The Relation Among Soil Conditions, Lichen Growth and Precipitation Under Subalpine Coniferous Forest in North Italy

Boreal coniferous mountain forests mitigate climate through biophysical and biochemical processes, especially water balance. The link between forests and climate includes direct and nonlinear interactions with atmospheric composition, hydrologic cycle, and water balance. At the same time, forests are fragile ecosystems with high importance as water sources and climate at local and regional levels. Monitoring forest enables to predict consequences of climate change. In this study, the boreal forests were investigated to simulate climate cooling and warming. The area is located in the subalpine mountain forests of South Tyrol. Methods include statistical investigation, eddy covariance assessment of evapotranspiration, water discharge and fog interception. The dense, old-growth forest (>200 years old) was compared in sections with young patches (<30 y. o). Technical instruments included tree transpiration sensors, phenocam images, throughfall and stemflow gauges, water discharge measurements, soil moisture sensors and epiphytes quantification. Despite the importance of coniferous forests, the effect of boreal forests on climate processes is not sufficiently studied. While previous studies measured different components of the water balance, little is known about the frequency and influence of fog in water balance. To fill in this gap, this study presented the investigation on the relationships between water balance, forest age and structure in the Alps of north Italy.