water storage capacity. We examined a decade of growth data from <em>Eucalyptus</em> clonal plantations from over 113,000 forest inventory plots across a 10 million-ha portion of Mato Grosso do Sul in southwestern Brazil. From this full dataset, three subsets were screened: 71,000 plots to characterize growth and yield across water table depth classes, 17,000 plots to build generalized models, and 50,000 plots for clone-based analyses. Average precipitation varied little across the region (1150 to 1270 mm yr⁻¹), but water table depth ranged from less than 10 m to over 100 m. Where the water table was within 10 m of the surface, about 20 % of the total water used by trees came from this saturated zone. Water tables deeper than 50 m contributed very little to tree water use. Sites with a water table within 10 m averaged 47 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in stem growth (mean annual increment, MAI) across a full rotation, compared to less than 37 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for sites with water tables deeper than 50 m. Drought-induced canopy damage rose from 7 % to 30 % along the water tables depth gradient, while tree mortality rose nearly fourfold. The optimal stocking level was about 1360 trees ha⁻¹ where water tables were accessible, declining to 1080 trees ha⁻¹ where they were not. Among the 15 most planted <em>Eucalyptus</em> clones, increases in MAI from the lowest to highest water table depths ranged from + 4.8 to + 16.8 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ , reflecting significant genotype-environment interactions. On average, MAI decreased by 0.8 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (ranging from 0.4 to 1.4) for every 10 m increase in water table depth. Similarly, the Site Index at base age 7 years declined from 31 m to 27 m, with an average reduction of 0.25 m per 10 m increase in water table depth. Physiographic modeling of water table depths offers useful information for forest management practices like forest inventory and planning, clonal allocation, optimized planting densities, fertilization strategies, coppice techniques, and other landscape-specific strategies like tree breeding zones.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 122771"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143948135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating the potential of oxygen isoscapes for tropical timber tracing","authors":"Mart Vlam ,&nbsp;Laura Boeschoten ,&nbsp;Peter van der Sleen ,&nbsp;Ulfa Adzkia ,&nbsp;Arnoud Boom ,&nbsp;Gaël U.D. Bouka ,&nbsp;Jannici C.U. Ciliane-Madikou ,&nbsp;Tijs Kuzee ,&nbsp;Nestor Laurier Engone Obiang ,&nbsp;Mesly Guieshon-Engongoro ,&nbsp;Joël J. Loumeto ,&nbsp;Dieu-merci M.F. Mbika ,&nbsp;Cynel G. Moundounga ,&nbsp;Rita M.D. Ndangani ,&nbsp;Dyana Ndiade Bourobou ,&nbsp;Kathelyn Paredes-Villanueva ,&nbsp;Mohamad M. Rahman ,&nbsp;Barbara Rocha Venâncio Meyer-Sand ,&nbsp;Iskandar Z. Siregar ,&nbsp;Steve N. Tassiamba ,&nbsp;Pieter A. Zuidema","doi":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122757","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122757","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Independent verification of timber origin is needed to enforce legislation aimed at combatting illegal tropical timber trade. A potential technique is tracing back the stable isotope signal preserved in wood samples, but the scarcity of reference data currently hampers its operationalization. This can be overcome by creating isoscapes. Here we develop continental isoscapes (at 0.5° resolution) for five tropical timbers based on wood δ¹⁸O ratios and assess their potential for timber tracing. We compiled a pantropical database of δ¹⁸O measurements from 712 trees in 20 countries. We tested effects of δ¹⁸O in rainfall, potential evapotranspiration (PET), temperature and precipitation on wood δ¹⁸O and used these to develop isoscapes based on quantile regression forests. A first indication of the tracing potential of these isoscapes was tested in leave one out cross validation (LOOCV) analyses. Across the five isoscapes, ranges in wood δ¹⁸O values (10th-90th percentile) averaged 3.9 ‰ and δ¹⁸O differences increased with distance. Yet local variability in wood δ¹⁸O was substantial compared to large-scale variability. The LOOCV analysis showed that the actual origin was included in the probable origin for 59–79 % of the cases. The area of probable origin was large, however, suggesting a low spatial precision of assignment. This study finds limited support for a potential to use wood oxygen isoscapes for tropical timber tracing within continents. Necessary future steps in timber isotope tracing include improving regional representation, conducting similar analyses for other isotopes, rigorous testing of species differences and conducting blind sample tests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12350,"journal":{"name":"Forest Ecology and Management","volume":"590 ","pages":"Article 122757"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143948828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}