Influence of climate on radial growth of Abies pindrow in Western Nepal Himalaya

Thapa, Uday Kunwar; Shah, Sameena; Gaire, Narayan Prasad; Bhuju, Dinesh Raj; Bhattacharyya, Amitava; Thagunna, Ganesh Singh

doi:10.3126/banko.v23i2.15462

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The correlation coefficient within tree was high and similar at three sites (~ 0.50-0.63) but comparatively lower (~ 0.31) at the 3100 m elevation site. Similar correlation coefficients have been reported in other tree ring studies from the Himalaya region (Sano et al, 2005;Bhuju et al, 2010;Chhetri and Thapa;Gaire et al, 2011;Dawadi et al, 2013;Thapa et al, 2013). The Expressed Population Signal (EPS) of the chronologies of all four sites exceeded the suggested threshold limit of 0.85%, indicating that the chronologies developed from the available sample size represented the site chronologies of the respective elevations well (Wigley et al, 1984).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The number of dendroclimatic studies in Nepal Himalaya is increasing at a considerable pace (Cook et al, 2003;Sano et al, 2005;Bhuju et al, 2010;Chhetri and Thapa, 2010;Gaire et al, 2011;Dawadi et al, 2013;Thapa et al, 2013). However, so far no studies have focused on examining climate-tree growth relationships along elevation gradients in the Nepal Himalaya despite the marked gradients characterizing this region.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Tree ring variability and climate response of Abies spectabilis along an elevation gradient in Mustang, Nepal

Kharal

Meilby²,

Rayamajhi

et al. 2015

Banko

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In mountainous areas including the Himalayas, tree lines are expected to advance to higher altitudes due to global climate change affecting the distribution and growth of plant species. This study aimed at identifying the tree ring variability of Abies spectabilis (D. Don) and its response to the climate along an elevation gradient in the high Himalayas of central Nepal. Tree core samples were collected from four sites in Mustang district. All sites were located in the same valley and exposed to similar weather conditions. Out of 232 samples collected from the sites, Titi lower (2700 m), Titi upper (2900 m), Pangukhark (3100 m) and Lete upper (3300 m), 44, 40, 39 and 41 series were successfully cross-dated and ring-width chronologies including 168, 79, 138 and 156 years previous to 2012 were developed, respectively. Statistically significant differences in average annual radial growth were noted among the four sites with the highest radial growth observed at mid-elevation sites. Chronological statistics based on residual chronologies for the common period revealed that A. spectabilis at the upper elevation site was more climate sensitive than at the other three sites. At the highest-elevation sites the correlation between pre-monsoon precipitation and tree growth was positive, and for the month of May this was statistically significant (p<0.05). Moreover, spring temperature (March-June) was negatively correlated with precipitation and with tree growth at all sites, and at the upper elevation site (3300 m) the correlation was significant for March, April and May. Banko Janakari, Vol. 24, No. 1 pp. 3-13

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree ring variability and climate response of Abies spectabilis along an elevation gradient in Mustang, Nepal

Kharal

Meilby²,

Rayamajhi

et al. 2015

Banko

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, Thapa et al . (, ) have demonstrated a clear negative temperature and a positive precipitation signal in Abies during the pre‐monsoon period (March–May) as well as a strong inverse relationship between Picea TRW and spring temperature (March–May) in the western Nepalese Himalayas. Exceptionally, the Abies chronology reported here showed a significant positive response to January temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The importance of moisture availability is confirmed by a previous study from the western Himalayas, India, where a high significant positive correlation with the Palmer Drought Severity Index was also revealed (Ram, 2012;Ram and Borgaonkar, 2013). Additionally, Thapa et al (2013Thapa et al ( , 2015 have demonstrated a clear negative temperature and a positive precipitation signal in Abies during the pre-monsoon period (March-May) as well as a strong inverse relationship between Picea TRW and spring temperature (March-May) in the western Nepalese Himalayas. Exceptionally, the Abies chronology reported here showed a significant positive response to January temperature.…”

Section: Dendroclimatic Signalsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Growth–climate relationships of Himalayan conifers along elevational and latitudinal gradients

Sohar

Altman

Lehečková

et al. 2016

Intl Journal of Climatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High mountains are some of the most vulnerable regions to climate change and therefore a matter of global concern. Here, the climatic growth factors of conifers and their course in time and space along an elevational gradient in the northwestern Himalayan part of India were studied. Increment cores of Juniperus semiglobosa and Cedrus deodara (xeric species), and Abies pindrow and Picea smithiana (mesic species) were collected from thirteen sites. Tree‐ring width and maximum latewood density were measured and cross‐dated. The time‐series were standardized and site‐ and species‐level chronologies were built. Static and moving bootstrap correlation and response functions between the tree‐ring chronologies and monthly climatic variables were computed. The largest climate changes in the region were increasing winter and early‐spring temperatures and decreasing monsoon precipitation. The growth of all species was negatively correlated with pre‐monsoon temperature, as the higher temperatures probably increased evapotranspiration and caused water deficit. The phenomenon was most pronounced in May, but also in June for the Juniperus at the northernmost, highest, and driest sites. The pre‐monsoon temperature signal of the drought‐prone Juniperus and Cedrus endured, while the signal of the climate‐susceptible Abies and Picea at the mesic sites was unstable. Namely, the May temperature signal of Picea became significant since the second half of the last century whereas the signal of Abies shifted from May to April. This apparently related to the earlier onset of spring due to the accelerated warming in the region. Besides, maximum latewood density of Picea and Abies negatively correlated with May and June temperature, respectively. Additionally, the Cedrus benefitted from winter precipitation and the Abies and Picea from pre‐monsoon rainfall. Counterintuitively, we detected no direct effect of monsoon precipitation decrease on the conifers because their growth was driven by pre‐monsoon conditions, which changed only slightly.

show abstract

“…Our ring-width chronology indicates negative correlations with the March-May average temperature and positive relations with March rainfall, which is also considered as the spring season in Nepal. Most of the conifers in the high Himalaya show similar responses to the temperatures in the early growth period [15,19,23,24,26,55,56]. In the high Himalaya, broad-leaved species (Betula utilis D.Don) also show a negative response with spring temperature and a positive relationship with precipitation [53,57,58].…”

Section: Characteristics Of the Timang T Dumosa Chronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring Season in Western Nepal Himalaya is not yet Warming: A 400-Year Temperature Reconstruction Based on Tree-Ring Widths of Himalayan Hemlock (Tsuga dumosa)

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Himalayan region has already witnessed profound climate changes detectable in the cryosphere and the hydrological cycle, already resulting in drastic socio-economic impacts. We developed a 619-yea-long tree-ring-width chronology from the central Nepal Himalaya, spanning the period 1399–2017 CE. However, due to low replication of the early part of the chronology, only the section after 1600 CE was used for climate reconstruction. Proxy climate relationships indicate that temperature conditions during spring (March–May) are the main forcing factor for tree growth of Tsuga dumosa at the study site. We developed a robust climate reconstruction model and reconstructed spring temperatures for the period 1600–2017 CE. Our reconstruction showed cooler conditions during 1658–1681 CE, 1705–1722 CE, 1753–1773 CE, 1796–1874 CE, 1900–1936 CE, and 1973 CE. Periods with comparably warmer conditions occurred in 1600–1625 CE, 1633–1657 CE, 1682–1704 CE, 1740–1752 CE, 1779–1795 CE, 1936–1945 CE, 1956–1972 CE, and at the beginning of the 21st century. Tropical volcanic eruptions showed only a sporadic impact on the reconstructed temperature. Also, no consistent temperature trend was evident since 1600 CE. Our temperature reconstruction showed positive teleconnections with March–May averaged gridded temperature data for far west Nepal and adjacent areas in Northwest India and on the Southwest Tibetan plateau. We found spectral periodicities of 2.75–4 and 40–65 years frequencies in our temperature reconstruction, indicating that past climate variability in central Nepal might have been influenced by large-scale climate modes, like the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

show abstract

Influence of climate on radial growth of Abies pindrow in Western Nepal Himalaya

Cited by 19 publications

References 13 publications

Tree ring variability and climate response of Abies spectabilis along an elevation gradient in Mustang, Nepal

Tree ring variability and climate response of Abies spectabilis along an elevation gradient in Mustang, Nepal

Growth–climate relationships of Himalayan conifers along elevational and latitudinal gradients

Spring Season in Western Nepal Himalaya is not yet Warming: A 400-Year Temperature Reconstruction Based on Tree-Ring Widths of Himalayan Hemlock (Tsuga dumosa)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About