The Characteristics of Radial Growth and Ecological Response of Caragana korshinskii Kom. Under Different Precipitation Gradient in the Western Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

Understanding the temporal-spatial variability of tree radial growth and ecological response is the basis for assessing forest vulnerability in sight of climate change. We studied stands of the shrub Caragana korshinskii Kom. at four sampling sites (natural forest CL and plantation forests XZJ, CK and TPX) that spanned the different precipitation gradient (180–415 mm) across China’s western Loess Plateau, and demonstrated its radial growth dynamics and ecological response. We found that the growth of natural C. korshinskii in arid regions have adapted and cope with regional environmental changes and radial growth was less affected by drought stress. However, the growth of planted C. korshinskii was significantly affected by drought stress in arid and semi-arid regions, especially during the growing season (from June to September). Variations in radial growth rates and growth indicators such as shrub height, canopy area are consistent with the climate-growth relationship. With increase of precipitation, the limiting of drought on the growth of planted C. korshinskii gradually decreased and the amount of radial growth variation explained by drought decreased from 53.8 to 34.2% and 22.3% from 270 to 399 and 415 mm of precipitation, respectively. The age-related radial growth trend shows that radial growth increased until 4 years of age, then decreased rapidly until 12–14 years of age, and then eventually tend to stabilized. In the context of climate warming and humidification, increased precipitation and regular branch coppicing management at around 12 years old will help to mitigate the limitation of drought on the growth of C. korshinskii. Moreover, the initial planting density should be tailored to local precipitation conditions (below 5,000 shrubs per hectare). The above results have important practical significance for the maintenance of the stability and sustainable management of plantation forests in the western Loess Plateau.

Sliding Cutting and Cutting Parameters of Concentric Curvilineal Edge Sliding Cutter for Caragana korshinskii (C.K.) Branches

“…branches are plant fibers that are composite, anisotropic and non-linear in nature. The cutting process is composed of two stages: extrusion deformation and cutting [28]. When the cutting speed is low, the branches undergo large compression deformation.…”

Multi-objective optimization of peak cutting force and cutting energy consumption in cutting of Caragana korshinskii branches

“…The C.K. branches are anisotropic, non-linear composite plant fiber material, and the cutting process is divided into the extrusion deformation stage and the cutting stage (Che et al 2022). When the v is slower (v < 0.4 m/s), the branch undergoes a larger compressive deformation.…”

“…is a tree of the Pteridophyllaceae family. It is a deciduous shrub, mainly distributed in Loess Plateau and Northwest desert areas in China, with the characteristics of drought resistance, cold resistance, heat resistance, and sand burial resistance (Waseem et al 2021;Che et al 2022). It is a high-quality shrub fodder plant resource with high ecological and economic value .…”

Dissimilarity in radial growth and response to drought of Korshinsk peashrub (Caragana korshinskii Kom.) under different management practices in the western Loess Plateau

“…However, owing to the influence of the climatic and anthropogenic environments and the lack of research on the relationships between afforestation species and local climate ( Che et al., 2022b ; Li Z et al., 2023 ), the survival and retention rates of afforestation are very low, especially on barren mountains without irrigation. In these areas, very few stands have survived and have been preserved, growth is poor, and vegetation coverage is low, which leads to the emergence of inefficient planted forests.…”

“…was the main afforested shrub species in the LP. Che et al (Che et al, 2022b, Che et al, 2023 systematically analyzed radial growth and response to water-heat conditions based on tree-ring samples at different precipitation gradients and proposed that as precipitation increased, drought limitation on Korshinsk peashrub growth gradually decreased.…”