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Special Issue "Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes"

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A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2023 | Viewed by 5730

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Li Qin

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research (CMA), Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Interests: tree rings; dendrochronology; dendroclimatology; dendroecology; stable carbon isotopes; stable oxygen isotopes; forest ecology; climate change; forest monitoring

Dr. Lushuang Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Research Center of Forest Management Engineering of State Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: dendroecology; forest sustainable management; forest carbon sink

Prof. Dr. Vladimir V. Shishov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Mathematical Methods and Information Technology, Siberian Federal University, L. Prushinskoy St., 2, 660075 Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Interests: tree rings; process-based simulations; climate factors; dendrochronology; wood anatomy; cell structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Ruibo Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research (CMA), Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, China
Interests: tree rings; dendrochronology; dendroclimatology; dendrohydrology; stable isotope climate change; extreme climates; forest carbon sink
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global warming is an undoubted fact, and climate change leads further to variability in the distribution and pattern of precipitation. The frequency and intensity of climate extreme events have increased significantly in the context of global climatic change. Climate change and climate extremes (high temperature, frost, drought, floods, heavy snow etc.) have a profound impact on forest ecosystems. Therefore, it is critical to understand the response and feedback of tree growth to climate change and climate extremes. The climate change and extreme events are recorded by tree rings, including tree-ring width, stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, density. Tree-ring analysis can provide insights into the seasonal/annual time scale, while wood anatomy and the micro-sampling approach allow us to obtain knowledge on a weekly time scale. We encourage authors of studies on tree rings or wood anatomy from all fields, including experimental studies, monitoring approaches, and process-based models, to contribute to this Special Issue in order to promote an in-depth understanding of the response and feedback mechanism of tree growth to climate change and climate extremes in the context of global change.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Impacts of climate change and climate extremes on forest ecosystems.
Response and adaptation of tree growth to climate change.
Extreme events recorded by tree rings.
Climate change and forest carbon sinks.
The water–carbon process of tree growth.
Climate reconstruction based on tree-ring multiple parameters.

Prof. Li Qin
Dr. Lushuang Gao
Prof. Dr. Vladimir V. Shishov
Prof. Dr. Ruibo Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

tree rings
stable isotopes
process-based model
wood anatomy
dendrochronology
dendroclimatology
dendroecology
climate change
climate extremes
tree growth
forest ecology
forest meteorology
forest carbon sink
intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE)

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Ecological Adaptation of Two Dominant Conifer Species to Extreme Climate in the Tianshan Mountains

and

Forests 2023, 14(7), 1434; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071434 - 12 Jul 2023

Viewed by 433

Abstract

With global warming, the frequency, intensity, and period of extreme climates in more areas will probably increase in the twenty first century. However, the impact of climate extremes on forest vulnerability and the mechanisms by which forests adapt to climate extremes are not clear. The eastern Tianshan Mountains, set within the arid and dry region of Central Asia, is very sensitive to climate change. In this paper, the response of Picea schrenkiana and Larix sibirica to climate fluctuations and their stability were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation based on the observation of interannual change rates of climate indexes in different periods. Additionally, their ecological adaptability to future climate change was explored by regression analysis of climate factors and a selection of master control factors using the Lasso model. We found that the climate has undergone significant changes, especially the temperature, from 1958 to 2012. Around 1985, various extreme climate indexes had obvious abrupt changes. The research results suggested that: (1) the responses of the two tree species to extreme climate changed significantly after the change in temperature; (2) Schrenk spruce was more sensitive than Siberian larch to extreme climate change; and (3) the resistance of Siberian larch was higher than that of Schrenk spruce when faced with climate disturbance events. These results indicate that extreme climate changes will significantly interfere with the trees radial growth. At the same time, scientific management and maintenance measures are taken for different extreme weather events and different tree species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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Open AccessArticle

Daily Climatic Data Better Explain the Radial Growth of Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra L.) in High-Elevation Cliffs in the Carpathians

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Forests 2023, 14(7), 1411; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071411 - 11 Jul 2023

Viewed by 542

Abstract

Information about climate–growth relationships is crucial for predicting the potential climatic impact on tree species, especially those growing on the edges of their distribution range, for instance, in high-elevation forests. This study aimed to determine changes in the relationships between tree-ring widths and daily climatic data in high-elevation forests in the Western Carpathians over time. Climate–growth relationships were calculated to obtain the TRWI (tree-ring-width index) chronology (based on 104 trees) and day-wise aggregated data for temperature (mean, minimum, and maximum) and sums of precipitation. The radial growth of stone pine was mostly determined by the mean temperature in the period between mid-June (21st) and the beginning of July (4th) for the critical 14-day window width (r = 0.44). The negative influence of precipitation on the radial growth occurred in summer (r = −0.35) and overlapped with the period of the positive influence of temperature. Dendroclimatic studies based on daily data may define the exact periods (expressed in calendar days) that influence the radial growth of trees much better than the commonly used monthly means. This is particularly important in analysing the growth of trees at high elevations, where the climatic factor strongly limits radial growth. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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Open AccessArticle

Differences in the Responses of Tree-Ring Stable Carbon Isotopes of L. sibirica and P. schrenkiana to Climate in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains

Ruxianguli Abudureheman

and

Ruibo Zhang

Forests 2023, 14(5), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051032 - 17 May 2023

Viewed by 570

Abstract

The eastern Tianshan Mountains are located in the arid interior of Asia, where tree growth is especially sensitive to climate. The ratio of stable carbon isotopes (δ¹³C) in the tree rings can provide information on changes in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, water availability, and physiological processes within the tree. In particular, the use of tree-ring δ¹³C values as a proxy for past atmospheric CO₂ concentrations has gained widespread acceptance. In this study, detrended stable carbon isotope chronologies (¹³C_corr) of Larix sibirica Ledeb. and Picea schrenkiana Fisch. et Mey was established using tree-ring samples from high elevations in the eastern Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China. The relationships between the tree-ring ¹³C_corr and different climatic factors were explored using the correlation function and collinearity analysis. Our results demonstrate that the tree-ring δ¹³C_corr of L. sibirica is significantly and negatively correlated with precipitation and relative humidity during the growing season. The main climate factor affecting the stable carbon isotope fractionation of L. sibirica during the growing season is relative humidity during the growing season. The tree-ring δ¹³C_corr of P. schrenkiana is significantly and negatively correlated with the mean temperature, mean minimum temperature, precipitation, and vapor pressure deficit from the end of the previous growing season and throughout the current growing season, especially in summer. However, it is significantly and positively correlated with relative humidity, indicating that the relationship between the climate factors and the tree-ring stable carbon isotope fractionation of P. schrenkiana is more complex. Further analysis showed that summer temperature and summer precipitation jointly controlled the tree-ring stable carbon isotope fractionation of P. schrenkiana at a high elevation. This research has important implications for our understanding of past and future climate change, as well as for the development of effective strategies to mitigate and adapt to these changes. This study also contributed to the development of a more in-depth understanding of the effects of climate change on tree growth in extremely arid environments and provided evidence to support effective forest management in arid regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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Open AccessArticle

The More the Merrier or the Fewer the Better Fare? Effects of Stand Density on Tree Growth and Climatic Response in a Scots Pine Plantation

Yulia A. Kholdaenko

Elena A. Babushkina

Liliana V. Belokopytova

Dina F. Zhirnova

Nataly N. Koshurnikova

Bao Yang

and

Eugene A. Vaganov

Forests 2023, 14(5), 915; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14050915 - 28 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1003

Abstract

In forests, the growth and productivity of individual trees and stands as a whole are regulated by stand density among other factors, because access to vital resources is limited by competition between trees. On 18 experimental plots of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) planted with a density of 500–128,000 trees/ha in the south taiga (Middle Siberia), interactions between stand density, tree- and stand-scale productivity, and tree-ring parameters were investigated. Tree-scale productivity variables, tree-ring width, and latewood width had stable negative allometric relationships with stand density (R² > 0.75), except for tree height (insignificant for inventory surveys at ages of 20 and 25 years; R² > 0.4 at the age of 35 years), while positive allometry was registered for stand productivity variables (R² > 0.7) and the all-time average latewood ratio (R² = 0.5 with planting density). Tree-ring parameters aside from the age trends correlate (p < 0.05) between the plots and demonstrate common responses to moderate moisture deficit. Although, its seasonality apparently depends on the resource base and intensity changes with stand density. February–June precipitation is more important for pine growth in dense stands, July–August conditions affect the latewood ratio stronger in sparse stands, and medium-density stands are more resistant to winter frosts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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Open AccessArticle

A 278-Year Summer Minimum Temperature Reconstruction Based on Tree-Ring Data in the Upper Reaches of Dadu River

Jinjian Li

Liya Jin

and

Zeyu Zheng

Forests 2023, 14(4), 832; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14040832 - 18 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1162

Abstract

In the context of global warming, climate change in river headwater regions and its drivers have attracted increasing attention. In this study, tree-ring width (TRW) chronology was constructed using tree-ring samples of fir (Abies faxoniana) in Dadu River Basin in the central part of the western Sichuan Plateau, China. Correlation analysis with climatic factors implies that the radial growth of trees in the region is mainly limited by temperature and has the highest correlation with the mean minimum temperature in summer (June and July) (R = 0.602, p < 0.001). On this basis, the TRW chronology was adopted to reconstruct variations in the mean minimum temperatures in summer from 1733 to 2010 in the upper reaches of Dadu River. The reconstruction equation was stable and reliable and offered a variance explanation rate of 36.2% in the observed period (1962~2010). In the past 278 years, the region experienced nine warm periods and ten cold periods. The warmest and coldest years occurred in 2010 and 1798, respectively, with values of 13.6 °C and 11.0 °C. The reconstruction was highly spatiotemporally representative and verified by temperatures reconstructed using other tree-ring data in surrounding areas. A significant warming trend was found in the last few decades. Moreover, the multi-taper method (MTM) analysis indicated significant periodic changes in quasi-2-year and 21–35-year periods, for which the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) could be the key controlling factors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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Open AccessArticle

Total Streamflow Variation for the Upper Catchment of Bosten Lake Basin in China Inferred from Tree-Ring Width Records

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Forests 2023, 14(3), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14030622 - 20 Mar 2023

Viewed by 703

Abstract

Bosten Lake Basin not only is a major source of drinking water for the residents of the surrounding area, but also maintains the ecological balance of the region. However, with the influence of climate change and human activities, the water level of Bosten Lake fluctuates sharply and has a great impact on the surrounding ecological environment. Therefore, the study of its historical water flow changes as a reference has become a focus of research. In this study, the radial growth of Schrenk spruces (Picea schrenkiana Fisch. et Mey.) significantly correlated with the tributary streamflow coming from the mountainous region near Bosten Lake Basin. On the basis of this good coherence, the tree-ring chronologies were used to reconstruct the streamflow for Huangshuigou River from the previous August to the present July (r = 0.766, p < 0.0001, n = 50). The reconstructed streamflow series matched observations well, explaining 63.3% of the variation in the observed streamflow of 1956–2005. Then, the sum of the streamflow reconstruction of Huangshuigou River and another two tree-ring-based streamflow reconstructions (Kaidu River and Qingshui River) was used to represent the hydrological variation of the upper catchment of Bosten Lake Basin, and the reconstruction sequence was 306 years. The 10.7, 5.5, and 2.1 year cycles of the power spectrum and wavelet analysis revealed that the runoff series reconstructed from tree-ring hydrometeorology was related to solar activity. Some dry and wet years in the reconstructed streamflow series of the upper catchment of Bosten Lake Basin corresponded to the historical record. During the wet years, the Indian Ocean was probably the main source of precipitation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Response of Tree Rings to Climate Change and Climate Extremes)

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