This study analyses long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term changes in drought indices (Standardised Precipitation Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPI, Standardised Precipitation\uffe2\uff80\uff93Evapotranspiration Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPEI) at 1 and 3\uffe2\uff80\uff89months scales at 182 stations in 11 central and eastern European countries during 1949\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. For comparative purposes, the necessary atmospheric evaporative demand (AED) to obtain SPEI was calculated using two methods, Hargreaves\uffe2\uff80\uff90Samani (SPEIH) and Penman\uffe2\uff80\uff90Monteith (SPEIP). The results show some relevant changes and tendencies in the drought indices. Statistically significant increase in SPI and SPEI during the cold season (November\uffe2\uff80\uff93March), reflecting precipitation increase, was found in the northern part of the study region, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, northern Belarus and northern Poland. In the rest of study domain, a weak and mostly insignificant decrease prevailed in winter. Summer season (June\uffe2\uff80\uff93August) is characterized by changes in the opposite sign. An increase was observed in the north, while a clear decrease in SPEI, reflecting a drying trend, was typical for the southern regions: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and southern Poland. A general drying tendency revealed also in April, which was statistically significant over a wide area in the Czech Republic and Poland. Increasing trends in SPI and SPEI for September and October were detected in Romania, Moldova and Hungary. The use of SPEI instead of SPI generally enhances drying trends.We used a nonintrusive field experiment carried out at six sites \uffe2\uff80\uff93 Wales (UK), Denmark (DK), the Netherlands (NL), Hungary (HU), Sardinia (Italy \uffe2\uff80\uff93 IT), and Catalonia (Spain \uffe2\uff80\uff93 SP) \uffe2\uff80\uff93 along a climatic and latitudinal gradient to examine the response of plant species richness and primary productivity to warming and drought in shrubland ecosystems. The warming treatment raised the plot daily temperature by ca. 1 \uffc2\uffb0C, while the drought treatment led to a reduction in soil moisture at the peak of the growing season that ranged from 26% at the SP site to 82% in the NL site. During the 7 years the experiment lasted (1999\uffe2\uff80\uff932005), we used the pin\uffe2\uff80\uff90point method to measure the species composition of plant communities and plant biomass, litterfall, and shoot growth of the dominant plant species at each site. A significantly lower increase in the number of species pin\uffe2\uff80\uff90pointed per transect was found in the drought plots at the SP site, where the plant community was still in a process of recovering from a forest fire in 1994. No changes in species richness were found at the other sites, which were at a more mature and stable state of succession and, thus less liable to recruitment of new species. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and temperature of the growing season was positive at the coldest site and negative at the warmest site. The warming treatment tended to increase the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) at the northern sites. The relationship between annual biomass accumulation and soil moisture during the growing season was not significant at the wettest sites, but was positive at the driest sites. The drought treatment tended to reduce the ANPP in the NL, HU, IT, and SP sites. The responses to warming were very strongly related to the Gaussen aridity index (stronger responses the lower the aridity), whereas the responses to drought were not. Changes in the annual aboveground biomass accumulation, litterfall, and, thus, the ANPP, mirrored the interannual variation in climate conditions: the most outstanding change was a decrease in biomass accumulation and an increase in litterfall at most sites during the abnormally hot year of 2003. Species richness also tended to decrease in 2003 at all sites except the cold and wet UK site. Species\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific responses to warming were found in shoot growth: at the SP site, Globularia alypum was not affected, while the other dominant species, Erica multiflora, grew 30% more; at the UK site, Calluna vulgaris tended to grow more in the warming plots, while Empetrum nigrum tended to grow less. Drought treatment decreased plant growth in several studied species, although there were some species such as Pinus halepensis at the SP site or C. vulgaris at the UK site that were not affected. The magnitude of responses to warming and drought thus depended greatly on the differences between sites, years, and species and these multiple plant responses may be expected to have consequences at ecosystem and community level. Decreases in biodiversity and the increase in E. multiflora growth at the SP site as a response to warming challenge the assumption that sensitivity to warming may be less well developed at more southerly latitudes; likewise, the fact that one of the studied shrublands presented negative ANPP as a response to the 2003 heat wave also challenges the hypothesis that future climate warming will lead to an enhancement of plant growth and carbon sequestration in temperate ecosystems. Extreme events may thus change the general trend of increased productivity in response to warming in the colder sites.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Onada de calor", "arctic ecosystems", "Matorral", "drought", "Biomasa vegetal", "heathland", "global warming", "01 natural sciences", "Sequ\u00eda", "Productividad primaria neta", "Forest-steppe", "Gradiente Europea", "Climate change", "Canvi clim\u00e0tic", "Cambio clim\u00e1tico", "net primary productivity", "evergreen mediterranean forest", "species richness", "litterfall", "biodiversity", "European gradient", "Plant growth", "2. Zero hunger", "Global warming", "terrestrial ecosystems", "phillyrea-latifolia", "Biodiversity", "Sequera", "Crecimiento de las plantas", "6. Clean water", "Net primary productivity", "climate change", "Brezal", "Biomassa vegetal", "climate-change", "heat wave", "Bosc-estepa", "environmental-change", "Litterfall", "Shrubland", "Biodiversidad", "soil", "Riquesa d'esp\u00e8cies", "forest-steppe", "Heat wave", "Bruguerar", "carbon-cycle", "Riqueza de especies", "quercus-ilex", "14. Life underwater", "plant biomass", "Hojarasca", "Plant biomass", "Drought", "Escalfament global", "plant growth", "15. Life on land", "biodiversity; climate change; global warming; plant community; primary production; shrubland; species richness", " Benelux; Catalonia; Central Europe; Denmark; Eurasia; Europe; Hungary; Italy; Netherlands; Northern Europe; Sardinia; Scandinavia; Southern Europe; Spain; United Kingdom; Wales; Western Europe", " Calluna; Calluna vulgaris; Empetrum nigrum; Erica multiflora; Globularia alypum; Pinus halepensis; Biodiversity; Climate change; Drought; European gradient; Forest-steppe; Global warming; Heat wave; Heathland; Litterfall; Net primary productivity; Plant biomass; Plant growth; Shrubland; Species richness", "Gradient Europea", "Biodiversitat", "Creixement de les plantes", "Productivitat prim\u00e0ria neta", "13. Climate action", "cistus-albidus", "Calentamiento global", "Bosque-estepa", "shrubland", "Fullaraca", "Heathland", "Species richness", "Ola de calor"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01464.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-10-04T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-08-23T16:17:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-02-06", "title": "Recurrent Soil Freeze-Thaw Cycles Enhance Grassland Productivity", "description": "Ongoing global warming will increase the frequency of soil freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) in cool-temperate and other high-latitude regions. The spatial relevance of seasonally frozen ground amounts to c. 55% of the total land area of the northern hemisphere. Evidence suggests that FTCs contribute to nutrient dynamics. Knowledge of their effects on plant communities is scarce, although plants may be the decisive factor in controlling ecosystem functions such as nutrient retention. Here, the effects are analysed of five additional FTCs in winter for the above- and below-ground productivity of experimental grassland communities and soil enzymatic activity over the following growing season. Freeze-thaw cycles increased the above-ground productivity but reduced root length over the whole subsequent growing season. In summer, no changes in soil enzymatic activities representing the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles were observed in the FTC-manipulated plots, except for an increased cellobiohydrolase activity. Changes in productivity resulting in an increased shoot-to-root ratio and shifts in timing are capable of altering ecosystem stability and ecosystem services, such as productivity and nutrient retention.", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "2. Zero hunger", "Time Factors", "Reproduction", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Plant Roots", "above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP); central Europe; climate change; EVENT-experiment; freeze\u2013thaw cycles; root length; soil enzymatic activity", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Freezing", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Ecosystem", "Plant Shoots"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-12-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10261/358949", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-08-23T16:21:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-06-06", "title": "Long\u2010term changes in drought indices in eastern and central Europe", "description": "AbstractThis study analyses long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term changes in drought indices (Standardised Precipitation Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPI, Standardised Precipitation\uffe2\uff80\uff93Evapotranspiration Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPEI) at 1 and 3\uffe2\uff80\uff89months scales at 182 stations in 11 central and eastern European countries during 1949\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. For comparative purposes, the necessary atmospheric evaporative demand (AED) to obtain SPEI was calculated using two methods, Hargreaves\uffe2\uff80\uff90Samani (SPEIH) and Penman\uffe2\uff80\uff90Monteith (SPEIP). The results show some relevant changes and tendencies in the drought indices. Statistically significant increase in SPI and SPEI during the cold season (November\uffe2\uff80\uff93March), reflecting precipitation increase, was found in the northern part of the study region, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, northern Belarus and northern Poland. In the rest of study domain, a weak and mostly insignificant decrease prevailed in winter. Summer season (June\uffe2\uff80\uff93August) is characterized by changes in the opposite sign. An increase was observed in the north, while a clear decrease in SPEI, reflecting a drying trend, was typical for the southern regions: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and southern Poland. A general drying tendency revealed also in April, which was statistically significant over a wide area in the Czech Republic and Poland. Increasing trends in SPI and SPEI for September and October were detected in Romania, Moldova and Hungary. The use of SPEI instead of SPI generally enhances drying trends.This study analyses long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term changes in drought indices (Standardised Precipitation Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPI, Standardised Precipitation\uffe2\uff80\uff93Evapotranspiration Index\uffe2\uff80\uff94SPEI) at 1 and 3\uffe2\uff80\uff89months scales at 182 stations in 11 central and eastern European countries during 1949\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. For comparative purposes, the necessary atmospheric evaporative demand (AED) to obtain SPEI was calculated using two methods, Hargreaves\uffe2\uff80\uff90Samani (SPEIH) and Penman\uffe2\uff80\uff90Monteith (SPEIP). The results show some relevant changes and tendencies in the drought indices. Statistically significant increase in SPI and SPEI during the cold season (November\uffe2\uff80\uff93March), reflecting precipitation increase, was found in the northern part of the study region, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, northern Belarus and northern Poland. In the rest of study domain, a weak and mostly insignificant decrease prevailed in winter. Summer season (June\uffe2\uff80\uff93August) is characterized by changes in the opposite sign. An increase was observed in the north, while a clear decrease in SPEI, reflecting a drying trend, was typical for the southern regions: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and southern Poland. A general drying tendency revealed also in April, which was statistically significant over a wide area in the Czech Republic and Poland. Increasing trends in SPI and SPEI for September and October were detected in Romania, Moldova and Hungary. The use of SPEI instead of SPI generally enhances drying trends.