The Impact of Climate and Adaptative Forest Management on the Intra-Annual Growth of Pinus halepensis Based on Long-Term Dendrometer Recordings

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this study, the authors analyzed seasonal growth dynamics, including timings of 25%, 50% and 75% of the intra-annual basal growth was achieved, of suppressed and dominant Pinus halepensis under four different thinning intensities (15%, 30%, and 45% removal of the basal area) for 8 years by using band dendrometer recordings. Papers add valuable information on the modification of stand density by thinning on forest growth dynamics. Applied methods and statistical analyses were described in detail. The topic is actual and fits in the scope of the journal.

In the part of ‘discussion’, the authors mainly focus on their own results. It would be much better to add more explanation from the view of tree physiology, especially for the part of ‘4.1. The influence of weather conditions on growth’.

Some sentences were not written in a concise and straightforward way enough. For example, in the ‘Abstract’, the sentence of the main results (lines 20-24), i.e. ‘ The moment the trees reached the 25%... the length of the growing period’ seems a bit long and can be condensed.

Specific comments and suggestions:

Line 61, References should be give after the first sentence. 

Line 61, allowed → allow

Line 73, the information of longitude and latitude should be added.

Line 177, it is not necessary to show the original data of 242 time series.

Line 265, this sentence is confusing. Which one is better access to water availability, dominant or suppressed trees.

The following papers could provide useful information on ‘4.3 The impact of social status on intra-annual growth pattern’:

1. Differences in xylogenesis between dominant and suppressed trees

2. Cambial activity related to tree size in a mature silver-fir plantation.

3.The onset of xylogenesis in Smith fir is not related to outer bark thickness.

Most of references cited in the manuscript are ten years ago. Need to be updated.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

First of all, we would like to thank you for your constructive feedback and interesting insights, which have strengthened the manuscript. In the following paragraphs answers are provided to your suggestions and comments:

 

Line 61, References should be given after the first sentence.

Response: We added a reference to support the first sentence.

 

Line 61, allowed → allow

Response: Corrected.

 

Line 73, the information of longitude and latitude should be added.

Response: We added the information of longitude and latitude of each stand in Table 1.

 

Line 177, it is not necessary to show the original data of 242 time series.

Response: The second reviewer pointed out that one of the main contributions of the manuscript is to present the intra-annual basal area growth pattern of all 242 time series. We also consider that it helps the reader to understand the pattern of the data. However, we leave it to the Editor to decide if we should keep Figure 5 or not.

 

Line 265, this sentence is confusing. Which one is better access to water availability, dominant or suppressed trees.

Response: We rephrased it for a better understanding.

 

The following papers could provide useful information on ‘4.3 The impact of social status on intra-annual growth pattern’:

1. Differences in xylogenesis between dominant and suppressed trees
2. Cambial activity related to tree size in a mature silver-fir plantation.

3.The onset of xylogenesis in Smith fir is not related to outer bark thickness.

Most of references cited in the manuscript are ten years ago. Need to be updated.

 

Response: We thank you again for your suggestions. We read the papers and include information on the Introduction and on point ‘4.3 The impact of social status on intra-annual growth pattern’. This also helped us to update the references with more recent studies.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The aim of this paper was concentrated on impact of climate and adaptative forest management on the intra-annual growth of Pinus halepensis based on long termdendrometer recordings.

The experiment presented in the paper was good designed and clearly explained. The results are important both from the theoretical and practical point of view when analysing past and future response of vegetation to climate and adaptative forest management. In terms of forest management practices and climate vulnerabilities aspect, modelling is an important tool and technique explaining the exact current status of some forest species.

Its main contributions are: Present the intra-annual basal area growth pattern of all 242 time series; Highlights the distribution of the three different dependent variables used in this study; Meet in evidence the results of 12 linear regression analyses between the three dependent and the four independent variables; Highlights a mixed model statistics for, namely effect of SocStat, SDIlocal, DeMart and PrecWint on intra-annual basal area growth.

The strengths point of the article has given by: it is found an adequate foundation and a clear definition of the research objectives, being established on the basis of the results obtained so far in the field addressed; the research methodology is elaborated briefly; the data in this section is detailed and clear to ensure replication; the research results are presented in a completed paper comprising: text with elevated and concise expressions, expressive graphic representations, consistent supplementary material; the data analysis is based on a well-structured model, being surprised the most relevant aspects of the research data; the conclusions are in agreement with the quantitative results and there is the possibility for a practical application of the methodology.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

We would like to thank you for your comments and suggestions. We are really glad that you found the experiment presented in the paper well designed and clearly explained. We also thank you for the strengths that you pointed out.