Autumn Snowfall Controls the Annual Radial Growth of Centenarian Whitebark Pine (<i>Pinus albicaulis</i>) in the Southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada

Carlson, Kimberly M.; Coulthard, Bethany; Starzomski, Brian M.

doi:10.1657/aaar0016-033

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…uncinata, but it has been researched for other species of Pinaceae (Walsh et al, 1994;Kirdyanov et al, 2003;Helama et al, 2013;Watson and Luckman, 2016;Carlson et al, 2017;Franke et al, 2017;Appleton and St. George, 2018;Fkiri et al, 2018;Legendre-Fixx et al, 2018;Truettner et al, 2018). In this study, almost half the sampled forests in the main mountain ranges of the NE Iberian Peninsula showed certain snow-growth interaction (most of them were statistically significant).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Research focused on the indirect effects of climate warming, such as the influence of snow dynamics on forest productivity, is still scarce (Vaganov et al, 1999;Kirdyanov et al, 2003, Helama et al, 2013, Watson and Luckman 2016Carlson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Snow dynamics may influence forest growth (e.g., Kirdyanov et al, 2003). Early snowfalls in the autumn may shorten the growing season and lead to a reduction in the assimilation of carbohydrates, and this can negatively affect growth in the following year (Carlson et al, 2017). A lack of snow cover during the winter can cause premature yellowing and shedding of needles of shrubby krummholz individuals during cold and dry winters and repeated freeze-thaw cycles (winter drought), reducing growth in the following spring (Helama et al, 2013;Camarero et al 2015b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting snow-related signals in radial growth of Pinus uncinata mountain forests

et al. 2019

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting snow-related signals in radial growth of Pinus uncinata mountain forests

et al. 2019

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“…Young whitebark pine and Engelmann spruce trees may thrive under warmer and drier conditions, as the previous cohort did during the middle-to-late MCA, and the landscape at FTL may eventually transition back into open woodland. Both species will likely experience initial increases in growth and recruitment under warming temperatures, such as purported during the MCA and documented during even greater warming in the GYE during the middle Holocene (Carlson et al, 2017; Fall et al, 1995; Iglesias et al, 2015; Krause and Whitlock, 2013; Krause et al, 2015; Lynch, 1998; Mensing et al, 2012; Whitlock, 1993). However, the future of FTL and similar sites in a warming world will depend on the complex interplay of climate, disturbance, and competition.…”

Section: The Medieval Climate Anomalymentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-induced treeline mortality during the termination of the Little Ice Age in the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion, USA

et al. 2021

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Paleoclimate reconstructions for the western US show spatial variability in the timing, duration, and magnitude of climate changes within the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, ca. 900–1350 CE) and Little Ice Age (LIA, ca. 1350–1850 CE), indicating that additional data are needed to more completely characterize late-Holocene climate change in the region. Here, we use dendrochronology to investigate how climate changes during the MCA and LIA affected a treeline, whitebark pine ( Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) ecosystem in the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion (GYE). We present two new millennial-length tree-ring chronologies and multiple lines of tree-ring evidence from living and remnant whitebark pine and Engelmann spruce ( Picea engelmannii Parry ex. Engelm.) trees, including patterns of establishment and mortality; changes in tree growth; frost rings; and blue-intensity-based, reconstructed summer temperatures, to highlight the terminus of the LIA as one of the coldest periods of the last millennium for the GYE. Patterns of tree establishment and mortality indicate conditions favorable to recruitment during the latter half of the MCA and climate-induced mortality of trees during the middle-to-late LIA. These patterns correspond with decreased growth, frost damage, and reconstructed cooler temperature anomalies for the 1800–1850 CE period. Results provide important insight into how past climate change affected important GYE ecosystems and highlight the value of using multiple lines of proxy evidence, along with climate reconstructions of high spatial resolution, to better describe spatial and temporal variability in MCA and LIA climate and the ecological influence of climate change.

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“…On the other hand, the radial growth of Scots pine reacted positively to midwinter precipitation in northern Finland, which contributed to the mean snow depth preventing the direct effects of low temperatures on roots over the winter (Helama et al 2013). Moreover, early snowfall and soil cooling in the fall may lead to reduced photosynthate storage and reduced growth in the following summer (Carlson et al 2017).…”

Section: Communicated By Vospernikmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil frost affects stem diameter growth of Norway spruce with delay

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Domisch

Kilpeläinen

et al. 2021

Trees

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Key message A lack of snow cover and increased soil freezing may not only have short-term impacts on trees but longer-lasting lagged effects on radial growth. Abstract Soil temperature and soil frost intensity are affected by the depth of insulating snow cover and the timing of snowmelt which are predicted to change by climate warming. This may increase tree growth if there is less soil freezing or decrease growth if there is no insulating snow cover, but frost temperatures still exist. Previously, we showed that the changes in soil frost by snow manipulations in a ~ 50-year-old stand of Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] in eastern Finland in two winters (2005/2006 and 2006/2007) led to short-term changes in physiology, morphology, and the growth of the shoots and roots. The treatments were: (1) control with natural insulating snow accumulation and melting; (2) snow removal during winter; and (3) snow removal in winter and insulation at the top of the forest floor in late winter to delay soil thawing. In this study, we examined the lagged effects of those treatments by radial trunk increment cores during the nine-year recovery period after the termination of the treatments. Annual ring width index (AWI) was calculated for each year by normalization of the ring width in the respective year in proportion to the ring width in the last year (2005) before the treatments. No differences in AWI were found between the treatments before or during the snow manipulation period. However, differences started to appear 1 year after the treatments were finished, became significant 4 years later in 2011 and lasted for 3 years. The radial increment was lower in the treatment with snow removed than in the control and in the treatment with insulation to delay soil thawing, but there were no differences between the latter two treatments. The results indicate that a lack of snow cover may not only have short-term impacts but longer-lasting consequences on the radial growth of trees. The positive effects of prolonged growing season by the increasing summer temperatures on forest growth predicted for the boreal region may therefore not be fully realised due to the negative effects of decreased snow cover and increasing soil freezing.

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Autumn Snowfall Controls the Annual Radial Growth of Centenarian Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) in the Southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada

Cited by 7 publications

References 108 publications

Detecting snow-related signals in radial growth of Pinus uncinata mountain forests

Detecting snow-related signals in radial growth of Pinus uncinata mountain forests

Climate-induced treeline mortality during the termination of the Little Ice Age in the Greater Yellowstone Ecoregion, USA

Soil frost affects stem diameter growth of Norway spruce with delay

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