Arid Zone Research ›› 2023, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (1): 19-29.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2023.01.03

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The response and mechanism of Pinus tabulaeformis tree-ring width to climate change in Maijishan Mountain, Tianshui, China

YAO Daijun(),LIU Kang(),HUI Yuxiang,WANG Kaixin   

  1. College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2022-06-02 Revised:2022-12-12 Online:2023-01-15 Published:2023-02-24

Abstract:

In recent decades, an unusual reduction in forest radial growth and temperature sensitivity has been widely observed in the northern high latitudes. Several studies have also suggested that unstable and nonlinear relationships exist between tree growth and its climatic drivers at mid-latitudes and even globally. However, this relationship remains poorly understood, particularly in the mid-latitudes. The climate response and growth process before and after the temperature abrupt change were investigated using dendroclimatological methods and the Vaganov-Shashkin model in order to research the variations and mechanisms of response of radial growth of Pinus tabulaeformis to climate factors in Maijishan Mountain, Tianshui, during 1980-2019. The findings revealed that: (1) According to the Mann-Kendall test, temperature changed abruptly in 1997 and then increased significantly. During 1980-1997 and 1998-2019, there were three patterns of response in radial growth to climate factors revealed in the variation in correlation with climatic factors: decline (Temperature in May), increase (Temperature and precipitation in October, precipitation in July and temperature in December), and fluctuation (Precipitation in June and temperature in July). (2) The Vaganov-Shashkin model estimated chronologies are significantly correlated with the measured tree-ring chronologies before and after the abrupt change (P<0.05). According to simulation results, significant climate warming resulted in more abundant heat supply for growth in spring and autumn, thereby significantly extending the growing season and potentially causing a change in response patterns in May and October. Furthermore, summer high temperatures and water scarcity impacted growth, potentially leading to a change in response patterns in July. (3) The change in response patterns to climate factors is primarily caused by climate warming and the lengthening of the growing season. If the climate continues to warm, the response patterns are expected to change, even more, and similar behavior may exist in other areas where the species is found.

Key words: tree-ring, climate change, Vaganov-Shashkin model, Pinus tabulaeformis, Maijishan Mountain