Impacts of recent climate extremes on spring phenology in arid-mountain ecosystems in China

He, Zhibin; Du, Jun; Chen, Longfei; Zhu, Xi; Lin, Pengfei; Zhao, Mingwei; Fang, Shu

doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.05.022

Cited by 83 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These results suggest the extreme frost event most likely changed some forest fragments from a carbon sink to a carbon source and altered the ecological dynamics of mature and recovery trajectories of secondary forests. Because extreme disturbance events related to climate are becoming part of the disturbance regime of many different forest ecosystems (e.g., He et al, ; Herrero & Zamora, ; Saunders et al, ), we need to increase our understanding of the possibly different forest recovery pathways or alternative ecosystem states following these disturbances (Álvarez‐Yépiz, Martínez‐Yrízar, & Fredericksen, ). A network of permanent monitoring plots spread across an elevation gradient might be needed to examine the effects of disturbance severity on the ability of mature and secondary TDF to recover, and to enhance our understanding of the role of future climate extremes on long‐term ecological patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding and predicting frost‐induced tropical tree mortality patterns

Bojórquez

Álvarez‐Yépiz

Búrquez

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Extreme climatic and weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity across the world causing episodes of widespread tree mortality in many forested ecosystems. However, we have a limited understanding about which local factors influence tree mortality patterns, restricting our ability to predict tree mortality, especially within topographically complex tropical landscapes with a matrix of mature and secondary forests. We investigated the effects of two major local factors, topography and forest successional type, on climate‐induced tropical tree mortality patterns using an observational and modeling approach. The northernmost Neotropical dry forest endured an unprecedented episode of frost‐induced tree mortality after the historic February 2011 cold wave hit northwestern Mexico. In a moderately hilly landscape covering mature and secondary tropical dry forests, we surveyed 454 sites for the presence or absence of frost‐induced tree mortality. In addition, across forty‐eight 1 ha plots equally split into the two forest types, we examined 6,981 woody plants to estimate a frost‐disturbance severity metric using the density of frost‐killed trees. Elevation is the main factor modulating frost effects regardless of forest type. Higher occurrence probabilities of frost‐induced tree mortality at lowland forests can be explained by the strong influence of elevation on temperature distribution since heavier cold air masses move downhill during advective frosts. Holding elevation constant, the probability of frost‐induced tree mortality in mature forests was twice that of secondary forests but severity showed the opposite pattern, suggesting a cautious use of occurrence probabilities of tree mortality to infer severity of climate‐driven disturbances. Extreme frost events, in addition to altering forest successional pathways and ecosystem services, likely maintain and could ultimately shift latitudinal and altitudinal range margins of Neotropical dry forests.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding and predicting frost‐induced tropical tree mortality patterns

Bojórquez

Álvarez‐Yépiz

Búrquez

et al. 2019

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Grassland has a wide geographical distribution at altitudes ranging from 2,500 to 4,600 m. Several constructive species, such as Stellera chamaejasme Linn . and Potentilla multifida , are collectively present at QLMs (He et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theoretically, warming-related reductions in chilling days could impede the fulfilment of chilling requirements, which may delay spring phenology (Yu et al, 2010;Clark et al, 2014;Dantec et al, 2014). Meanwhile, the decreased amount of exposure to cold temperatures could also decrease the risk of freezing injury to the sensitive growing tissues of AM plants, and thus promote green-up onset (Inouye, 2008;He et al, 2018). Our results may imply a balance between impediment and promotion of accumulated chilling reduction to spring green-up for forests and an imbalance toward to promotion for grasslands.…”

Section: F I G U R E 4 Spline-interpolatedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across the biomes examined, the shrubland ecosystem was found to be the most sensitive to preseason precipitation. Low water retention in shrubs after rainfall resulted in water stress, because the growing environment of shrubs was characterized by steep inclines with thin soil and high soil porosity (He et al, 2018). Lack of shrub adaptability to such water deficits may contribute to the peak hydroclimatic sensitivity.…”

Section: Dependence Of Spring Phenology On T Min and Precipitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arid mountains (AMs) constitute a special geomorphic unit that develops in arid/semi-arid climate zones at high altitudes. The environmental components are affected by the climate type of baseband, and exhibit characteristics of vertical zonality (He et al, 2018). In AMs, ongoing occurrences of climatic anomalies have become extraordinarily frequent (Lin et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Daily minimum temperature and precipitation control on spring phenology in arid‐mountain ecosystems in China

et al. 2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate anomaly has caused substantial shifts in phenology of mountain ecosystems, but the underlying mechanism of phenological responses to climate change is still not well understood. In essence, the abundance of vegetation communities increases the complexity of phenology‐climate relationships, leading to a certain limitation in predictions of future dynamics among different vegetation types using a unified model. In this study, we focused on the climatic constraints on spring phenology in arid mountains (AMs) of China, and emphasis was laid on accurate representation of mechanisms that control phenology across different vegetation types. We Firstly explored spatio‐temporal variations in satellite‐derived estimates of starting date of vegetation growing season (SOS) over the period 2000–2015 using moderate‐resolution imaging spectro‐radiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Phenological models in response to climate variability were then established by using mixed‐effect models based on satellite observations and an extensive dataset of climatic measurements. Our results showed that the climatic regulation on SOS varied greatly over vegetation types. More climatic factors that regulate phenological development were found in grassland than forest and shrubland. At ecosystem level, two critical climate factors, daily minimum temperature (Tmin) and precipitation, explained 74–95% of total variability in predicted SOS. The observed sensitivity to Tmin is expected to be closely linked with the risk of frost damage, while preseason precipitation determines water availability in spring. The varying ecosystem sensitivity revealed the different resilience and adaptability to changing climate among vegetation types, which have been linked to their eco‐physiological characteristics (e.g., water use efficiency) and environmental conditions (e.g., elevation). Overall, our results indicate a strong dependence of spring phenology on Tmin and precipitation, and create an opportunity for a more realistic representation of vegetation phenology and growth of AM plants in China in land surface models.

show abstract

Contrasting drought impacts on the start of phenological growing season in Northern China during 1982–2015

Deng

Yin

et al. 2019

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drought is a widely occurring extreme climatic event that may have various effects on vegetation phenology and activity. The change of the start of the phenological growing season (SOS) is one key mechanism for ecosystem responses to droughts yet remain unknown at large scale. This study used abnormal changes in the ratio of reference evapotranspiration (ETO) and precipitation (P) to detect the pre‐season (defined as the 3 months before the growing season) monthly drought during 1982–2015. After that, the pre‐season drought impacts on SOS were analysed. Drought appeared frequently (>3.6 times/10 years) in the northern and southwest China, as well as the coastal area of south China during the last 34 years. The droughts generally accompany a higher temperature and a stronger radiation, but the drought effects on the SOS differ between humid/sub‐humid and semi‐arid zones in northern China. Specifically, in the temperate humid/sub‐humid zones, SOS under drought was 1.08–4.86 days earlier than during normal (no drought) years, and the response was greater to the droughts that appeared in the first two of the three pre‐season months. In addition, in the cold, mid‐, and warm temperate zones, the advance response was more concentrated in the SOS about DOY130‐140, DOY125‐150, and DOY80‐160, respectively. However, in the north semi‐arid zone, the SOS under drought was 0.66–3.45 days later than during normal years, and the response was greater to the droughts that appeared in the last two of the 3 months. These delay responses also concentrated in the SOS about DOY125‐150. The contrasting drought impacts on phenology suggest that we should move beyond the vegetation activity under droughts such as the growth, productivity, and mortality, and pay more attention to the timing of vegetation activity to better quantify the carbon budget at Northern Hemisphere.

show abstract

Impacts of recent climate extremes on spring phenology in arid-mountain ecosystems in China

Cited by 83 publications

References 51 publications

Understanding and predicting frost‐induced tropical tree mortality patterns

Understanding and predicting frost‐induced tropical tree mortality patterns

Daily minimum temperature and precipitation control on spring phenology in arid‐mountain ecosystems in China

Contrasting drought impacts on the start of phenological growing season in Northern China during 1982–2015

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About