北亚热带马尾松年轮宽度与NDVI的关系

北亚热带地处暖温带向亚热带的过渡地区,对环境变化较为敏感。因此,研究北亚热带马尾松年轮宽度与森林NDVI的关系对于揭示陆地生态系统对全球气候变化的响应具有重要意义。以马尾松自然分布北界的南郑县和河南省鸡公山自然保护区为研究地点,利用北亚热带马尾松年轮宽度指数和1982-2006年逐月NOAA/AVHRR的归一化植被指数(NDVI)数据及气候数据,在分析年轮宽度及NDVI与气候因子关系的基础上,重点讨论了北亚热带马尾松径向生长与NDVI之间的关系。结果表明:北亚热带NDVI受水热条件的共同控制,其中与月均温相关性较强,且以正相关为主,与月降水量和干旱度指数多负相关;马尾松的径向生长与上一生长季的温度呈正相关,降水和干旱度指数为负相关,当年生长季内的温度和降水以促进作用为主,而与干旱度指数的关系在两地区内相反;南郑县和鸡公山地区年轮宽度与NDVI年值之间关系均不显著(P>0.05)。单月来讲,南郑县3、4、12月NDVI值与年表显著相关,鸡公山地区9月份的NDVI值与差值年表RES相关性最大;南郑县树木生长受温度影响最大,而鸡公山地区受温度和降水的综合作用。因此,在北亚热带地区,长时间序列的年轮宽度数据并不能很好反应NDVI的长期变化,利用树轮宽度指数来重建北亚热带地区NDVI需要进一步研究。     

Contrasting climate-growth relationship between Larix gmelinii and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica along a latitudinal gradient in Daxing’an Mountains,China

The Daxing’an Mountains is one of the areas with the most serious climate warming in northern China. Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) and Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) are two major coniferous species in boreal forests of the region. Their growth-climate relationship is crucial for understanding the effects of climate change on boreal forest ecosystems. To examine and compare the changes of climate-growth relationship between larch and pine, a total of 418 tree-ring cores of the two species were collected at six sites in the Daxing’an Mountains, and the tree-ring chronologies were developed. The results showed that water availability (Palmer Drought Severity Index, PDSI) played a key role in the stable growth of larch and pine. The temperature and precipitation in January, June-August are important factors affecting the radial growth of the two coniferous species along the latitude gradient. The correlation coefficients of growth and the seasonal temperature and precipitation of larch and pine showed a completely opposite trend with the increase of latitude. In summer and autumn, the correlation coefficients between larch growth and seasonal mean temperature decreased first and then increased with the increase of latitude, while that of pine, on the contrary, increased first and then decreased. In winter, spring and autumn, the correlation coefficients between larch growth and seasonal total precipitation decreased first and then increased with the increase of latitude, while that of pine was opposite. However, the correlation coefficients between larch and pine growth and PDSI showed the same trend with the increase of latitude, decreasing at first and then increasing. Before and after rapid warming (around 1980), the correlation coefficients between larch and pine growth and PDSI showed a completely opposite change. Our findings emphasize that the growth-climate relationships of Dahurian larch and Mongolian Scotts pine shows an opposite trend with latitude, which means that the two species may exhibit a completely opposite response with climate change along the latitude gradient.     

Responses of tree-ring growth and crop yield to drought indices in the Shanxi province,North China

In this paper, we analyze the relationships among the tree-ring chronology, meteorological drought (precipitation), agricultural drought (Palmer Drought Severity Index PDSI), hydrological drought (runoff), and agricultural data in the Shanxi province of North China. Correlation analyses indicate that the tree-ring chronology is significantly correlated with all of the drought indices during the main growing season from March to July. Sign test analyses further indicate that the tree-ring chronology shows variation similar to that of the drought indices in both high and low frequencies. Comparisons of the years with narrow tree rings to the severe droughts reflected in all three indices from 1957 to 2008 reveal that the radial growth of the trees in the study region can accurately record the severe drought for which all three indices were in agreement (1972, 1999, 2000, and 2001). Comparisons with the dryness/wetness index indicate that tree-ring growth can properly record the severe droughts in the history. Correlation analyses among agricultural data, tree-ring chronology, and drought indices indicate that the per-unit yield of summer crops is relatively well correlated with the agricultural drought, as indicated by the PDSI. The PDSI is the climatic factor that significantly influences both tree growth and per-unit yield of summer crops in the study region. These results indicate that the PDSI and tree-ring chronology have the potential to be used to monitor and predict the yield of summer crops. Tree-ring chronology is an important tool for drought research and for wider applications in agricultural and hydrological research.     

Climate-growth relationships of Pinus pseudostrobus from a tropical mountain cloud forest in northeast Mexico

Tropical Mountain Cloud Forests (TMCF) occur within narrow elevational limits with very specific climatic conditions; this type of vegetation is among the most vulnerable terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. The present study aims to analyze the local and regional climatic response of tree-ring widths of Pinus pseudostrobus at "El Cielo" Biosphere Reserve (CBR) over a 66-year period (1950–2016). We also investigated the temporal stability of the climate-growth response in four 20 years sub-periods (1950–1969, 1970–1989, 1990–2009, and 1997–2016). The results of the climate-growth analyses over the full-time period indicate a positive correlation with precipitation from previous-year November to current-year May and a negative correlation with maximum temperature and evaporation from previous-year December to current-year April and current-year January to May, respectively. We found a positive correlation with April to June PDSI and no correlation with minimum temperature. Radial growth was correlated with the climate of northeastern Mexico (i.e. Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas) and with coupled-ocean atmosphere climate modes, such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Correlation analyses for different periods indicate changes over time in the sensitivity of trees to climatic variability and broad-scale atmospheric circulation patterns such as PDO and AMO. Compared to the full-time period analyses the response of radial-growth to precipitation and PDSI increased in 30 and 48 % in the last 20 years, respectively.     

不同林龄樟子松人工林径向生长对气候及地下水位变化的响应

全球气候变化导致森林生态系统的结构与功能发生改变,甚至出现树木死亡与林分衰退的现象,研究林分生长对气候变化尤其是干旱事件的响应有助于预测未来气候变化下生态系统的稳定性。以辽宁章古台5个林龄的樟子松人工林为研究对象,分析了树木径向生长对气候因子与地下水位的响应,结果表明：秋季气温,尤其是最低气温显著影响樟子松林的生长(44年生林分除外);低林龄樟子松林(36、39年)生长与当年夏季及生长季内的降水显著正相关,而高林龄樟子松林(52年)生长则与当年春季尤其是当年2月与5月降水显著正相关;36、39、52年生樟子松人工林年表与当年夏季的Palmer干旱指数(PDSI)显著正相关,44、58年生樟子松人工林年表则与地下水位显著正相关。应对早期干旱(即1997年)时,樟子松人工林表现为随林龄增加,其抵抗力增加而恢复力降低;在随后的两个干旱事件中,高林龄樟子松林的抵抗力不再明显高于低林龄,可能是由于地下水位显著降低影响根系吸水;受累积干旱的影响,所有林龄樟子松人工林对2007—2008干旱事件的弹性力均小于1,径向生长量明显降低。地下水位是影响不同林龄樟子松人工林生长及对干旱抵抗力的重要因子,考虑...     

Climatic response of Chinese pine and PDSI variability in the middle Taihang Mountains, north China since 1873

We reconstructed the first Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) in the Taihang Mountains, north China from 1873 to 2008, based on ring width of the Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr). The reconstruction can explain 43.2 % of the PDSI from instrument record during the calibration period (1955–2005). The PDSI variability was relatively stable before the twentieth century. However, it became more variable and persistent during the twentieth and early twenty-first century. Persistent long dry intervals were found in 1920–1931, 1973–1982 and 1992–2001, and the wet intervals were identified in 1944–1965 and 2004–2008. Comparing with the 1920s, the dryness of the 1970s and 1990s were more intense and the 1990s ranked the most severe drought for the whole reconstructed period in the Taihang Mountains. After a decreasing trend since the 1950s, the PDSI shows increasing tendency after 2000, demonstrating a better moisture condition in recent years in the studied area. Comparisons of our reconstruction with nearby dry/wet index and other tree-ring-based PDSI reconstruction showed high consistency in dry (wet) periods, showing similar dry–wet regimes around the sampled site, which was also further proved by the spatial correlation analysis. This reconstruction is also highly correlated with the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) index, suggesting the reconstructed PDSI could be used to indicate the strength of EASM. Spectral analysis revealed significant peaks at 2.05, 2.07, 2.65, 3.75, 10 and 60 years, implying the influence of larger circulation system (such as ENSO, PDO and NAO) and solar activity on local climate.     

Species-specific growth-climate responses of Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) and Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) in the Greater Khingan Range,northeast China

Responses of tree growth to climate are usually spatially heterogeneous. Besides regionally varying external environments, species specificity is a crucial factor in determining said spatial heterogeneity. A better understanding of this species specificity would improve our estimations of the warming effects on forests. In this study, we selected two widely-distributed boreal conifers, Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) and Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica), to compare their growth-climate responses, including long-term growth-climate correlations and short-term growth resilience to drought. We sampled 160 trees and 481 tree-ring cores from the two species in two pure and two mixed forests, located in the Greater Khingan Range, northeast China. We found that Dahurian larch was generally positively correlated with spring temperature and negatively correlated with summer temperature. In contrast, Mongolian pine was more sensitive to summer moisture. Our results suggest that the main climatic limitations were low spring temperatures for Dahurian larch and summer moisture deficits for Mongolian pine. Dahurian larch represented higher growth resistance to drought, while Mongolia pine represented higher recovery. Based on this, we inferred that Dahurian larch was more vulnerable to extreme droughts, while Mongolian pine was more vulnerable to frequent droughts. We also demonstrated the effects of forest type on growth-climate responses. The negative effects of summer temperatures on Mongolian pine seemed to be more significant in mixed forests. As warming continued, Mongolian pine in this area would suffer severer moisture deficits, especially when coexisting with Dahurian larch. Our results suggest that Dahurian larch gained an advantage in the competition with Mongolian pine during high moisture stress. Driven by the warming trends, the species specificity in growth response would ultimately promote the separation of the two species in distribution. This study will help improve our estimations of the warming effects on forests and develop more species-targeted forest management practices.     

Drought variations in the middle Qilian Mountains,northeast Tibetan Plateau,over the last 450 years as reconstructed from tree rings

Based on the tree-ring width chronology of Sabina przewalskii Kom., a 450-year Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) series was reconstructed in the middle Qilian Mountains, northeast Tibetan Plateau. During the calibration period of 1957–2004, the predictor variable accounts for 47% of the variance in the modeled PDSI data. There were three sustained severe multiyear droughts during the periods of 1705–1723, 1814–1833, and 1925–1941 before the instrumental period of 1957–2004, while no drought event lasting longer than 10 years occurred during the instrumental period. Although the modeled PDSI during the 1957–2004 period adequately assessed the intensity of the multiyear droughts for the last 450 years, the potential for prolonged droughts was underestimated. In the multidecadal scale, the drought of 1640–1730 had the greatest magnitude and the longest duration, the drought of 1808–1846 had the highest intensity, and the drought of 1917–1973 was moderate. Both the multiyear and decadal scale droughts in the middle Qilian Mountains corresponded to the droughts in the northeast Tibetan Plateau, demonstrating that drought occurrences in the northeast Tibetan Plateau are synchronous in decadal to multidecadal scales. The drought variations in the middle Qilian Mountains have significant periodicities of 2.05–2.31, 54.44, 98, and 122.5 years at a 99% confidence level.     

呼伦贝尔沙地樟子松年轮生长对气候变化的响应

以内蒙古呼伦贝尔地区沙地樟子松为样本,建立了樟子松树木年轮宽度年表,应用相关分析和响应函数分析等年轮气候学方法,研究了樟子松径向生长对气候变化的响应。结果表明,樟子松年轮宽度与4月和6—9月平均温度呈显著负相关关系(P<0.05);与各月降水量多呈正相关关系,特别是与当年5—8月的月降水量呈显著正相关关系(P<0.05);树轮年表与前一年10月至当年10月的PDSI均呈显著正相关关系(P<0.05),其中与5月份PDSI的相关性最高。响应函数分析表明,年表与当年6—7月的平均气温、上一年10月和当年5—7月份的降雨存在显著的相关性,与5—7月份PDSI存在较显著的正相关性;综合来看,呼伦贝尔沙地樟子松生长同时受降水和温度的影响,其径向生长与气候因子间的关系属于降水敏感型,为区域降水重建提供了科学基础。     

Response of tree-ring width to climate warming and selective logging in larch forests of the Mongolian Altai

Aims The Mongolian Altai is an old settlement area, which is populated by pastoral nomads since 2000–3000 years. Forests in this region (at ca. 2300 m a.s.l.) are highly fragmented and border on steppe and alpine grasslands, which are used for mobile livestock husbandry. The climate in Central Asia is warming to levels clearly above the global average, which affects the vegetation. Furthermore, the transition from planned to market economy and the decollectivization of livestock 20 years ago has strongly changed land use practices in Mongolia, especially resulting in an increase in recent logging activities. We were interested in the question how climate warming and selective logging influence the annual stem growth and the stand structure.Methods The impact of climate and land use by the pastoral nomads on the annual stem increment of more than 1800 trees of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) was analyzed. Different groups of trees with divergent growth trends depending on the social position and stand history were identified by non-metric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarities. Long-term trends in the annual stem increment were analyzed by establishing separate regional growth curves for trees of different age classes.Important findings Instrumental climate data substantiate an increase of temperature by 2.1°C since 1940 at constant precipitation. Trees benefit from the increased temperatures. Climate–response analysis revealed that radial stem increment was promoted by the temperature in early summer, but also high precipitation in spring and in the year before tree-ring formation. Forest dynamics is also strongly influenced by anthropogenic activities. In addition to the natural forest dynamics, logging resulted in divergent growth trends within given age classes and habitats (forest interior and forest edge); overall, 22 groups of trees with different characteristics in the annual radial stem increment were identified. A tree-ring series-based reconstruction of logging intensity since 1935 suggests that moderate selective logging occurred throughout the study period. However, selective logging was strongly intensified after 1990 as the result of the breakdown of the Communist regime in Mongolia and the transition from centrally planned to market economy. Because tree stump densities showed that the ratio of felled to live trees was 2:1 in the interior or even 0.9:1 at the edges of the forests and most logging occurred during the past 20 years, it must be concluded that the forests of the Mongolian Altai are presently exploited far beyond the level of sustainability. A close correlation of the ratio of felled to live trees with the density of summer camps of pastoral nomads in the vicinity suggests that trees are primarily felled by the local population.     

Reconstruction of heat index based on tree-ring width records of western Himalaya in India

To study climate variability/change, the tree-ring width index chronologies of two species (Cedrus deodara and Pinus roxburghii) of the western Himalaya was determined. The first principal component (PC1) prepared using the three-site tree-ring width chronologies of the western Himalaya was found to be negatively correlated with the heat index and positively with the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and moisture index from February to May as representative of the regional climate. The correlation coefficient of PC1 with the heat index, PDSI, and moisture index for the period 1901–1988 was estimated to be −0.60, 0.37, and 0.59, respectively, which were highly significant at 0.1% level. The result shows that increasing the heat index may enhance transpiration and evaporation over the western Himalaya, which may cause insufficient moisture at the root zone of the trees. Based on the tree-ring data, the heat index of spring season (February–May) was reconstructed back to AD 1839. The reconstructed heat index showed the longest warm periods during 1952–1963 and 1966–1976 in the 20th century.     

黄土高原羊圈沟小流域人工物种和自然物种径向生长对气候变化的响应差异

为揭示黄土高原人工和自然物种径向生长对气候变化的响应差异,在延安羊圈沟小流域分别获取人工和自然物种的树木年轮材料并构建标准年表,其中人工物种为刺槐(Robinia pseudoacacia)和柠条(Caragana korshinskii),自然物种为山杏(Armeniaca sibirica)和荆条(Vitex negundo var.heterophylla),并对年表中的气候信号进行了统计分析。结果表明:1)人工物种年表中的气候信号较强,主要表现在5—8月份,与温度呈负相关关系(刺槐:r=-0.427—-0.511,P0.05;柠条:r=-0.227—-0.738,P0.05),与降雨则呈正相关关系,但相关系数未达到显著性水平;自然物种年表中的气候信号较弱,与温度和降雨的相关关系均较低;2)不同于自然物种,人工物种树轮年表还与去年夏季(7—9月份)温度(负相关)和降水(正相关)存在相关关系,表明人工物种树木生长对气候因子存在一定滞后性;3)人工物种树轮年表与PDSI干旱指数在各月份均维持正相关关系,在生长季(刺槐4—9月、柠条4—8月)达到显著水平(刺槐:r=0.481—0.704,P0.05;柠条:r=0.314—0.610,P0.05);而自然物种年表与PDSI干旱指数的相关关系较弱,均未达到相关性水平。从各年表与气候要素(温度、降雨、PDSI)响应强度来看,黄土高原人工物种树木生长受水分胁迫显著,且以刺槐最为明显,其次是柠条;自然物种树木生长则没有明显干旱胁迫的影响,仅山杏生长受一定水分胁迫影响,荆条生长则与各气候要素关系较弱,水分胁迫对其生长的影响已很小。本研究的结果表明黄土高原人工物种生长明显受到水分条件限制,而自然恢复物种生长则受水分条件影响较小,能适应黄土高原干旱半干旱气候条件。     

Tree-ring-based reconstruction of drought variability (1792–2011) in the middle reaches of the Fen River,North China

We developed a tree-ring chronology based on 52 ring-width series from 25 Pinus tabulaeformis trees at Tianlong Mountain (TLM) using the signal-free method. TLM is located in the middle reaches of the Fen River, North China, and is influenced by the East Asian monsoon system. Tree growth was highly correlated (0.789) with the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) from May to July and indicated a drought-stress growth pattern. Therefore, we developed a robust May-July PDSI reconstruction for 1792–2011 that explained 62.3% of the instrumental variance for 1951–2005. Severe drought years determined by the reconstruction are consistent with conditions reported in historical documents. The TLM PDSI reconstruction was consistent with other tree-ring-based hydroclimate reconstructions in North China; thus, it may accurately represent dry/wet changes that occur over a large area. Cyclical spectral peaks at 2–8 years in the reconstructed PDSI may indicate ENSO activity, as suggested by the positive correlation with the western Pacific sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) and the negative correlation with the eastern Pacific SSTs on the inter-annual scale.     

Climate–tree growth relationships of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) in the Southeastern Coastal Plain, USA

Knowledge of tree growth/climate response relationships is important to dendroecological studies and dendroclimatic reconstructions, particularly in the Southeastern Coastal Plain where few such studies have been attempted. To this end, we developed tree-ring chronologies of total ring width, earlywood width, and latewood width from longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) at three sites in the Southeastern Coastal Plain to examine the climate–growth relationships for this tree species. The length of these chronologies is unprecedented for southern pine chronologies in the Southeast. We compared the tree-ring chronologies to monthly temperature, precipitation, Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), and Palmer hydrological drought index (PHDI) data from the pertinent climate divisions. We found that PDSI and PHDI have the highest correlation with longleaf pine growth, and the strongest relationships between longleaf pine growth and these variables occur between July and November. Precipitation in the spring and summer was also positively related to growth at all sites. The relationship between temperature and growth was the weakest among all climate variables, but warm summer temperatures had a consistent, negative relationship with longleaf pine growth. The climate signal in the latewood was generally more robust than for total ring width and earlywood width.     

An unstable tree-growth response to climate in two 500 year chronologies,North Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Two new Juniper tree-ring-width (TRW) chronologies spanning more than 500 years were developed in the Yellow River source area, North Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (NE-QTP). For the two studied sites, located approximately 50 km apart, split correlation and coherence analysis reveal unstable tree-growth responses to local moisture availability. While significant correlations are obtained with April–June local precipitation, Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and river flow from 1948/1954 to 1998 and from 1948/1954 to 1970s, these correlations vanish for the time period 1970s-1998. The local instrumental climate data (precipitation, PDSI and river flow) exhibit opposite correlations with large scale modes of variability (El Niño Southern Oscillation, ENSO, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation, PDO) before and after the 1977 PDO shift. One tree-ring chronology is coherent and anti-phased with instrumental ENSO/PDO indices at 5.2-year frequency. On the longer time span, this TRW chronology is compared with PDO reconstructed from historical Chinese data. This comparison also exhibits unstable multi-decadal relationships, notably in the mid 19th century. Altogether, the comparison between our two chronologies, local instrumental climate records, and ENSO/PDO indices suggest a cautious use of local TRW records for paleoclimate reconstructions. Further studies are needed to explore both the spatial coherency of tree-ring records and the temporal stability of their response to local and large scale climate variability.     

Tree-ring based December–February precipitation reconstruction in the southern Zagros Mountains,Iran

We developed the first tree-ring width chronology from Quercus brantii Lindel for the period 1796–2015 in the southern Zagros Mountains, Iran, using standard dendrochronological procedures. Climate-growth relationships revealed that DecemberöFebruary precipitation has strong positive effects (r = 0.66; P < 0.01) on the species’ growth while mean temperature during the growing season has strong negative effects. Spatial correlations with Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and gridded precipitation data revealed that the chronology contains regional climate signals and tree growth variations may represent precipitation fluctuations over large areas of the Middle East. The linear regression model accounts for 44% of the actual DecemberöFebruary precipitation variance. The reconstructed precipitation revealed that over the period 1850–2015 extreme dry years occurred in 1870-71, 1898, 1960 and 1963-64, and extreme wet years occurred in 1851, 1885, 1916 and 1921 in the southern Zagros region. The longest dry period lasted 16 years and occurred from 1958 to 1973. Two-year consecutive wet and dry events showed the highest frequencies and the average length of dry and wet events were 2.9 and 3.6 years over the reconstructed period. Correlations between the long-term reconstructed precipitation and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) confirmed the effects of teleconnection patterns on precipitation in the southern Zagros region.     

The Growth response of slash pine (Pinus elliottii) to climate in the Georgia Coastal Plain

We examined tree-ring growth in a naturally seeded old-growth slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii) stand in coastal Georgia to develop growth-climate models and reconstruct past climatic conditions during the mid and late 1800s. We generated earlywood, latewood, and annual ring chronologies dating to 1818, based on 40 cores collected from 22 trees at the Wormsloe State Historic Site near Savannah, Georgia, with 28 cores dating before 1900. We used correlation and response function analysis to relate tree-ring growth to climatic variables and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) indices. Water availability (represented by PDSI and secondarily, precipitation) was the most important factor determining growth for all three series, with latewood and September PDSI showing the strongest relationship. Like other species in the southeastern United States, moisture in the late winter and spring was crucial for earlywood development, while latewood and annual growth was enhanced in cooler, wetter summers, particularly with hurricanes bringing rainfall late in the growing season. Earlywood growth was greater following +ENSO (winter) phases and −NAO (winter) phases – for both indices, times when the northern Georgia coast is often relatively cool and wet. A verified split-calibration regression model based on latewood ring growth showed temporal stability and accounted for 27% of the variation in the observed September PDSI record from 1895 to 2009 (mean reduction in error = 0.21 and coefficient of efficiency = 0.05). During the instrument record, the timing of reconstructed and observed dry and moist periods matched closely; prior to that, reconstructed PDSI values indicated drought from the early 1840s to late 1850s – a period of unusually low latewood growth.     

Persistence and expansion of ponderosa pine woodlands in the west‐central Great Plains during the past two centuries

Aim Woody plant expansion and infilling in grasslands and savannas are occurring across a broad range of ecosystems around the globe and are commonly attributed to fire suppression, livestock grazing, nutrient enrichment and/or climate variability. In the western Great Plains, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) woodlands are expanding across broad geographical and environmental gradients. The objective of this study was to reconstruct the establishment of ponderosa pine in woodlands in the west‐central Great Plains and to identify whether it was mediated by climate variability. Location Our study took place in a 400‐km wide region from the base of the Front Range Mountains (c. 105° W) to the central Great Plains (c. 100° W) and from Nebraska (43° N) to northern New Mexico (36° N), USA. Methods Dates for establishment of ponderosa pine were reconstructed with tree rings in 11 woodland sites distributed across the longitudinal and latitudinal gradients of the study area. Temporal trends in decadal pine establishment were compared with summer Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Annual trends in pine establishment from 1985 to 2005 were compared with seasonal PDSI, temperature and moisture availability. Results Establishment of ponderosa pine occurred in the study area in all but one decade (1770s) between the 1750s and the early 2000s, with over 35% of establishment in the region occurring after 1980. Pine establishment was highly variable among sites. Across the region, decadal pine establishment was persistently low from 1940 to 1960, when PDSI was below average. Annual pine establishment from 1985 to 2005 was positively correlated with summer PDSI and inversely correlated with minimum spring temperatures. Main conclusions Most ponderosa pine woodlands pre‐date widespread Euro‐American settlement of the region around c. ad 1860 and currently have stable tree populations. High variability in the timing of establishment of pine among sites highlights the multiplicity of factors that can drive woodland dynamics, including land use, fire history, CO₂ enrichment, tree population dynamics and climate. Since the 1840s, the influence of climate was most notable across the study area during the mid‐20th century, when the establishment of pine was suppressed by two significant droughts. The past sensitivity of establishment of ponderosa pine to drought suggests that woodland expansion will be negatively affected by predicted increases in temperature and drought in the Great Plains.     

Effect of climate on tree growth in the Pampa biome of Southeastern South America: First tree-ring chronologies from Uruguay

Tree-ring research in the highland tropics and subtropics represents a major frontier for understanding climate-growth relationships. Nonetheless, there are many lowland regions – including the South American Pampa biome – with scarce tree ring data. We present the first two tree-ring chronologies for Scutia buxifolia in subtropical Southeastern South America (SESA), using 54 series from 29 trees in two sites in northern and southern Uruguay. We cross-dated annual rings and compared tree growth from 1950 to 2012 with regional climate variability, including rainfall, temperature and the Palmer Drought Severity Index – PDSI, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Overall, ring width variability was highly responsive to climate signals linked to water availability. For example, tree growth was positively correlated with accumulated rainfall in the summer-fall prior to ring formation for both chronologies. Summer climate conditions were key for tree growth, as shown by a negative effect of hot summer temperatures and a positive correlation with PDSI in late austral summer. The El Niño phase in late spring/early summer favored an increase in rainfall and annual tree growth, while the La Niña phase was associated with less rainfall and reduced tree growth. Extratropical climate factors such as SAM had an equally relevant effect on tree growth, whereby the positive phase of SAM had a negative effect over radial growth. These findings demonstrate the potential for dendroclimatic research and climate reconstruction in a region with scarce tree-ring data. They also improve the understanding of how climate variability may affect woody growth in native forests – an extremely limited ecosystem in the Pampa biome.     

聚乙二醇模拟水分胁迫对沙地樟子松种子萌发影响研究

以引种区沙地樟子松种子为材料,观测了聚乙二醇(PEG)模拟水分胁迫对沙地樟子松种子萌发的影响.结果表明,不同浓度PEG处理胁迫对种子的萌发均有一定的延缓作用;种子的发芽率、发芽指数和发芽势随胁迫强度的增加呈现明显下降趋势.30%PEG处理的种子在试验结束后仍未能萌发,表明樟子松种子的萌发的临界PEG水分胁迫值小于30%,相当于-1.20MPa的水势.种子发芽后胚根和胚轴的生长亦受到PEG模拟水分胁迫,当PEG浓度为10%时(相当于-0.2MPa水势),胚根、胚轴的长度都较短,说明樟子松种子的胚根、胚轴的生长对PEG模拟干旱胁迫更敏感;但胚根/胚芽的比值随PEG模拟水分胁迫的强度增加而增加,表明樟子松种子萌发后对水分胁迫具有较强的适应性.由此可见,干旱胁迫影响引种区沙地樟子松种子的萌发可能是导致沙地樟子松人工林不能天然更新的因素之一.