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Changes in radial growth of earlywood in Quercus crispula between 1970 and 2004 reflect climate change

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Earlywood width in Quercus crispula increased from 1970 to 2004 without changes of vessel anatomy and ring growth.

Abstract

The increase in diameter of a tree stem is an important indicator of forest productivity. Xylem traits, such as the number and cross-sectional area of earlywood vessels, are also critical parameters of forest growth because of the physiological and structural contribution of xylem to the growth of the tree stem. Forest productivity appears to be affected by climate change and, indeed, trees might be expected to acclimate to gradual long-term climate change. The aim of this study was to identify long-term changes in increases in stem diameter and in earlywood vessels by examining tree rings of Quercus crispula. Focusing on 20 mature specimens of Q. crispula, we examined annual ring growth from 1970 to 2004 and measured earlywood traits, namely, the width, cross-sectional area (henceforth referred to as area) and number of earlywood vessels, by digital image analysis. We developed a hierarchical Bayesian model for detection of long-term trends in these traits. We found that earlywood width, as well as the total number and area of earlywood vessels, increased during the 35 years under analysis. One possible cause of these changes might be the long-term elevation of temperatures in early spring, which determine the timing of the onset of cambial reactivation from winter dormancy. In contrast to the long-term changes, short-term, yearly changes in earlywood traits fluctuated to a smaller extent than yearly changes in tree ring width. Therefore, the observed long-term changes in earlywood appear to represent acclimation to long-term climate change.

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Author contribution statement

EN, as the first author, designed the study, carried out field work and wood measurements, and wrote large part of the text. TK supported data analysis including statistical calculation and discussion of the results, and wrote parts of the text. KY assisted and advised tree ring analysis and vessel measurement. TH assisted with making conception of the study and read and commented on drafts of the paper. RF as the supervisor guided anatomical measurements as well as read and corrected drafts of the paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank T. Fujiwara and T. Kohyama for their assistance, valuable comments and discussions. They also thank T. Ishii and the staff of TOEF for their help and for arrangements related to the field work. This work was supported, in part, by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan (nos. 22 40073, 24380090 and 2529207903).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Eri Nabeshima

    Present address: Faculty of Agriculture, Ehime University, 3-5-7 Tarumi, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8566, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai-cho, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Eri Nabeshima & Ryo Funada

  2. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Takuya Kubo

  3. Department of Forest Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Minami-minowa, Nagano, 399-4598, Japan

    Koh Yasue

  4. Institute of Mountain Science, Shinshu University, Minami-minowa, Nagano, 399-4598, Japan

    Koh Yasue

  5. Tomakomai Research Station, Field Science Center for the Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Takaoka, Tomakomai, 053-0035, Japan

    Tsutom Hiura

  6. College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 446-701, Korea

    Ryo Funada

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  1. Eri Nabeshima
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Correspondence to Eri Nabeshima.

Additional information

Communicated by G. Wieser.

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468_2015_1206_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary Figure 1 Density distributions of the vessel lumen areas in annual rings of every 5 years from 1970 to 2004. The vertical line indicates the threshold value for the lumen area of earlywood vessels (25,880 μm2) in all annual rings over the entire period, while arrows indicate threshold values for each period (see text). Supplementary Figure 2 Radial growth chronologies for each tree. The number at the top of each panel represents the identification number of each tree. Vertical lines indicate the studied period, 1970 and 2004. Supplementary Figure 3 Panels show observed data and predicted long- and short-term changes (b 1 and in Eq. (1)) with individual variability (in Eq. (1)) in the number (A) and total area (B) of earlywood vessels, the earlywood width (C) and the ring width (D) for each tree. The number at the top of each panel represents the identification number of each tree. Blue circles show observed data. Gray lines and shaded areas represent the predicted values when all individuals are pooled (as in Fig. 2), and orange lines and yellow-shaded areas represent predicted values that include individual variability, with 95 % credible intervals. (PDF 3366 kb)

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Nabeshima, E., Kubo, T., Yasue, K. et al. Changes in radial growth of earlywood in Quercus crispula between 1970 and 2004 reflect climate change. Trees 29, 1273–1281 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1206-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1206-3

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