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Effects of air temperature in growth season on Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) radial growth in north subtropical region of China
Abstract
Longer growth season has been confirmed due to the elevated temperature in recent decades. Though the changes in the duration of growth season could affect tree productivity, it's unclear how the growth season with different initiating temperature affects the radial growth of tree. In order to investigate the effects of growth season's variability in temperature to the radial growth of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) and search for the sensitive temperature to the growth, old Masson pine stands in Hanzhong, the northwest margin of north subtropical region, were chosen as test objects, with their tree ring width index chronology from 1945 to 2009 measured by dendrochronology method. The air temperatures on the first day, last day, and in the whole growth season as well as the active accumulative temperature during growth season were determined based on the daily mean temperature of Hanzhong, and the relationships between the temperatures and chronology were analyzed. The results showed that the growth season with initiating temperature 6.0 °C-7.5 °C had negative effects on the tree ring width index chronology, with 6.0 °C being most significan. 10.5 °C on the last day had significant positive effects on tree ring growth. 10.0 °C and 10.5 °C in growth season were significantly positively correlated with the tree ring growth, and the active accumulative temperature during growth season was also significantly positively correlated with the growth. These sensitive temperatures were respectively corresponding to the onset of photosynthesis, needle emergence in spring, and shutting down of cambium activity in autumn. Our study suggested that elevated temperature led to the changes in phenophase, and thereby, affected the radial growth of P. massoniana in Hanzhong.
... In subtropical East Asia, El Niño is typically correlated with increased winter temperature as well as a delay in the East Asia summer monsoon, which lengthens the winter-spring sunshine duration and increases summer precipitation in southeast China (Zhang et al., 1996(Zhang et al., , 1999Zhou and Chan, 2007;Zhou and Zhang, 2002;Li et al., 2014). Such climate anomalies could result in an extended growing season and a milder water deficit for tree growth, which have been revealed to benefit the growth of many local coniferous and broad-leaved species (Feng et al., 2011;Chen et al., 2012;Li et al., 2016). Therefore, tree growth in subtropical areas of East Asia may, to some extent, respond positively to El Niño. ...
... The East Asia subtropical forest (EASF) is mainly located in southeast China as well as a small proportion of South Korea and Japan (Hou, 1983;Feng et al., 2011;Yu et al., 2014). It contributes to 8% of global forest net ecosystem primary productivity (Fao, 2000;Yu et al., (Hou, 1983;Hirata et al., 2008;Yin et al., 2018). ...
... Many other areas of China are also exhibit examples of significant negative correlations between tree growth and the PDSI. Humidity conditions are no longer considered a factor restricting the growth of trees in a specific area, as demonstrated in studies of subalpine coniferous forests on the western Sichuan Plateau [71], subalpine P. massoniana in Hanzhong, Shaanxi [72], and P. massoniana in the Jigongshan Nature Reserve in Xinyang, Henan [73]. ...
... Many other areas of China also exhibit examples of significant negative correlations between tree growth and the PDSI. Humidity conditions are no longer considered a factor restricting the growth of trees in a specific area, as demonstrated in studies of subalpine coniferous forests on the western Sichuan Plateau [71], subalpine P. massoniana in Hanzhong, Shaanxi [72], and P. massoniana in the Jigongshan Nature Reserve in Xinyang, Henan [73]. ...
Larix principis-rupprechtii is an important afforestation tree species in the North China alpine coniferous forest belt. Studying the correlations and response relationships between Larix principis-rupprechtii radial growth and climatic factors at different elevations is helpful for understanding the growth trends of L. principis-rupprechtiind its long-term sensitivity and adaptability to climate change. Pearson correlation, redundancy (RDA), and sliding analysis were performed to study the correlations and dynamic relationships between radial growth and climatic factors. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The three-elevation standard chronologies all exhibited high characteristic values, contained rich climate information and were suitable for tree-ring climatological analyses. (2) Both temperature and precipitation restricted low-elevation L. principis-rupprechtii radial growth, while monthly maximum temperatures mainly affected mid-high-elevation L. principis-rupprechtii radial growth. (3) Mid-elevation L. principis-rupprechtii radial growth responded to climate factors with a “lag effect” and was not restricted by spring and early summer drought. (4) Long-term sliding analysis showed that spring temperatures and winter precipitation were the main climatic factors restricting L. principis-rupprechtii growth under warming and drying climate trends at different elevations. The tree-ring width index and Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) were positively correlated, indicating that L. principis-rupprechtii growth is somewhat restricted by drought. These results provide a reference and guidance for L. principis-rupprechtii management and sustainable development in different regions under warming and drying background climate trends.
... We suggest that the recent climate changes and protection strategies (China's Natural Forest Protection Project) are playing a positive role in preserving Masson pine stands in subtropical regions of southern China (Shen et al. 2006;Feng et al. 2011). A continued development of the tree-ring network of Masson pine would improve our knowledge of the growth dynamics and climate change in southern China. ...
Using tree-ring analysis coupled with the resin
tapping history and climate data, we investigated the effects
of climate warming and resin collection on the radial
growth of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) in southern
China. Fifty Masson pine trees from untapped (LDC) and
tapped (WLS) stands were sampled from Changting,
southern China. The radial growth of Masson pine at the
LDC site was positively influenced by previous November
and current February temperature and current July precipitation.
There is an abrupt change point of the LDC
series in 2002, which may be linked with regional climate
warming. An increasing trend in the LDC series over the
last 20 years is also found. Resin collection had a negative
effect on the radial growth of Masson pine at the WLS site,
especially on old trees. The positive effect of climate
warming on the radial growth of Masson pine was offset by
the negative effect of the resin collection. Therefore, in
order to keep timber production, the unplanned resin collection
should be forbidden.
... The comparisons of site factors on productivity of 5-year-old Pinus massoniana forest indicated that the productivity of forest at downslope (1.70 t ha −1 yr −1 ) was higher than that at upslope (0.97 t ha −1 yr −1 ) (Huang 2002). The treering analysis of Pinus massoniana forest during 1945 and 2009 demonstrated that the temperature ≥ 10 °C during the growing season and soil water availability would promote the growth and consequent productivity Feng et al. 2011). There was a long 1 3 history of anthropogenic interventions and management in Changting county at southwest Fujian (Cao et al. 2009;Wang et al. 2011aWang et al. , 2016, but no effort conducted to estimate forest C density and storage on landscape using time-series remotely sensed data. ...
Adaptive managements on susceptible forested regions not only benefit forest recovery, but also help to improve the stability of soil degraded area and carbon (C) sequestration. The gain of afforestation on C sink has not been addressed clearly especially in tropical and subtropical regions that will be critical in an era of global warming. Based on the Landsat satellite images, in-situ forest survey and archives, we analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of C density and storage in a typical soil-water conservation area in Changting county in southeastern China, dominated by the pioneer tree Pinus massoniana forest. The results showed that the C density (storage) increased significantly from 20.14 Mg C ha-1 (0.38 Tg C) in 1981 to 43.57 Mg C ha-1 (1.98 Tg C) in 2015 (p < 0.05) and proved the success of ecological management adopted considering the interactions between local residential livelihoods and the features of local forest ecosystem. In addition, the differences of C density and storage across elevational and slope gradients also narrowed over the past 35 years. The landscape also gradually shifted from lower C density to higher C density conditions based on the landscape metrics. The ecological-dominated approaches should be put in a high priority for the issue of C sequestration especially in a changing climate.
... Climate data for the subtropical China were obtained from the WorldClim database (http://www.worldclim.org) with 18 candidate bioclimatic variables (Table OR1 in supplementary file) at a 1 km × 1 km spatial resolution (Hijmans et al. 2005). The growing season was determined using temperature-based rules, starting when the mean daily temperature was greater than 6.0°C for five consecutive days, and ending when the average temperature fell below 10.5°C after the first day of August (Feng et al. 2011). The observations of the variables were averaged for the period 1950-2000. ...
Key messageA climate-sensitive aboveground biomass (AGB) equation, in combination with nonlinear mixed-effects modeling and dummy variable approach, was developed to examine how climate change may affect the allometric relationships between tree diameter and biomass. We showed that such changes in allometry need to be taken into account for estimating tree AGB in Masson pine. ContextAs a native species and being widely distributed in subtropical China, Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.) forests play a pivotal role in maintaining forest ecosystem functions and mitigation of carbon concentration increase at the atmosphere. Traditional biomass allometric equations do not account for a potential effect of climate on the diameter–biomass relationships. The amplitude of such an effect remains poorly documented. AimsWe presented a novel method for detecting the long-term (2041–2080) effects of climate change on the diameter–biomass relationships and the potential consequences for long-term changes of biomass accumulation for Masson pine. Methods
Our approach was based on a climate-sensitive AGB model developed using a combined nonlinear mixed-effects model and dummy variable approach. Various climate-related variables were evaluated for their contributions to model improvement. Heteroscedasticity was accounted for by three residual variance functions: exponential function, power function, and constant plus function. ResultsThe results showed that diameter at breast height, together with the long-term average of growing season temperature, total growing season precipitation, mean temperature of wettest quarter, and precipitation of wettest quarter, had significant effects on values of AGB. Excessive rain during the growing season and high mean temperature in the wettest quarter reduced the AGB, while a warm growing season and abundant precipitation in the wettest quarter increased the AGB. Conclusion
Climate change significantly affected the allometric scale of biomass equation. The new climate-sensitive allometric model developed in this study may improve biomass predictions compared with the traditional model without climate effects. Our findings suggested that the AGB of Masson pine trees with the same diameter at breast height under three climate scenarios including representative concentration pathway (RCP) 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 in the future period 2041–2080 would increase by 24.8 ± 32.7% (mean ± standard deviation), 27.0 ± 33.4%, and 27.7 ± 33.8% compared with the constant climate (1950–2000), respectively. As a consequence, we may expect a significant regional variability and uncertainty in biomass estimates under climate change.
Temperature plays a key role in phenology and growth of dominant tree species and hence in the structure and function of coniferous forests in cold temperate zones. We used a dendrochronological method to determine the critical temperatures of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica (Mongolian pine) radial growth and the xylem growing season. Results showed that Mongolian pine radial growth is sensitive to daily mean temperatures of 4.0–5.5 °C in early spring, 14.0 °C in summer and 2.0–2.5 °C in autumn. A temperature of 4 °C might be the initial temperature required for sap flow, photosynthesis and tree germination in this area in early spring, and 5.5 °C is the most critical temperature for earlywood onset growth. The advance and extension of temperature 14.0 °C in summer can exacerbate water stress for trees and inhibit earlywood growth under the condition of insufficient precipitation. In autumn, 2.0–2.5 °C may be the minimum temperature for the xylem growth. These critical temperatures are important in predicting the changes in the phenology of cambial activity and the growth of conifers in cold temperate regions under a scenario of a warming climate. We defined the mean xylem growing season of pines in this region as 151 days from early May to early October. With the increase in temperatures during 1972–2015, the start date of the xylem growing season advanced by 0.24 days/year, the duration of the xylem growing season increased by 0.27 days/year and the basal area increment of Mongolian pine increased significantly (P < 0.01). The influence of the earlier and longer xylem growing season compensated the negative effect of high initial temperature (14.0–15.0 °C) in some months, resulting in an increase in tree radial increment in this area. The warmer climate will lead to a longer xylem growing season, resulting in greater wood production with an adequate supply of water available.
Tree-ring chronologies of Pinus tabulaeformis from three sampling sites in southeastern Gansu Province in China and growth-related parameters calculated from daily average temperatures were utilized to explore the response features of tree radial growth to onset and cessation date, duration and accumulated temperature. The results indicated that the three chronologies exhibited a significantly positive correlation with the temperature (12°C) of the onset date (p<0.05), which is consistent with the initial threshold temperature that occurred in May based on radial growth monitoring nearby. The tree-ring chronology from the Taihe Mountains located in a relatively more arid area had a significantly negative correlation with cessation dates in late September with temperatures of 12.5-13.5°C (p<0.05). The threshold associated with the duration and accumulated temperature in the two chronologies from the Taihe and Xiaolong Mountains occurred at 12°C (p<0.01). Significantly negative correlations were found between the chronology from the Guiqing Mountains and accumulated temperature from 5°C to 15°C (p<0.05). Soil moisture stress caused by increasing temperatures and accumulated temperatures during the main growing season from May to September is the main limiting factor for the radial growth of trees. Our results are consistent with findings based on monthly climate data and tree-ring width indexes, indicating that the current research is reliable and effective.
A well-replicated Abies fargesii tree-ring width chronology in the Shennongjia Mount was developed to investigate its radial growth response to climate variables (e.g., monthly mean tempe- rature and total precipitation) and other growing season indicators (e.g., cumulative temperature, continuous days, initial and final dates). Correlation analyses showed that the tree-ring width was positively correlated to the mean temperatures of February, April and September, and negatively correlated to the total precipitation of September, prior September and prior December. The analyses between the chronology and other growing season parameters showed that tree growth responded positively to the cumulative temperature and continuous days of the growing season. The correlation was the highest when the growing season was defined as the days above the temperature threshold of 9.0 °C. Defined this way, the growing season typically started in late-May and ended in mid-September, lasting about 120 days. Correlation analyses were also conducted between the tree-ring growth and the initial and final dates of the growing season. Results showed that correlation was the highest for initial dates defined at 9.0 °C (with the coefficient of -0.25 and p-value close to 0.05), and for final dates defined at 9.3 °C (with the coefficient of 0.33 and p-value less than 0.05). All these results indicated that the sensitive temperature threshold for photosynthesis of A. fargesii was around 9.0 °C. The year 1978 marked an abrupt shift of climate in southeast China. We compared A. fargesii growth between pre-1978 and post-1978 periods. Results showed that as temperature rose, the growing season was lengthened with both earlier initial dates and later final dates. Longer growing season increased the A. fargesii growth in the Shennongjia Mount, southeastern China.
A dendroclimatological approach is very useful in the study of global climatic changes because it provides precise dating, high continuity, high resolution and easily obtained duplicates. Only a few dendroclimatological works have been conducted in tropical and subtropical zones because of the relatively small effect of seasonality there. Tree ring width from the upper tree-line is sensitive to variations in temperature during the early stage of the growing season. Under the recent background of climate warming, tree ring width responded to temperature changes consistently allowing it to provide a historic proxy of past temperature change in this area. A standardized 119-year tree-ring chronology was established based on samples collected. Statistical analysis of the chronology shows a mean first order autocorrelation of 0. 53, mean sensitivity of 0. 25, and signal-to-noise ratio of 22. 60. The results indicate tree-ring chronology records information related to environmental changes and tree-ring chronology can be used for dendroclimatological studies. To explore the climatic significance of tree ring width of Pinus massoniana in this study of dendroclimate, correlation analyses were conducted between the chronology and four climate variables recorded at the Gan County meteorological station from 1951 to 2008: monthly mean maximum temperature, monthly mean temperature, monthly mean minimum temperature and monthly precipitation. This study aims to reveal the changes in some of climatic factors over the past 119 years in the Gan County, Jiangxi Province, China by using the measurement and dating of tree-ring widths from large diameter trees of P. massoniana in the area, as well as to analyze the response of growth of P. massoniana to climate change and the correlation between its radial growth and the variability of some climatic factors in the area. The research procedures follow: 1) core samples were extracted from 47 standing trees selected for experimental sampling from the upper elevations of the site (360m), 2) according to the normal process of tree-ring analysis, tree-ring widths were measured with a LINTAB instrument, 3) measures of cross-dating for sample trees were taken using the COFECHA Program, and 4) correlations between ring width, temperature and precipitation were measured with ARSTAN software. The reconstructed function was Ti = 4. 11I i +7. 51 (R2 = 0. 567, Radj = 0. 543, < 0. 01). Because the instrumental dataset was large and an independent test was applied for the transfer function, all the test parameters indicated the function was stable and reliable. Results indicated a temperature increase during the growing season enhances P. massoniana growth. Prolongation of the growing season and rising temperatures during the growing season can also accelerate the growth of P. massoniana. The correlation coefficient between the temperature series reconstructed by the regression and the observational data is as high as 0.75; there was strong correlation between the radial growth of P. massoniana and the average monthly temperature in February and March from 1890 to 2008 having a significant impact on plant physiology. The average temperature sequence of February and March was reconstructed. Three cold periods (1892-1906, 1918-1922, 1944-1957) and three warm periods (1909-1917, 1959-1968, 1998-2008) occurred. Our tree-ring width chronology data were strongly correlated to results from previous studies. The results not only further supplement the study of tree-ring width chronologies, but also provide baseline data for the study of dendroclimatological reconstruction in warm and humid areas in subtropical China.
An organism is the most basic unit of independent life. The tree-ring record is defined by organismal processes. Dendrochronology contributes to investigations far removed from organismal biology, e.g., archeology, climatology, disturbance ecology, etc. The increasing integration of dendrochronology into a diverse research community suggests an opportunity for a brief review of the organismal basis of tree rings.Trees are dynamic, competitive, and opportunistic organisms with diverse strategies for survival. As with all green plants, trees capture the energy in sunlight to make and break chemical bonds with the elements essential for life. These essential elements are taken from the atmosphere, water, and soil. The long tree-ring series of special interest to dendrochronology result from long-lived trees containing relatively little decayed wood. Both of those features result from organismal biology. While the tree-ring record tells us many things about local, regional, and even global environmental history, tree rings are first a record of tree survival.
On-site climatic measurements were used to model red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) shoot elongation. Three study sites each consisting of three 0.2-ha plots were cleared and planted with red pine. Shoot growth was measured weekly for 2 years. Incremental seasonal growth of the leading shoot was estimated using a difference form of a modified Chapman-Richards growth function. Weekly growth was estimated as a function of air temperature degree days (4.4°C basis), soil water potential, and total expected seasonal growth. An example using the model compares varying site and climatic conditions and their effect on the pattern of seedling height growth during the growing season as well as their effect on the total amount of height growth realized at the end of the growing season.
Phenological observations were made on healthy trees of Pinus halepensis and on trees affected by Matsuccocus josephi in Massuaa Forest (Judean Foothills) and Yattir Forest (northern Negev). The sequence of phenological stages was first displayed in Massua Forest by affected trees and then by healthy trees, and finally by healthy trees in pest-free Yattir Forest. The growth of the vegetative buds began when the daily minimum temperature was at least +10°C and was 10–13 days later in Yattir than in Massua Forest. At the drier site, Yattir Forest, the production of late wood started 2–3 weeks earlier than in Massua Forest.
The future of the endemic Taiwan spruce (Picea morrisonicola) under climate change is of great concern. It is the southernmost species of the genus and its current distribution is limited to high altitudes of Taiwan. As a first step toward assessing the impact of future temperature changes on the species, we quantified the effects of past monthly growing degree days (GDD) on the height growth of plantation Taiwan spruce based on nonlinear mixed-effects growth analysis. Our results showed that past GDD variations had both positive and negative effects on the height growth of the species. July of the preceding year had the greatest influence on current year height growth. An increase in the mean GDD level of the current May would also promote height growth. In contrast, a warmer previous November or current January had negative effects on height growth. If the established height growth–GDD relationship holds, the influences of climate change on Taiwan spruce height growth will depend on the timing of the temperature increases, as well as on the trees current growth stages. Our results suggested that a warmer climate would have a greater influence on trees that are still in the early stages along the height growth trajectory. The established height growth–GDD relationship will be a keystone for developing models assessing how Taiwan spruce responds to climate change.