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Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2018

• Title: Early-mid growing season water controls trees’ response to warming in Asian boreal forest
• Primary Author: Xianliang Zhang (Harvard Forest)
• Additional Authors: Loic D'Orangeville (University of New Brunswick); Ruben D. Manzanedo (Harvard Forest); Neil Pederson (Harvard Forest)
• Abstract:

  Boreal forests are facing radical growth condition changes attributable to rapid warming which induced water deficits, extended growing season length, accelerated snowmelt and permafrost thaw. The influences of warming on tree growth were regional dependent, but few is known about the southern part of Asian boreal forest. Here, we used a network of scots pine tree-ring collections across northeast China to detect trees’ response to warming in Asian boreal forest. We found that negative effects of temperature on tree growth in non-warming period were reversed to positive in warming period. This strange reversion in temperature-growth relations was controlled by early growth season water: snowmelt water and May-July precipitation. Temperature increased extended growing season, and snowmelt water became available to tree growth in warming period. Moreover, tree growth responded positively to temperature if there is sufficient May-July precipitation. We detected a new response pattern to warming for Asian boreal forest because of its monsoon climate. Our results suggested that the scots pine north of 50°N could withstand the raising temperature, and scots pine distribution would not shift northward when compared to that in the Europe9.

• Research Category: Regional Studies
  Conservation and Management