Modeling the response of Norway spruce tree-ring carbon and oxygen isotopes to selection harvest on a drained peatland forest

Continuous cover forestry (CCF) has gained interest as an alternative to even-aged management particularly on drained peatland forests. However, relatively little is known about the physiological response of suppressed trees when larger trees are removed as a part of CCF practices. Consequently, studies concentrating on process-level modeling of the response of trees to selection harvesting are also rare. Here, we compared, modeled and measured harvest response of previously suppressed Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees to a selection harvest. We quantified the harvest response by collecting Norway spruce tree-ring samples in a drained peatland forest site and measuring the change in stable carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios of wood formed during 2010-20, including five post-harvest years. The measured isotopic ratios were compared with ecosystem-level process model predictions for C-13 discrimination and O-18 leaf water enrichment. We found that the model predicted similar but lower harvest response than the measurements. Furthermore, accounting for mesophyll conductance was important for capturing the variation in C-13 discrimination. In addition, we performed sensitivity analysis on the model, which suggests that the modeled C-13 discrimination is sensitive to parameters related to CO2 transport through stomata to the mesophyll.