Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China

Global climate change is reshaping the geographical distribution of forests, especially in mountain regions. The alpine forest ecotone is expected to be affected first, due to the climatic limitations on tree growth, and is thus considered as an indicator of the forest succession to climate change....

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Autores principales:	Xiaofeng Wang, Bao Yang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Dendrochronology Climate change Forest ecotone Chinese Pine Qinghai Spruce Northwestern China Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/21833a3f875f42e5ba4cbf2fcb02dbe6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:21833a3f875f42e5ba4cbf2fcb02dbe62021-12-01T04:33:32ZDivergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107052https://doaj.org/article/21833a3f875f42e5ba4cbf2fcb02dbe62021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20309912https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XGlobal climate change is reshaping the geographical distribution of forests, especially in mountain regions. The alpine forest ecotone is expected to be affected first, due to the climatic limitations on tree growth, and is thus considered as an indicator of the forest succession to climate change. However, current studies involving tree radial growth and their responses to climate change at alpine forest ecotone remain scarce, posing challenges for predictions of forest dynamics and management strategies under different climate scenarios. Here, we studied 94 Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis; Pinaceae) and 86 Qinghai Spruce (Picea crassifolia; Pinaceae) trees along the alpine forest ecotone [2100–2400 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] to assess tree growth differences and corresponding responses to climate change in the Helan Mountains, northwestern China. The results revealed that growth rates of Chinese Pine at lowest altitudes and Qinghai Spruce at highest altitudes are strongly affected by water shortage and intraspecific competition, respectively, leading to the tree growth in these regions are inferior to those of other trees in the ecotone (the tree age at maximum width is about 20 years later than in the ecotone), especially for seedling and sapling stages. The responses of tree radial growth to dryness were broadly similar in each sample site, but wetness was more positive in trees at low altitudes than at high altitudes. Climate warming has inhibited the radial growth of Qinghai Spruce at lower distribution limits since 2005, while for Chinese Pine in the same area was not significantly affected by rising temperature, and even the upper limits of the Chinese Pine might migrate to higher altitudes as the calorific limit becomes higher. If climate warming continues, the above process may erode the Qinghai Spruce habitat, resulting in the transitional zone between Chinese Pine and Qinghai Spruce also moving to higher elevations.Xiaofeng WangBao YangElsevierarticleDendrochronologyClimate changeForest ecotoneChinese PineQinghai SpruceNorthwestern ChinaEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 121, Iss , Pp 107052- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Dendrochronology Climate change Forest ecotone Chinese Pine Qinghai Spruce Northwestern China Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Dendrochronology Climate change Forest ecotone Chinese Pine Qinghai Spruce Northwestern China Ecology QH540-549.5 Xiaofeng Wang Bao Yang Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
description	Global climate change is reshaping the geographical distribution of forests, especially in mountain regions. The alpine forest ecotone is expected to be affected first, due to the climatic limitations on tree growth, and is thus considered as an indicator of the forest succession to climate change. However, current studies involving tree radial growth and their responses to climate change at alpine forest ecotone remain scarce, posing challenges for predictions of forest dynamics and management strategies under different climate scenarios. Here, we studied 94 Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis; Pinaceae) and 86 Qinghai Spruce (Picea crassifolia; Pinaceae) trees along the alpine forest ecotone [2100–2400 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] to assess tree growth differences and corresponding responses to climate change in the Helan Mountains, northwestern China. The results revealed that growth rates of Chinese Pine at lowest altitudes and Qinghai Spruce at highest altitudes are strongly affected by water shortage and intraspecific competition, respectively, leading to the tree growth in these regions are inferior to those of other trees in the ecotone (the tree age at maximum width is about 20 years later than in the ecotone), especially for seedling and sapling stages. The responses of tree radial growth to dryness were broadly similar in each sample site, but wetness was more positive in trees at low altitudes than at high altitudes. Climate warming has inhibited the radial growth of Qinghai Spruce at lower distribution limits since 2005, while for Chinese Pine in the same area was not significantly affected by rising temperature, and even the upper limits of the Chinese Pine might migrate to higher altitudes as the calorific limit becomes higher. If climate warming continues, the above process may erode the Qinghai Spruce habitat, resulting in the transitional zone between Chinese Pine and Qinghai Spruce also moving to higher elevations.
format	article
author	Xiaofeng Wang Bao Yang
author_facet	Xiaofeng Wang Bao Yang
author_sort	Xiaofeng Wang
title	Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
title_short	Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
title_full	Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
title_fullStr	Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
title_full_unstemmed	Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China
title_sort	divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern china
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/21833a3f875f42e5ba4cbf2fcb02dbe6
work_keys_str_mv	AT xiaofengwang divergenttreeradialgrowthatalpineconiferousforestecotoneandcorrespondingresponsestoclimatechangeinnorthwesternchina AT baoyang divergenttreeradialgrowthatalpineconiferousforestecotoneandcorrespondingresponsestoclimatechangeinnorthwesternchina
_version_	1718405830531874816

Divergent tree radial growth at alpine coniferous forest ecotone and corresponding responses to climate change in northwestern China

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