Annual growth trends and response to weather of larch trees at Järvselja Training and Experimental Forest Center stands (Estonia)

AbstractLarch is widely used in tree-ring studies, while tree-ring width and signature years provide information on environmental changes with annual resolution. The aim of the study was to build tree-ring (TR), early- (EW) and latewood (LW) width chronologies by larch species (Hybrid, European, Russian, Japanese, Kuril), and to study the response of the radial increment of larches to weather at Järvselja forest stands by using correlation, redundancy analysis, and the pointer year method. The increment cores were collected from 233 trees in Järvselja larch stands during autumn 2014. The increment cores were collected from 24 stands and divided into five groups by larch species. High EPS values (≥ 0.887) for the larch species in all groups indicate that a sufficient number of trees was included in the chronologies to be representable. The results show that different species have a similar sensitivity to various weather variables. Among the factors influencing the size of radial growth of larches were the weather conditions prevailing in the autumn of the previous year and the spring of the current year. An overall RDA revealed that 63.9% of tree growth variation in larch species was explained by the considered weather variables (F = 4.925,p< 0.001). The pointer year analysis distinguished between several common extreme pointer years by larch species; it revealed a significant response to the winter temperature and the temperature in spring. However, these weather characteristics are very complex and the causes that can affect tree growth may vary from year to year.

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Tree growth across the Nepal Himalaya during the last four centuries

Progress in Physical Geography Earth and Environment ◽

10.1177/0309133317714247 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 478-495 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

UK Thapa ◽

S St. George ◽

DK Kharal ◽

NP Gaire

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Ring Width ◽

High Elevation ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Tree Ring Width ◽

Early 19Th Century ◽

Tree Ring Data ◽

Instrumental Records

The climate of Nepal has changed rapidly over the recent decades, but most instrumental records of weather and hydrology only extend back to the 1980s. Tree rings can provide a longer perspective on recent environmental changes, and since the early 2000s, a new round of field initiatives by international researchers and Nepali scientists have more than doubled the size of the country’s tree-ring network. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the current tree-ring width network for Nepal, and use this network to estimate changes in forest growth nation-wide during the last four centuries. Ring-width chronologies in Nepal have been developed from 11 tree species, and half of the records span at least 290 years. The Nepal tree-ring width network provides a robust estimate of annual forest growth over roughly the last four centuries, but prior to this point, our mean ring-width composite fluctuates wildly due to low sample replication. Over the last four centuries, two major events are prominent in the all-Nepal composite: (i) a prolonged and widespread growth suppression during the early 1800s; and (ii) heightened growth during the most recent decade. The early 19th century decline in tree growth coincides with two major Indonesian eruptions, and suggests that short-term disturbances related to climate extremes can exert a lasting influence on the vigor of Nepal’s forests. Growth increases since AD 2000 are mainly apparent in high-elevation fir, which may be a consequence of the observed trend towards warmer temperatures, particularly during winter. This synthesis effort should be useful to establish baselines for tree-ring data in Nepal and provide a broader context to evaluate the sensitivity or behavior of this proxy in the central Himalayas.

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Tree ring variability and climate response of Abies spectabilis along an elevation gradient in Mustang, Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v24i1.13473 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 3-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

D. K. Kharal ◽

H. Meilby ◽

S. Rayamajhi ◽

D. Bhuju ◽

U. K. Thapa

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Global Climate ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Ring Width ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Spring Temperature ◽

Central Nepal ◽

Abies Spectabilis

In mountainous areas including the Himalayas, tree lines are expected to advance to higher altitudes due to global climate change affecting the distribution and growth of plant species. This study aimed at identifying the tree ring variability of Abies spectabilis (D. Don) and its response to the climate along an elevation gradient in the high Himalayas of central Nepal. Tree core samples were collected from four sites in Mustang district. All sites were located in the same valley and exposed to similar weather conditions. Out of 232 samples collected from the sites, Titi lower (2700 m), Titi upper (2900 m), Pangukhark (3100 m) and Lete upper (3300 m), 44, 40, 39 and 41 series were successfully cross-dated and ring-width chronologies including 168, 79, 138 and 156 years previous to 2012 were developed, respectively. Statistically significant differences in average annual radial growth were noted among the four sites with the highest radial growth observed at mid-elevation sites. Chronological statistics based on residual chronologies for the common period revealed that A. spectabilis at the upper elevation site was more climate sensitive than at the other three sites. At the highest-elevation sites the correlation between pre-monsoon precipitation and tree growth was positive, and for the month of May this was statistically significant (p<0.05). Moreover, spring temperature (March-June) was negatively correlated with precipitation and with tree growth at all sites, and at the upper elevation site (3300 m) the correlation was significant for March, April and May. Banko Janakari, Vol. 24, No. 1 pp. 3-13

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A 406-year non-growing-season precipitation reconstruction in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-17-2381-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 2381-2392

Author(s):

Maierdang Keyimu ◽

Zongshan Li ◽

Bojie Fu ◽

Guohua Liu ◽

Fanjiang Zeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Ring Width ◽

Growing Season ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Forest Growth ◽

Drought Severity ◽

Precipitation Reconstruction ◽

Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Abstract. Trees record climatic conditions during their growth, and tree rings serve as proxy to reveal the features of the historical climate of a region. In this study, we collected tree-ring cores of hemlock forest (Tsuga forrestii) from the northwestern Yunnan area of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (SETP) and created a residual tree-ring width (TRW) chronology. An analysis of the relationship between tree growth and climate revealed that precipitation during the non-growing season (NGS) (from November of the previous year to February of the current year) was the most important constraining factor on the radial tree growth of hemlock forests in this region. In addition, the influence of NGS precipitation on radial tree growth was relatively uniform over time (1956–2005). Accordingly, we reconstructed the NGS precipitation over the period spanning from 1600–2005. The reconstruction accounted for 28.5 % of the actual variance during the common period of 1956–2005. Based on the reconstruction, NGS was extremely dry during the years 1656, 1694, 1703, 1736, 1897, 1907, 1943, 1982 and 1999. In contrast, the NGS was extremely wet during the years 1627, 1638, 1654, 1832, 1834–1835 and 1992. Similar variations of the NGS precipitation reconstruction series and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) reconstructions of early growing season from surrounding regions indicated the reliability of the present reconstruction. A comparison of the reconstruction with Climate Research Unit (CRU) gridded data revealed that our reconstruction was representative of the NGS precipitation variability of a large region in the SETP. Our study provides the first historical NGS precipitation reconstruction in the SETP which enriches the understanding of the long-term climate variability of this region. The NGS precipitation showed slightly increasing trend during the last decade which might accelerate regional hemlock forest growth.

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Tree-Ring Records of Near-Younger Dryas Time in Central North America—Preliminary Results from the Lincoln Quarry Site, Central Illinois, Usa

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200035980 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 933-941 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Irina P Panyushkina ◽

Steven W Leavitt ◽

Alex Wiedenhoeft ◽

Sarah Noggle ◽

Brandon Curry ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Ring Width ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Initial Sampling ◽

Central Illinois ◽

A Site

The abrupt millennial-scale changes associated with the Younger Dryas (YD) event (“chronozone”) near the dawn of the Holocene are at least hemispheric, if not global, in extent. Evidence for the YD cold excursion is abundant in Europe but fairly meager in central North America. We are engaged in an investigation of high-resolution environmental changes in mid-North America over several millennia (about 10,000 to 14,000 BP) during the Late Glacial–Early Holocene transition, including the YD interval. Several sites containing logs or stumps have been identified and we are in the process of initial sampling or re-sampling them for this project. Here, we report on a site in central Illinois containing a deposit of logs initially thought to be of YD age preserved in alluvial sands. The assemblage of wood represents hardwood (angiosperm) trees, and the ring-width characteristics are favorable to developing formal tree-ring chronologies. However, 4 new radiocarbon dates indicate deposition of wood may have taken place over at least 8000 14C yr (6000–14,000 BP). This complicates the effort to develop a single floating chronology of several hundred years at this site, but it may provide wood from a restricted region over a long period of time from which to develop a sequence of floating chronologies, the timing of deposition and preservation of which could be related to paleoclimatic events and conditions.

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Application and evaluation of the dendroclimatic process-based model MAIDEN during the last century in Canada and Europe

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-16-1043-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 1043-1059

Author(s):

Jeanne Rezsöhazy ◽

Hugues Goosse ◽

Joël Guiot ◽

Fabio Gennaretti ◽

Etienne Boucher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Ring Width ◽

Complex Model ◽

Added Value ◽

Model Parameters ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Calibration And Validation

Abstract. Tree-ring archives are one of the main sources of information to reconstruct climate variations over the last millennium with annual resolution. The links between tree-ring proxies and climate have usually been estimated using statistical approaches, assuming linear and stationary relationships. Both assumptions may be inadequate, but this issue can be overcome by ecophysiological modelling based on mechanistic understanding. In this respect, the model MAIDEN (Modeling and Analysis In DENdroecology) simulating tree-ring growth from daily temperature and precipitation, considering carbon assimilation and allocation in forest stands, may constitute a valuable tool. However, the lack of local meteorological data and the limited characterization of tree species traits can complicate the calibration and validation of such a complex model, which may hamper palaeoclimate applications. The goal of this study is to test the applicability of the MAIDEN model in a palaeoclimate context using as a test case tree-ring observations covering the 20th century from 21 Eastern Canadian taiga sites and 3 European sites. More specifically, we investigate the model sensitivity to parameter calibration and to the quality of climatic inputs, and we evaluate the model performance using a validation procedure. We also examine the added value of using MAIDEN in palaeoclimate applications compared to a simpler tree-growth model, i.e. VS-Lite. A Bayesian calibration of the most sensitive model parameters provides good results at most of the selected sites with high correlations between simulated and observed tree growth. Although MAIDEN is found to be sensitive to the quality of the climatic inputs, simple bias correction and downscaling techniques of these data improve significantly the performance of the model. The split-sample validation of MAIDEN gives encouraging results but requires long tree ring and meteorological series to give robust results. We also highlight a risk of overfitting in the calibration of model parameters that increases with short series. Finally, MAIDEN has shown higher calibration and validation correlations in most cases compared to VS-Lite. Nevertheless, this latter model turns out to be more stable over calibration and validation periods. Our results provide a protocol for the application of MAIDEN to potentially any site with tree-ring width data in the extratropical region.

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Sensitivity of Beech Trees to Global Environmental Changes at Most North-Eastern Latitude of Their Occurrence in Europe

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1100/2012/743926 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Algirdas Augustaitis ◽

Dalia Jasineviciene ◽

Rasele Girgzdiene ◽

Almantas Kliucius ◽

Vitas Marozas

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Meteorological Parameters ◽

Surface Ozone ◽

Radial Increment ◽

Data Set ◽

Beech Stand ◽

North Eastern ◽

Beech Tree ◽

Phytotoxic Effect

The present study aimed to detect sensitivity of beech trees (Fagus sylvaticaL.) to meteorological parameters and air pollution by acidifying species as well as to surface ozone outside their north-eastern distribution range. Data set since 1981 of Preila EMEP station enabled to establish that hot Summers, cold dormant, and dry and cold first-half of vegetation periods resulted in beech tree growth reduction. These meteorological parameters explained 57% variation in beech tree ring widths. Acidifying species had no significant effect on beech tree growth. Only ozone was among key factors contributing to beech stand productivity. Phytotoxic effect of this pollutant increased explanation rate of beech tree ring variation by 18%, that is, up to 75%. However, due to climate changes the warmer dormant periods alone are not the basis ensuring favourable conditions for beech tree growth. Increase in air temperature in June-August and decrease in precipitation amount in the first half of vegetation period should result in beech tree radial increment reduction. Despite the fact that phytotoxic effect of surface ozone should not increase due to stabilization in its concentration, it is rather problematic to expect better environmental conditions for beech tree growth at northern latitude of their pervasion.

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Development of tree-ring width chronologies and tree-growth response to climate in the mountains surrounding the Issyk-Kul Lake, Central Asia

Dendrochronologia ◽

10.1016/j.dendro.2014.03.002 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 230-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Tongwen Zhang ◽

Yujiang Yuan ◽

Qing He ◽

Wenshou Wei ◽

Mamatkanov Diushen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Asia ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Growth Response ◽

Ring Width ◽

Tree Ring Width

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Tree-ring model interprets growth decline in natural stands of loblolly pine in the southeastern United States

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x89-096 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 612-621 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Robert Zahner ◽

Joseph R. Saucier ◽

Richard K. Myers

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Loblolly Pine ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Ring Width ◽

Stand Density ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Radial Increment ◽

Aggregate Model ◽

Ring Model ◽

Pine Stands

Annual ring widths and ring areas from 131 even-aged, natural, well-stocked stands of loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) in the Piedmont region were analyzed to reveal possible causes of a previously reported decline in radial growth. A linear aggregate model was used to separate independent factors that are known to contribute to radial growth variation in this species. Stand, site, and climatic conditions were reconstructed for each stand for the 36-year period 1949–1984 from previous inventories and from weather records at appropriately located stations. Within each of six 5-year age-classes, the model identified declines in both ring width and ring area associated with stand density, climate changes, and the passage of time. Regional climate first ameliorated this decline as pine stands passed from droughty conditions early in the 36-year period to a favorable climate during the middle of the period, and the decline accelerated later with the return of dry conditions toward the end of the period. The tree-ring model simulates a decline in radial increment in trees in natural pine stands between the ages of 20 and 45 years in the Piedmont which has averaged 1% per year since 1950. Part of the downward trend was attributed to increased competition, part to regional drought, and a considerable part to unidentified factors, possibly regional atmospheric deposition.

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Relations between tree-ring widths, climate, and annual area burned in the boreal forest of Alberta

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x95-189 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 25 (11) ◽

pp. 1746-1755 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

C.P.S. Larsen ◽

G.M. MacDonald

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

National Park ◽

Ring Width ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Severity Rating ◽

Area Burned ◽

Positive Correlations ◽

Wood Buffalo National Park

Ring-width chronologies from three white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) and two jack pine (Pinusbanksiana Lamb.) sites in the boreal forest of northern Alberta were constructed to determine whether they could provide proxy records of monthly weather, summer fire weather, and the annual area burned by wildfires in Wood Buffalo National Park. All but one of the standard and residual chronologies exhibited significant positive correlations with June precipitation in the growth year, and all but three of the chronologies exhibited positive correlations with precipitation in June, July, or August of the previous year. Three of the residual chronologies also exhibited negative correlations with June temperature in the growth year. Four of the standard and residual chronologies exhibited significant correlations with the Seasonal Severity Rating fire weather variable from Fort Smith, N.W.T. Four of the standard chronologies and three of the residual chronologies exhibited significant correlations with the annual area burned in Wood Buffalo National Park. Significant correlations were also found for some of the standard and residual chronologies with fire weather and annual area burned in the previous year. These results suggest that ring widths and annual area burned in this portion of the boreal forest are sensitive to similar weather conditions. Tree-ring records may therefore provide a useful means of examining decadal to centennial length relations between climate and annual area burned in the boreal forest.

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Assimilation of Pseudo-Tree-Ring-Width observations into an Atmospheric General Circulation Model

10.5194/cp-2016-92 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Walter Acevedo ◽

Bijan Fallah ◽

Sebastian Reich ◽

Ulrich Cubasch

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Growth ◽

General Circulation ◽

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate Model ◽

Ring Width ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Forward Model ◽

Limiting Factors ◽

Tree Ring Width

Abstract. We investigate the assimilation of Tree-Ring-Width (TRW) chronologies into an atmospheric global climate model using Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) techniques and a process-based tree-growth forward model as observation operator. Our results, within a perfect-model experiment setting, indicate that the non-linear response of tree-growth to surface temperature and soil moisture does deteriorate the operation of the time-averaged (EnKF) methodology. Moreover, this skill loss appeared significantly sensitive to the structure of growth rate function, used to represent the Principle of Limiting Factors (PLF)s within the forward model. On the other hand, it was observed that the error reduction achieved by assimilating a particular pseudo-TRW chronology is modulated by the strength of the yearly internal variability of the model at the chronology site. This result might help the dendrochronology community to optimize their sampling efforts. In our experiments, the ''online'' (with cycling) paleao Data Assimilation (DA) approach did not outperform the ''offline'' (no-cycling) one, despite its considerable additional implementation complexity.

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