Air temperature as a determinant of the forest line in the Tatras

Date

2021-09-19

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Publisher

Sciendo (De Gruyter)

Abstract

The forest line has been widely studied by a number of scientists representing various research disciplines. Changes in its position are an indicator of climate change. However, despite numerous studies, it is not always known what has the greatest influence on the position of the forest line. In the Tatras, which are Alpine mountains, the position of the forest line in places not disturbed by human activity or slope processes mainly depends on the annual mean air temperature and the number of days with negative temperature and its value in the warm season. The most unfavourable thermal conditions are found at the bottoms of concave landforms, just above the forest line. This thermal barrier effectively limits the upward movement of the forest line, even if the average annual temperature increases. Small concave landforms may have a higher vertical temperature gradient and lower air temperature values at their bottoms than larger and higher-lying forms.

Description

Acknowledgments: The authors of this paper wish to thank Professor Adam Kotarba and Professor Tadeusz Niedźwiedź for constructive inputs during the research. © 2021 Jarosław Baranowski, Stanisław Kędzia, published by Sciendo. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ . The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Folia Forestalia Polonica, Series A – Forestry, 2021, Vol. 63 (3), 203–213, available online at: https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/ffp-2021-0021 . Keywords: forest line; air temperature; concave landforms; the Tatras; forest; climate change.

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Citation

Baranowski, J. & Kędzia,S.(2021), Air temperature as a determinant of the forest line in the Tatras. Folia Forestalia Polonica, 63(3), 203-213. https://doi.org/10.2478/ffp-2021-0021

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