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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2017

  • Title: Climate response and growth of two congeneric tree species in temperate northeast Asia and northeast North America
  • Primary Author: Zhenju Chen (Not Specified)
  • Additional Authors: Daniel Bishop (Harvard Forest); Zhenju Chen (Not Specified); Dario Martin Benito (Columbia University in the City of New York); Neil Pederson (Harvard Forest); Xiaochun Wang (Not Specified); Xianliang Zhang (Not Specified)
  • Abstract:

    Zhenju Chen, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China, zhenjuchen@hotmail.com

    Xiaochun Wang, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China, wangx@nefu.edu.cn

    Dario Martin Benito, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria, Madrid, Spain, dmartin@inia.es

    Shoudong Zhao, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, zhshd@mail.bnu.edu.cn

    Greg Wiles, Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio, GWILES@wooster.edu

    Xianliang Zhang, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China, zhangxianliang@syau.edu.cn

    Xueping Bai,

    Junxia Li,

    Nicole Davi, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, DAVIN@wpunj.edu

    Rosanne D’Arrigo, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, rdd@ldeo.columbia.edu

    Daniel Bishop, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, dbishop@ldeo.columbia.edu

    Neil Pederson, Harvard University, Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA, neilpederson@fas.harvard.edu


    With the field of dendrochronology growing rapidly in Asia, we have the opportunity to conduct large-scale studies to determine if congeneric species living on different continents have a similar response to climate. Two such regions are in temperate northeast Asia and northeastern North America. Both regions have a similar geographical position and both regions share a similar floristic composition and ecotype – mixed, broadleaf-dominated forests. Here, we compare the climatic sensitivity of two sets of morphologically-similar species over ca 1000 km transects in Asia and the United States, Pinus koriensis versus Pinus strobus and Quercus mongolica versus Quercus montana. Important differences between these regions include a cooler, slightly drier monsoonal climate in Asia with drier winters and wetter summers versus a wetter, slightly warmer climate with an even distribution of precipitation throughout the year. Also, it is warming rapidly throughout the year in northeast Asia and precipitation is generally steady, creating drier conditions in the summer. In contrast, warming during the summer in the United States has been relatively minimal until recent years, but there has been a significant increase in precipitation over the last two decades. We asked one main question using our network of 20 sites ranging from southeast Russia and northern Japan into northeast China and 22 sites ranging from Maine and Vermont to Ohio: does the climate sensitivity of the Pinus and Quercus species in Asia mirror those in the United States despite differing climatologies? Principal component analysis found strikingly similar sensitivities between the Pinus species, but somewhat dissimilar climatic sensitivities between the Quercus species. From these early findings, we draw a hypothesis suggesting that the climatic response of these two Pinus species are more hardwired than the two Quercus species.

  • Research Category: Regional Studies
    International Research Projects
    Historical and Retrospective Studies