High altitude forest sensitivity to the recent warming: A tree-ring analysis of conifers from Western Himalaya, India

Borgaonkar, H. P.; Sikder, A. B.; Ram, Somaru

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2010.01.016

Cited by 79 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Tree-ring-width chronologies of Pinus wallichiana, Cedrus deodara, and Picea smithiana from high-altitude forests and treeline sites in Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) and Gangotri (Uttarakhand) have showed an unprecedented growth enhancement during recent decades and a strong positive relationship to the mean annual and winter (DJF) temperatures; the anomalously higher growth was thus ascribed to the overall warming trend over the region (Singh and Yadav, 2000;Borgaonkar et al, 2009Borgaonkar et al, , 2011. Ring width chronologies of Abies georgei var.…”

Section: Tree Physiognomy and Growth Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Climate warming is expected to induce treelines to advance to higher elevations. Empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges, however, give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines and rather insignificant responses. The inconsistency of findings suggests distinct differences in the sensitivity of global treelines to recent climate change. It is still unclear where Himalayan treeline ecotones are located along the response gradient from rapid dynamics to apparently complete inertia. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge regarding sensitivity and response of Himalayan treelines to climate warming, based on extensive field observations, published results in the widely scattered literature, and novel data from ongoing research of the present authors.Several sensitivity indicators such as treeline type, treeline form, seed-based regeneration, and growth patterns are evaluated. Since most Himalayan treelines are anthropogenically depressed, observed advances are largely the result of land use change. Near-natural treelines are usually krummholz treelines, which are relatively unresponsive to climate change. Nevertheless, intense recruitment of treeline trees suggests a great potential for future treeline advance. Competitive abilities of seedlings within krummholz thickets and dwarf scrub heaths will be a major source of variation in treeline dynamics. Tree growth-climate relationships show mature treeline trees to be responsive to temperature change, in particular in winter and pre-monsoon seasons. High pre-monsoon temperature trends will most likely drive tree growth performance in the western and central Himalaya. Ecological niche modelling suggests that bioclimatic conditions for a range expansion of treeline trees will be created during coming decades.

show abstract

Section: Tree Physiognomy and Growth Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Warm temperatures without sufficient precipitation during summer season leads moisture stress and limit the growth in the study area. A few studies on Pinus wallichiana, Cedrus deodara, and Picea smithiana from high-altitude forests and tree lines in India [42,43] and in some conifer species from Tibet and adjacent mountain regions have shown growth enhancement during recent decades [44,45,46]. Negative correlation with the temperature in most of the months is not a common response.…”

Section: Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Variability and Associated Response of <i>Larix griffithii</i> in Kanchenjunga Conservation Area of Nepal

Bhatta¹,

Dhamala²,

Aryal³

et al. 2018

AEES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mountains are most sensitive to climate change and the impacts are already evident in different sphere and sector of mountain regions, especially in the vulnerable countries like Nepal. This research was designed to integrate hydro-climatic data analysis and climate sensitivity through dendrochronology to generate an understanding on how Larix griffithii, one of the least studied conifers in Nepal, is responding to climate variability and change. A significant warming trend of 0.021°C year -1 was observed in the region. Precipitation was more erratic without any significant increasing, decreasing or cyclic trend. Between 1962 and 2012, the warmest year on record was 2010 while 1997 was the coolest year on record. After 1997 a clear shift in temperature regime was observed with the recent decade experiencing a sharp increase in temperature. A site chronology extending 1745-2015 AD was prepared. Very strong significant correlation was observed between the standard chronology and monthly temperature especially in summer months indicating a potential for summer months' temperature reconstruction. The reconstructed summer month's temperature data for the period 1770-2015 captured 34% variability. The short cold episodes were observed around the 1810s, 1910s, and 1970s while warm periods were observed around 1890s, 1920s and 2000s. Radial growth of Larix griffithii in the site shows a highly significant negative relationship with the monthly temperature of the previous year and current year summer months especially for June, July, August, September of previous year and July, August and September of the current year. Significant positive correlation was observed for both previous year and current year July precipitation. The summer temperature coupled with precipitation is seen to limit the tree growth through moisture limitations. With the temperature in increasing trend, it is likely that the growth of Larix will face more heat stress in future, making them more dynamic to the changing climate.

show abstract

“…The relationship between climate and ring widths of M. elegans growing in arid Ladakh shows a different pattern in comparison with tree species growing in moist forests south of the main Himalayan range and adjacent Karakoram. These regions are affected by summer monsoons and their growth is therefore limited by the high temperature and the low precipitation during dry spring seasons (Yadav et al 1999(Yadav et al , 2004Yadav and Singh 2002;Singh et al 2006;Ahmed et al 2011;Borgaonkar et al 2011).…”

Section: Annual Variation In Radial Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These have shown great potential for studying the climate-growth relationship and how it changes with the course of time (Borgaonkar et al 2011;Yadav et al 2011;Cook et al 2013). Tree growth was documented on southern slopes of the Western Himalayas affected by summer monsoons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual and intra-annual growth dynamics of Myricaria elegans shrubs in arid Himalaya

Doležal

Lehečková

Sohar

et al. 2015

Trees

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Key message To disentangle complex drivers of Myricaria elegans growth in arid Himalaya, we combined tree-ring analysis with detailed dendrometer records. We found that the combination of winter frost, summer floods, and strong summer diurnal temperature fluctuations control annual and intra-annual growth dynamics. The relative importance of these drivers is, however, changing with ongoing climate change. Abstract High-mountain areas are among the most sensitive environments to climate change. Understanding how different organisms cope with ongoing climate change is now a major topic in the ecology of cold environments. Here, we investigate climate drivers of the annual and intra-annual growth dynamics of Myricaria elegans, a 3-6 m tall tree/shrub, in a high-elevation cold desert in Ladakh, a rapidly warming region in the NW Himalayas. As Myricaria forms narrow stands around glacier streams surrounded by the desert, we hypothesized that its growth between 3800 and 4100 m will be primarily limited by low temperatures and summer floods. We found that warmer and less snowy conditions in April and May enhance earlywood production. Latewood formation is mostly driven by the June-July temperatures (T). The positive effect of warmer summers on both annual and intra-annual growth is related to fluctuating daily T (from ?30 to 0°C). In particular, dendrometer measurements over a 2-year period showed that net daily growth increments increased when the summer night T remained above 6°C. While high night T during generally cold desert nights promoted growth, high daytime T caused water stress and growth inhibition. The growth-temperature dependency has gradually weakened due to accelerated warming since the 1990s. In addition, positive latewood responses to high March precipitation during the colder 1960s-1980s have become negative during the warmer 1990s-2000s, reflecting an intensification of summer floods. Latewood width increased while earlywood width decreased from the 1990s, indicating a prolonged growing season and a higher risk of drought-induced embolism in earlywood vessels. Due to a multiplicity of environmental drivers including winter frost, intensified floods and strong summer diurnal T fluctuations, Myricaria growth is not controlled by a single climate parameter. Similar results are increasingly reported from other Himalayan treelines, showing that ongoing climate change will trigger complex and probably spatially variable responses in tree growth. Our study showed that these complex climatic signals can be disentangled by a combination of long-term data from tree-rings with detailed, but short-term, records from dendrometers.

show abstract

High altitude forest sensitivity to the recent warming: A tree-ring analysis of conifers from Western Himalaya, India

Cited by 79 publications

References 28 publications

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

Climate Variability and Associated Response of <i>Larix griffithii</i> in Kanchenjunga Conservation Area of Nepal

Annual and intra-annual growth dynamics of Myricaria elegans shrubs in arid Himalaya

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About