Patterns and dynamics of tree-line response to climate change in the eastern Qilian Mountains, northwestern China

详细信息	查看全文 | 推荐本文 |

• 作者：Xiaohua Gou^a ; ^{xhgou@lzu.edu.cn} ; Fen Zhang^a ; Yang Deng^a ; Gregory J. Ettl^b ; Meixue Yang^c ; Linlin Gao^a ; Keyan Fang^a
• 关键词：Dendrochronology ; Tree-line ; Age structure ; Tree density ; Climate change ; Juniperus przewalskii
• 刊名：Dendrochronologia
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：1_11257865
• 类别：soc
• 出版时间：2012
• 卷：30
• 期：2
• 页码：121-126
• 文件大小：520 K

摘要

Tree-line ecotones are strongly climatically limited and serve as potential monitors of climate change. We employed annual growth increment from tree-rings, and tree density and age structure data derived from two Juniperus przewalskii tree-line sites in the eastern part of the Qilian Mountains, northeastern Tibetan Plateau, to detect the responses of tree growth and population dynamics to climate change. High temperature favors tree growth and is associated with increased tree density at tree-line, and an advance in tree-line position. Significantly positive correlations were found between ring-width and mean monthly air temperatures in current and previous June, July and August. Tree recruitment began to increase rapidly at the two sites after the Little Ice Age, but then decreased starting in the 1970s. The number of trees established coincides with temperature changes. The warming trend after the Little Ice Age favors increases of tree density and an advance of tree-line. The majority of trees established during the period of 1931-1970, which coincides well with the rapid radial growth of the trees.