Climate change particularly threatens the xeric limits of temperate-continental forests. In Hungary, annual temperatures have increased by 1.2 °C–1.8 °C in the last 30 years and the frequency of extreme droughts has grown. With the aim to gain stand-level prospects of sustainability, we have used local forest site variables to identify and project effects of recent and expected changes of climate. We have used a climatic descriptor (FAI index) to compare trends estimated from forest datasets with climatological projections; this is likely for the first time such a comparison has been made. Four independent approaches confirmed the near-linear decline of growth and vitality with increasing hot droughts in summer, using sessile oak as model species. The correlation between droughts and the expansion of pest and disease damages was also found to be significant. Projections of expected changes of main site factors predict a dramatic rise of future drought frequency and, consequently, a substantial shift of forest climate classes, especially at low elevation. Excess water-dependent lowland forests may lose supply from groundwater, which may change vegetation cover and soil development processes. The overall change of site conditions not only causes economic losses, but also challenges long-term sustainability of forest cover at the xeric limits.

This paper analyses the recent recurring dieback and growth decline of Black pine (P. nigra Arn. var austriaca) in the Keszthely mountains of south-west Hungary, and their relations to water deficits due to droughts. These relations were studied in five stands with low soil water storage capacity for the period 1981–2016. The vitality was assessed using 60 tree-ring samples and changes in remotely sensed vegetation activity indices, i.e., the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference infrared index (NDII). Water deficit was estimated by using meteorological drought indices such the standardized precipitation–evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and the forestry aridity index (FAI), as well as the relative extractable water (REW), calculated by the Brook90 hydrological model. Results revealed a strong dependency of annual tree ring width on the amount of water deficit as measured by all the above estimators, with the highest correlation shown by the summer REW. Droughts also showed a long-term superimposed effect on tree growth. NDII seemed to be more sensitive to drought conditions than NDVI. The robust dependency of tree growth on the summer water availability combined with the projected increasing aridity might lead to decreasing growth of Black pine in Hungary towards the end of the century. We thus argue that the suggestion by several papers that Black pine can be a possible substitute species in the Alpine and Mediterranean region in the future should be revisited.

A fafajmegválasztás és az erdészeti célú döntéstámogatás megalapozásához az éghajlati tendenciák hosszútávú előrevetítése szükséges. Cikkünk célja a fafajok elterjedése, vitalitása, növekedése és szervesanyag-produkciója (növedéke) szempontjából meghatározó hónapok klimatikus viszonyaiban várható változás értékelése. A várható klíma becslése 12 regionális klímaszimuláció eredményeinek együttes elemzésével történt, az IPCC A1B kibocsátási forgatókönyvének feltételezésével. Az erdészeti klímakategóriákat az erdészeti szárazsági mutató (FAI) alapján definiáltuk és határoltuk le. Az aszályos évek gyakoriságát és 30 éves jövőbeli periódusokra becsült változását szintén a FAI segítségével határoztuk meg. A 21. századi klímaelőrebecslések alapján az átlaghőmérséklet emelkedése és a csapadékmennyiség csökkenése az erdészeti szempontból meghatározó időszakok közül a kritikus hónapokban (július-augusztus) a legnagyobb, de jelentős a fő növekedési periódusban (május-augusztus) is. A század közepére előrevetített klimatikus viszonyok mellett az olyan klímaadottságú területek, ahol a természetes előfordulású zárt erdők még eredményesen termeszthetők, nagymértékben csökkenhetnek, a jövedelmező gazdálkodásra kevésbé alkalmas erdőssztyep klímájú területek nagysága pedig jelentősen (a jelenlegi erdőterület több mint egyharmadára) növekedhet. Az eddigi erdőssztyep klímakategória területének fele (az ország területének több mint 10%-a) a mainál még melegebb és szárazabb (sztyep klímájú) lehet. Az átlagos klimatikus viszonyok változásával egyidejűleg az 1981-2010-es periódushoz képest 2021-2050-re az aszályos és a szélsőségesen aszályos évek száma megduplázódhat, mely az érzékeny fafajok mortalitásának kockázatát fokozza. A jövőbeli időszakokra várható klíma alapját képezi a projekt keretében kifejlesztett döntéstámogató rendszernek is, mely egy adott területre meghatározza az erdészeti klímakategóriát és ennek, valamint a többi termőhelyi tényezőnek alapján javasol célállományt.

- A regional-scale case study has been carried out to assess the possible climatic benefits of forest cover increase in Europe. For the end of the 21st century (2071-2090) it has been investigated, whether the projected climate change could be reduced assuming potential afforestation of the continent. The magnitude of the biogeophysical effects of enhanced forest cover on temperature and precipitation means and extremes have been analyzed relative to the magnitude of the climate change signal applying the regional climate model REMO. The simulation results indicate that in the largest part of the temperate zone potential afforestation may reduce the projected climate change through cooler and moister conditions, thus could contribute to the mitigation of the projected climate change for the entire summer period. The largest relative effect of forest cover increase can be expected in northern Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Here, the projected precipitation decrease could be fully compensated, the temperature increase could be relieved by up to 0.5 °C, and the probability of extremely warm and dry days could be reduced. Results can help to identify the areas, where forest cover increase could be the most effective from climatic point of view. Thus they can build an important basis of the future adaptation strategies and forest policy.

Climatic effects of forest cover change have been investigated for Hungary applying the regional climate model REMO. For the end of the 21st century (2071–2100) case studies have been analyzed assuming maximal afforestation (forests covering all vegetated area) and complete deforestation (forests replaced by grasslands) of the country. For 2021–2025, the climatic influence of the potential afforestation based on a detailed national survey has been assessed. The simulation results indicate that maximal afforestation may reduce the projected climate change through cooler and moister conditions for the entire summer period. The magnitude of the simulated climate change mitigating effect of the forest cover increase differs among regions. The smallest climatic benefit was calculated in the southwestern region, in the area with the potentially strongest climate change. The strongest effects of maximal afforestation are expected in the northeastern part of the country. Here, half of the projected precipitation decrease could be relieved and the probability of summer droughts could be reduced. The potential afforestation has a very slight feedback on the regional climate compared to the maximal afforestation scenario.

The paper investigates the reference corpus of a climate change contrarian report. We categorized the journal abstracts according to the endorsement positions on anthropogenic climate change. These results were contrasted by an in-text citation analysis. We focused here on the role of the papers included by the report editors concerning the mainstream claims around climate change. Our results showed moderate differences in the endorsement rates as well as in the sources of contrarian arguments considering the contrarian report in general and the presented journals specifically. These outcomes indicate differences among the journals regarding editorial practice, topic-dependency, and the home field advantage of some authors. Beyond the bibliometric data, our additional rhetorical analysis showed that language and wording are at least as important as the references backing the claims. The well-founded atmosphere of doubt in the climate skeptic report relies on two prevalent factors working together: relevant information accumulated on methodological uncertainties and findings that do not support mainstream knowledge claims (1); and solemn rhetoric supplemented with proper re-contextualization and reinterpretation (2).