ABSTRACT Edge effects are a major cause of natural dynamics of fragmented forests; however, studies that evaluate edge effects during the lifetime of trees are relatively rare. Through a long-term perspective of tree growth, dendroecology can contribute to a better understanding of the influence of edge effects. In order to frame our interpretation, we raised the following hypotheses: (1) trees located close to a forest edge have lower growth rates compared to trees growing far from edges, and (2) climate sensitivity of trees naturally growing on the forest edge is different from the trees in the interior. This study was conducted in Southern Brazil, where 21 Araucaria angustifolia located 50 m from the edge and 19 individuals located 4000 m from the forest edge were sampled. Dendrochronological study followed the usual procedures and growth patterns were evaluated using basal area increment, specific threshold value of fast and slow growth, and principal components analysis. During the 54 years analyzed, results indicated that the edge effect reduced growth by 30% in diameter increment and wood production of A. angustifolia trees. Regarding the influence of climatic variability on tree growth, we observed that edge effects may exert strong pressure on growth responses to climate in A. angustifolia located on forest edges, making individuals in those environments potentially more sensitive to variations in temperature and rainfall, mainly at warmer times of year. We therefore emphasize the importance of considering edge trees as potential bioindicators of historical environmental changes and forest fragmentation. Future studies should be carried out in other forest types and with different tree species (e.g. pioneer vs. shade-tolerant, trees vs. shrubs) to test the reliability of our results and provide more robust conclusions about this phenomenon.

中文翻译：

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边缘效应改变南洋杉树的生长动态和气候敏感性

摘要 边缘效应是造成破碎森林自然动态的主要原因；然而，评估树木生命周期中边缘效应的研究相对较少。通过树木生长的长期视角，树木生态学有助于更好地了解边缘效应的影响。为了构建我们的解释，我们提出了以下假设：(1) 靠近森林边缘的树木与远离边缘的树木相比，生长速度较低，以及 (2) 自然生长在森林边缘的树木的气候敏感性是与室内的树木不同。本研究在巴西南部进行，其中 21 株 Araucaria angustifolia 位于距边缘 50 m 处，19 个个体位于距森林边缘 4000 m 处。树木年代学研究遵循通常的程序，并使用基础面积增量、快速和慢速生长的特定阈值以及主成分分析来评估生长模式。在分析的 54 年中，结果表明边缘效应使 A. angustifolia 树的直径增量和木材产量减少了 30%。关于气候变异对树木生长的影响，我们观察到边缘效应可能对位于森林边缘的 A. angustifolia 的生长响应施加强大的压力，使这些环境中的个体可能对温度和降雨的变化更敏感，主要是在一年中较暖和的时候。因此，我们强调将边缘树视为历史环境变化和森林破碎化的潜在生物指标的重要性。