Tree-ring based reconstruction of mean maximum temperatures since AD 1829

Abstract

The correlation between tree-ring widths and climate was developed using Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica after which mean maximum temperatures of June-July since 1829 were reconstructed. Results show that the transfer function of temperature explains more than 40% of the variance and that the reconstruction sequence was consistent with several reconstructed temperature variations in the region. Over the past 181 years, climate in the region has undergone eight distinct low temperature and eight high temperature periods. A high temperature period in the 1920s to 1930s is consistent with a drought that occurred in most regions of northern China. Periods of drought in the 1870s were also identified. There was no significant increase or decrease in mean maximum June-July temperatures over the last 181 years, although since the 1950s temperatures have increased gradually. A warming trend has become more pronounced since the early 1990s but temperature levels are not significantly higher than those of the 1850s. A multi-taper spectral analysis shows that there are significant periodicities of 2.4, 2.8, 4.9, 5.1 and 21.3 years in the sequence of reconstructed temperatures. Temperatures were also affected by global climate events and solar activity.

Tree-ring reconstruction of June-July mean temperatures in the northern Daxing’an Mountains, China

“…2). Similar results were also obtained by studies of other tree species in various areas of China (Bao et al, 2012;Gao et al, 2013;Lu et al, 2016;Shi et al, 2013;Tian et al, 2009). The hot summer temperatures might limit the growth of Larix gmelinii due to the increased water deficits caused by the enhanced forest respiration and evaporation of soil moisture (Huang et al, 2010;.…”

Prediction of the carbon pool for lacebark pine under future temperature changes

“…Tree rings can provide annual proxy climate information, and have been widely used for temperature and precipitation reconstructions over the past several centuries (Cook et al 2004). China's tree-ring eco-climatology research has focused on sites on the Tibetan Plateau and on other areas of northwestern China (Zhu et al 2009, Liu et al 2010, Shi et al 2013. However, there has been no research on predicting future carbon pools under climate change using the relationship between tree-ring width and climate variability.…”