RT Journal Article
T1 Drivers of seedling emergence and early growth of 12 European oak species: Results from a cross-continental experiment
A1 Leverkus, Alexandro B.
A1 Medina, María
A1 Lázaro González, Alba
A1 Levy, Laura
A1 Lorente Casalini, Olivia
A1 Reyes Martín, Marino P.
A1 Andivia Muñoz, Enrique
A1 Bizzarri, Alessandro
A1 Böhlenius, Henrik
A1 Cambria, Vito E.
A1 Cocozza, Claudia
A1 Cvjetković, Branislav
A1 de Dato, Giovanbattista
A1 Ehrenbergerová, Lenka
A1 Ferus, Peter
A1 Gómez Aparicio, Lorena
A1 Hampe, Arndt
A1 Hanssen, Kjersti Holt
A1 Jakubowski, Marcin
A1 Kerkez Janković, Ivona
A1 Klisz, Marcin
A1 Kowalkowski, Wojciech
A1 Kremer, Klaus
A1 Lazarevic, Jelena
A1 Lazdiņa, Dagnija
A1 Lingua, Emanuele
A1 Löf, Magnus
A1 Lucas Borja, Manuel E.
A1 Łukowski, Adrian
A1 Maia, Paula
A1 Mairota, Paola
A1 Maltoni, Alberto
A1 Mariotti, Barbara
A1 Marzano, Raffaella
A1 Mondanelli, Lucia
A1 Montagnoli, Antonio
A1 Monteverdi, Maria Cristina
A1 Navarro Reyes, Francisco B.
A1 Oliet, Juan A.
A1 Patrício, Maria S.
A1 Poduška, Zoran
A1 Popovic, Vladan
A1 Puchałka, Radosław
A1 Robakowski, Piotr
A1 Sewerniak, Piotr
A1 Ureña Lara, Carmen
A1 Villar Salvador, Pedro
A1 Witzell, Johanna
A1 Anselmetto, Nicolò
A1 Bauhus, Jürgen
A1 Benavides, Raquel
A1 Bolzon, Paola
A1 Carbonero Muñoz, María D.
A1 Castro, Jorge
A1 Chiatante, Donato
A1 Corticeiro, Sofia
A1 De Sanctis, Michele
A1 Devetaković, Jovana
A1 Dūmiņš, Kārlis
A1 Sundheim, Fløistad Inger
A1 Jiménez Morales, M. Noelia
A1 Jovanović, Sanja
A1 Kanjevac, Branko
A1 Kroon, Johan
A1 La Montagna, Dario
A1 Malik, Roman
A1 Martiník, Antonín
A1 Matías, Luis
A1 McClory, Ryan
A1 Meloni, Fabio
A1 Merino Ceballos, Manuel
A1 Moreno Llorca, Ricardo A.
A1 Nonić, Marina
A1 Nunes, Luís
A1 Plaza Álvarez, Pedro Antonio
A1 Proietti, Roberta
A1 Puccinelli, Stefano
A1 Rey Benayas, José María
A1 Szczerba, Marek
A1 Tomczak, Arkadiusz
A1 Topalovic, Ana
A1 Vendiņa, Viktorija
AB Seedling emergence constitutes a critical recruitment step, and early growth relates to plant competitive ability. Understanding their drivers has implications for forestry and forest ecosystem conservation, restoration, and adaptation to climate change. We seeded 6984 acorns in an experiment with 97 cases at 45 sites in 15 European countries, encompassing 12 oak species. We tested whether the quality of the acorn batch, site-level weather and soil characteristics, year of seeding, and species’ mean specific leaf area (SLA) affected the emergence and early growth of seedlings after the first summer. Germination potential and acorn dry weight, measured under controlled conditions, were positively associated with emergence and early growth. Seedling emergence was negatively associated with the mean monthly temperature and cumulative winter precipitation, and it was higher in the seedling cohort that was spared from the 2021 drought. Additionally, seedling emergence was positively related to soil nutrient concentration and negatively to increasing soil pH, but not to water-holding capacity, and growth was unrelated to soils. Species-level SLA was not related to either response. The four main study species –Quercus cerris, Q. ilex, Q. petraea, and Q. robur– responded similarly to weather but not to soil conditions. We conclude that, at a continental scale, and assuming that species establish within their current distributions, (a) oak seedling emergence and early growth are associated with acorn quality rather than species identity or SLA, (b) they are highest at sites with low winter precipitation and temperature, (c) emergence is reduced in dry years, and d) soil properties play a secondary role at this early recruitment stage.
PB Elsevier
SN 0378-1127
YR 2026
FD 2026-01-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134613
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134613
LA eng
NO Leverkus, A. B., Medina, M., Lázaro-González, A., Levy, L., Lorente-Casalini, O., Reyes Martín, M. P., Andivia, E., Bizzarri, A., Böhlenius, H., Cambria, V. E., Cocozza, C., Cvjetković, B., de Dato, G., Ehrenbergerová, L., Ferus, P., Gómez-Aparicio, L., Hampe, A., Hanssen, K. H., Jakubowski, M., et al. (2026). Drivers of seedling emergence and early growth of 12 European oak species: Results from a cross-continental experiment. Forest Ecology and Management, 599. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FORECO.2025.123223
NO This research was funded by grants TED2021–130976B-I00, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union Next GenerationEU/PRTR; RESISTRES (C-EXP267-UGR23) from University of Granada/ Junta de Andalucía/ FEDER; and SMART-OAK, funded by the European Union through FORWARDS (Horizon Europe Project No. 101084481) grants to third parties managed by European Forest Institute. The participant network stemmed primarily from the PEN-CAFoRR COST Action (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). The work at each field site was funded by variable sources granted to co-authors. ABL acknowledges mobility grant Salvador de Madariaga (PRX23/00558) and from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation while writing this manuscript. Funding statements and acknowledgments from the field sites are provided in Appendix S2. Funding for open access charge was provided by Universidad de Granada/ CBUA.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO European Commission
NO Universidad de Granada
NO Junta de Andalucía
NO Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung
DS Docta Complutense
RD 29 abr 2026