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Assessment of climate change impacts on cork oak in western Mediterranean regions : a comparative analysis of extreme indices

Lei, Xuejing (2010) In Lunds universitets Naturgeografiska institution - Seminarieuppsatser
Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Abstract
Mediterranean regions have a growing number of extreme weather events due to rapid change of
climate. Cork oak, which is located in the western Mediterranean area, has become a very valuable
resource within the western Mediterranean forests. Therefore, assessment of the impacts of climate
extremes upon cork oak can help us produce better forest management practices for coping with future
climate change, and to achieve the purpose of sustainable development of the ecosystems and societies
within the Mediterranean area in the future. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of how
climate affects cork oak, climate extremes are investigated for western Mediterranean regions,
especially Portugal and Northwest Africa.
15 indices... (More)
Mediterranean regions have a growing number of extreme weather events due to rapid change of
climate. Cork oak, which is located in the western Mediterranean area, has become a very valuable
resource within the western Mediterranean forests. Therefore, assessment of the impacts of climate
extremes upon cork oak can help us produce better forest management practices for coping with future
climate change, and to achieve the purpose of sustainable development of the ecosystems and societies
within the Mediterranean area in the future. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of how
climate affects cork oak, climate extremes are investigated for western Mediterranean regions,
especially Portugal and Northwest Africa.
15 indices of frequency and intensity indicators were derived from daily maximum temperature and
daily precipitation data of the period from 1979 to 2009, and used in this investigation. Overview maps
of the annual maximum temperature and annual precipitation sum distribution were plotted.
Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA) was applied to find out the underlying temporal variance for those
indices. And on this basis, 15 indices were simplified into several variables. Correlation analysis is
adopted to identify the relationship between those climate variables that generated by EFA and cork
production. Burned area was also involved in this analysis as a special case in Portugal. A Regression
model was developed to make a prediction of cork production by viewing those climate factors as
dependent variables.
The results of those analyses show that as annual rainfall and maximum temperature changes,
distribution of cork oak stands may have a potential of moving to the northwest. Northwest Africa is
the recipient of climate extremes, especially hot and dry extremes, with higher frequency and intensity
compared to Portugal. Summer dry extremes rather than rainfall extremes, can have considerable
effect upon cork production, while burned area shows no correlation with cork production. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lei, Xuejing
supervisor
organization
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
western Mediterranean, climate extremes, cork oak, EFA, regression
publication/series
Lunds universitets Naturgeografiska institution - Seminarieuppsatser
report number
192
language
English
id
1969879
date added to LUP
2011-05-26 10:29:13
date last changed
2011-12-21 10:37:07
@misc{1969879,
  abstract     = {{Mediterranean regions have a growing number of extreme weather events due to rapid change of
climate. Cork oak, which is located in the western Mediterranean area, has become a very valuable
resource within the western Mediterranean forests. Therefore, assessment of the impacts of climate
extremes upon cork oak can help us produce better forest management practices for coping with future
climate change, and to achieve the purpose of sustainable development of the ecosystems and societies
within the Mediterranean area in the future. In order to have a comprehensive understanding of how
climate affects cork oak, climate extremes are investigated for western Mediterranean regions,
especially Portugal and Northwest Africa.
15 indices of frequency and intensity indicators were derived from daily maximum temperature and
daily precipitation data of the period from 1979 to 2009, and used in this investigation. Overview maps
of the annual maximum temperature and annual precipitation sum distribution were plotted.
Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA) was applied to find out the underlying temporal variance for those
indices. And on this basis, 15 indices were simplified into several variables. Correlation analysis is
adopted to identify the relationship between those climate variables that generated by EFA and cork
production. Burned area was also involved in this analysis as a special case in Portugal. A Regression
model was developed to make a prediction of cork production by viewing those climate factors as
dependent variables.
The results of those analyses show that as annual rainfall and maximum temperature changes,
distribution of cork oak stands may have a potential of moving to the northwest. Northwest Africa is
the recipient of climate extremes, especially hot and dry extremes, with higher frequency and intensity
compared to Portugal. Summer dry extremes rather than rainfall extremes, can have considerable
effect upon cork production, while burned area shows no correlation with cork production.}},
  author       = {{Lei, Xuejing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{Lunds universitets Naturgeografiska institution - Seminarieuppsatser}},
  title        = {{Assessment of climate change impacts on cork oak in western Mediterranean regions : a comparative analysis of extreme indices}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}