Ensemble estimates reveal a complex hydroclimatic sensitivity of pine growth at Carpathian cliff sites

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• 作者：Ulf Bü ; ntgen^a ; ^b ; ^{buentgen@wsl.ch} ; Ryszard J. Kaczka^c ; Miroslav Trnka^d ; ^e ; Andreas Rigling^a
• 关键词：Climate variability ; Dendroclimatology ; Dendroecology ; Drought ; Tatra Mountains ; Tree rings
• 刊名：Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：2_01681923
• 类别：abs
• 出版时间：15 July, 2012
• 卷：160
• 期：Complete
• 页码：100-109
• 文件大小：2907 K

摘要

Carpathian pine growth at its natural range limit, where small hydroclimatic fluctuations are indicated by tree-ring width anomalies, may provide insight into past ecological responses to climatic changes. Tree-ring chronologies from extreme cliff sites may also contain annually resolved and accurately dated information to facilitate the development of palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Complex and spatiotemporally inconsistent relationships between biotic and abiotic factors, however, often complicate our understanding of forest growth dynamics. In this study, we utilized a novel ensemble approach of 3240 growth-climate interactions to evaluate the likelihood of temporal fluctuations in the hydroclimatic sensitivity of three newly developed tree-ring width chronologies from 515 Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris). The data represent undisturbed cliff habitats across the northwestern Carpathian arc between 700 and 1050 m asl. These sites are located in the northern (N) and southern (S) Tatra Mountains and in-between (M). Two sites (N, S) share common interannual to multi-decadal ring width variability (r = 0.73), and they significantly capture variations in 20th-century summer drought conditions (r = 0.52-0.65). Temporal instability in the growth-climate response, however, occurred in all three tree-ring chronologies, thus challenging any possible palaeoclimatic value. Orographic-induced climatology was found to dominate the observed growth-climate inconsistency, whereas age-related physiological mechanisms and differences in the absolute growth levels of the trees, as well as methodological standardization constraints and seasonal climate differences appeared to be less important. Our results suggest that environmental and ecological site criteria should be routinely supplemented by statistical data assessments prior to employing tree-ring chronologies for climate reconstructions.