Water balance and forest productivity in Mediterranean mountain environments

The availability of water resources is one of the major drivers affecting forest and agricultural productivity. The sensitivityof Mediterranean forest species to water shortage is becoming even more relevant in relation to climatechanges, that for Southern Europe could lead to an increase in temperature of 2 to 3 °C, paralleled by a decreaseof 5 to 15% of summer rainfall. It is then important to study the relationship between water balance and productivityof important forest tree species such as beech and mountain pines that represent the upper limit of forestvegetation in almost all the Apennines range. In the present paper, the measurements of water balance, evapotranspiration,carbon exchange and productivity in beech and pine forests of central-southern Italy (Abruzzo andCalabria regions) are reported. The results are obtained in the course of several years of experimentation with innovativetechniques and integrated at the canopy level.