Uneven winter snow influence on tree growth across temperate China

Wu, Xiuchen; Li, Xiaoyan; Liu, Hongyan; Ciais, Philippe; Li, Yuanqiao; Xu, Tongren; Babst, Flurin; Guo, Weichao; Hao, Bingyan; Wang, Pei; Huang, Yongmei; Liu, Shaomin; Tian, Yongchao; He, Bin; Zhang, Cicheng

doi:10.1111/gcb.14464

Cited by 43 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Climate change effects on vegetation have been documented at annual and seasonal scales, with the most research directed at evaluating the effects of climate in summer months. However, climate warming is more pronounced in winter than summer at locations in the mid‐ to high‐latitudes (Xia et al, ), where changing winter precipitation patterns (spatial and temporal variability, type; Wu et al, ), extreme cold events (magnitude and frequency; Kodra, Steinhaeuser, & Ganguly, ) and temperature (variability in extremes and mean) can independently and collectively influence patterns of vegetation growth and distribution, especially in temperate mixed‐wood forests (Kreyling, ; Kreyling & Henry, ). To better identify the effects of these climatic changes on forest productivity, spatially explicit estimations of tree growth (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree growth influenced by warming winter climate and summer moisture availability in northern temperate forests

Harvey

Smiljanić

Scharnweber

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

133

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The role of future forests in global biogeochemical cycles will depend on how different tree species respond to climate. Interpreting the response of forest growth to climate change requires an understanding of the temporal and spatial patterns of seasonal climatic influences on the growth of common tree species. We constructed a new network of 310 tree‐ring width chronologies from three common tree species (Quercus robur, Pinus sylvestris and Fagus sylvatica) collected for different ecological, management and climate purposes in the south Baltic Sea region at the border of three bioclimatic zones (temperate continental, oceanic, southern boreal). The major climate factors (temperature, precipitation, drought) affecting tree growth at monthly and seasonal scales were identified. Our analysis documents that 20th century Scots pine and deciduous species growth is generally controlled by different climate parameters, and that summer moisture availability is increasingly important for the growth of deciduous species examined. We report changes in the influence of winter climate variables over the last decades, where a decreasing influence of late winter temperature on deciduous tree growth and an increasing influence of winter temperature on Scots pine growth was found. By comparing climate–growth responses for the 1943–1972 and 1973–2002 periods and characterizing site‐level growth response stability, a descriptive application of spatial segregation analysis distinguished sites with stable responses to dominant climate parameters (northeast of the study region), and sites that collectively showed unstable responses to winter climate (southeast of the study region). The findings presented here highlight the temporally unstable and nonuniform responses of tree growth to climate variability, and that there are geographical coherent regions where these changes are similar. Considering continued climate change in the future, our results provide important regional perspectives on recent broad‐scale climate–growth relationships for trees across the temperate to boreal forest transition around the south Baltic Sea.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree growth influenced by warming winter climate and summer moisture availability in northern temperate forests

Harvey

Smiljanić

Scharnweber

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

133

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“…Previous research in this study area has shown that soil temperature played a key role for the initiation of radial growth for both larch and spruce [8,44]. The threshold value of soil temperature for larch xylogenesis was above 0 • C as frozen soil will inhibit water uptake and activity in root systems [45]. Moreover, the correlation coefficients indicated that the growing degree days of soil temperature (GDD s ) better explained the shoot growth and stem growth, whereas the daily soil temperature was better for needle growth in larch (Table 4).…”

Section: Environmental Effect On Growthmentioning

confidence: 88%

Comparing Primary and Secondary Growth of Co-Occurring Deciduous and Evergreen Conifers in an Alpine Habitat

Zhang

Jiang

Yan

et al. 2019

Forests

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Investigations on primary and secondary growth in co-occurring species will aid in assessment of the physiological adaptation of species and the prediction of forest stand structure dynamics. To explore the correlation and coordination between primary and secondary growth, we monitored the leaf phenology, shoot elongation, and stem growth of co-occurring Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr. and Picea meyeri Rehd. et Wils. in an alpine habitat, Luya Mountain (North-Central China), during the growing season of 2014. We measured bud development on terminal branches three days per week by direct observations and intra-annual stem xylem formation at weekly intervals by the microcores method. The onset sequence of three organs was the needle, shoot, and stem, without species-specific differences. Needles appeared one month earlier than stem growth in larch, while it was only one week earlier in spruce. The duration of needle growth was the shortest, followed by the shoot and stem. The timing of primary growth (i.e., onset, end, and maximum growth rate) between the two species was asynchronous, but secondary growth was synchronic with the same date of the maximum growth rate occurrence, potentially indicating species competition for resources. Unlike larch, spruce staggered growth peaks among different organs, which may effectively mitigate trees’ internal competition for resources. Soil temperature was positively correlated with both shoot and stem growth in the two species, whereas air temperature and soil water content were positively correlated with needle growth only in larch. Therefore, it can be inferred that the spruce will probably outcompete the larch at cold alpine treeline sites due to its high adaptability to acquiring and allocating resources. These results provide insight into the potential physiological correlation between primary and secondary growth and allow better prediction of future climate change effects on forest ecosystem productivity.

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“…In humid regions, water availability was likely not the main limiting factor for NDVI; instead, variations in temperature, solar radiation as well as CO 2 concentration interactively controlled tree growth [46,50] (Figure 5; Figure S2). Tree growth in drier regions tends to be increasingly affected by early growing season water availability and winter snow exerts important effects on tree growth, with contributions ranging from 2% to 23% across diverse climate zones over northeastern China [25]. More importantly, the water-limited regions are becoming drier accompanied due to rapid climate warming [51], which exerts intensified drought stress on tree growth and could further trigger tree growth decline ( Figure 5).…”

Section: Divergent Tree Growth Trends In Different Seasonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, increasing efforts have been devoted to the understanding of forest growth and its response to the changing climate [21][22][23]. Studies based on both satellite observations and in situ forest investigation have revealed that the temperate forest is particularly sensitive to climate change in northeastern China [17,22,24,25]. Past studies mainly focused on the annual tree growth trend and its drivers [8,[26][27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Divergent Tree Growth Trends and Growth Variability along Drought Gradient over Northeastern China

Shi

et al. 2019

Forests

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With the increasing temperature and intensified drought, global climate change has profound impacts on tree growth in temperate regions, which consequently regulates terrestrial-atmosphere biogeochemical processes and biophysical feedbacks. Thus, increasing numbers of studies have addressed the long-term annual trends in tree growth and their response to climate change at diverse spatial scales. However, the potential divergence in tree growth trends and growth variability (represented by coefficient of variance) in different seasons across large-scale climate gradients remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the tree growth trends and growth variability in different seasons across diverse drought conditions in forested regions over northeastern China during the period 1982–2015, using both remote sensing observations and in situ tree-ring measurements. We found clear seasonal divergence in tree growth trends during 1982–2015, and the apparent increase was mainly observed in spring and autumn, attributed mainly to the increase in spring temperature and autumn solar radiation, respectively, but not in summer. The magnitudes of increasing trends in tree growth decrease with the increase of the multi-year average dryness index (MAI) in semi-arid areas (1.5 < MAI < 4.0) in all seasons. We further revealed that the interannual variability in tree growth was much larger in the semi-arid regions than in the humid and semi-humid regions in all seasons, and tree growth variability was significantly and negatively correlated with the variations in temperature and water deficit. Our findings improve our understanding of seasonal divergence in tree growth trends and provide new insights into spatial patterns in forest vulnerability in a warmer and drier climate.

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Uneven winter snow influence on tree growth across temperate China

Cited by 43 publications

References 65 publications

Tree growth influenced by warming winter climate and summer moisture availability in northern temperate forests

Tree growth influenced by warming winter climate and summer moisture availability in northern temperate forests

Comparing Primary and Secondary Growth of Co-Occurring Deciduous and Evergreen Conifers in an Alpine Habitat

Seasonal Divergent Tree Growth Trends and Growth Variability along Drought Gradient over Northeastern China

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