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Poster De Conférence Année : 2022

Dynamics of the subalpine forests in the French Pyrenees over the last two centuries

Noémie Delpouve
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1246818
Jean-Luc Dupouey
  • Fonction : Auteur
Sandrine Chauchard
  • Fonction : Auteur
Nathalie Leroy
  • Fonction : Auteur
Erwin Thirion
  • Fonction : Auteur
Cyrille Rathgeber
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

The upper subalpine forest limit is characteristic of mountain landscapes. This limit is influenced by global change and the subalpine forest dynamics has consequences on carbon sequestration. We studied subalpine forest in its extent with its upper limit shift, and in its structure with the transition from closed to open forest. The studied period goes from the forest minimum to its current maximum. We focused on the French Pyrenees because it is the first digitized area in the map which dates back to 1840 (“Etat-Major” map). We used two other maps from 1996 and 2010, made by the National Forest Inventory according to aerial photographs interpretation. We estimated the elevation of open and closed subalpine forest limits for each municipal district and each date. We then calculated the difference in elevation between these dates. We observed a positive elevation shift of open forest limit between 1840 and 1996 in most of the municipal districts (84 %), and of open and closed forest limits after 1996 (78 % and 88 % of municipal districts). On average, the open forest limit raised of about 180 m between 1840 and 1996, and open and closed forest limits raised of about 50 m and 100 m respectively after 1996. Hence, the open forest limit raised on average of 13 m per decade between 1840 and 1996 and of 35 m per decade after 1996, while the closed forest limit raised on average of 65 m per decade after 1996. Our study shows an acceleration of upward shift and a rapid forest closure. This may be due to climate change acceleration, if we suppose a constant land abandonment during the studied period. Moreover, our results suggest a need to consider both subalpine forest upward shift and densification in studies quantifying impacts of forest expansion on carbon cycle.
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Dates et versions

hal-04066896 , version 1 (12-04-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04066896 , version 1

Citer

Noémie Delpouve, Laurent Bergès, Jean-Luc Dupouey, Sandrine Chauchard, Nathalie Leroy, et al.. Dynamics of the subalpine forests in the French Pyrenees over the last two centuries. International Mountain Conference 2022, Sep 2022, Innsbruck, Austria. 2022. ⟨hal-04066896⟩
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