Divergent responses to climate factors in the radial growth of Larix sibirica in the eastern Tianshan Mountains, northwest China

Abstract

Key message The radial growth of Larix sibirica has exhibited divergent responses to temperatures in the growing season due to the temperature-driven drought stress in the eastern Tianshan Mountains of Northwest China. Abstract The warming of the continental interior of the Northern Hemisphere in the latter half of the twentieth century has led to divergent responses between trees growth and climate factors at high latitudes. This study explored the variability in the responses of radial growth to climate factors and the temporal stability of growth-climate relationships under climate change for Siberia larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) in the mid-latitude area of the eastern Tianshan Mountains. The results indicated as follows: (1) Analysis of the relationships between tree-ring width chronology and climate factors before and after the abrupt increases in temperature demonstrated that divergent responses of radial growth occurred in the eastern Tianshan Mountains, suggesting that correlation coefficients with temperature varied significantly in the growing season.(2) Examination of variations in the climate factors limiting radial growth in the two time periods demonstrated that the minimum temperature played a key role from 1989 to 2012. (3) Assessment of the temporal stability of growth-climate relationships by a moving correlation function demonstrated that the positive sensitivity of Siberia larch to temperature during the growing season decreased. The reasons for this 'divergence problem' were the increased drought stress and changes in the physiological responses of trees. (4) Simulation of the trend of basal area increment by linear regression showed that the growth rate of Siberia larch first increased and then decreased. The future effects of increasing temperature may cause significant alterations in forest ecosystems, with greater effects on forests in arid and semi-arid areas.

Climate Change-Induced Shift of Tree Growth Sensitivity at a Central Himalayan Treeline Ecotone

“…This is consistent with the change in temperature ( Figure 3) and SPEI trends of the study area and intensified spring droughts in the central Himalaya during recent decades [115]. Thus, increased drought might have caused the divergence in growth-climate relationships as observed in other studies [53,143,144], with Abies spectabilis trees showing growth plasticity towards the changing environment as other coniferous species do (e.g., [46,48,133,145]). Obviously, this potential adaptation contributed to the rather low responsiveness of the Rolwaling treeline to climate warming [73], and may be crucial for its future sensitivity to climate change.…”

On the ‘Divergence Problem’ in the Alatau Mountains, Central Asia: A Study of the Responses of Schrenk Spruce Tree-Ring Width to Climate under the Recent Warming and Wetting Trend

“…Thus, the positive response to precipitation and the negative response to temperature, strengthened in the radial growth of the Schrenk spruce of our study, reflect the enhancement of temperature-induced drought stress over recent decades. Furthermore, similar divergent responses to climatic factors in the radial growth of Larix sibirica have also found in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains of Northwest China [75], although the distance between this region and our study area is almost 1000 km.…”

Age-Effect Radial Growth Responses of Picea schrenkiana to Climate Change in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China

“…The negative AC1 values could confirm that the radial growth of Schrenk spruce was easily affected by climate conditions in the previous year ( Table 1). The high temperature in the previous growing seasons could not only increase the evaporation of soil moisture, reduce the preservation of soil available water, increase the tree evapotranspiration, and reduce the accumulation of tree photosynthetic nutrition but also lead to effects on the initiation and vitality of tree cambium cells with increasing drought stress and reductions in tree health [66]. Similar responses of radial growth to climate factors were found in Schrenk spruce from different age-class trees (60-90a, 90-120a and 120-150a) in western and central Tianshan Mountains [67].…”