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Sampling strategy and climatic implication of tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotopes of Hippophae tibetana and Abies georgei on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

International Journal of Biometeorology volume 63, pages 679–686 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

The tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotopes (δ18O) for four trees of Hippophae tibetana and four trees of Abies georgei growing in different locations around the terminal moraine in Xincuo from 1951 to 2010 were measured to explore its potential for reconstructing climatic variations in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The mean and standard deviation of tree-ring δ18O at different heights do not have significant differences, and there are no significant differences in the mean and standard deviation of tree-ring δ18O between trees near the brook and trees at the top of moraine, indicating that we can collect samples for tree-ring δ18O analysis regardless of sampling heights and that the micro-environment does not affect tree-ring δ18O significantly. The mean inter-series correlations of cellulose δ18O for A. georgei/H. tibetana are 0.84/0.93, and the correlation between δ18O for A. georgei and H. tibetana is 0.92. The good coherence between inter-tree and inter-species cellulose δ18O demonstrates the possibility of using different species to develop a long chronology. Correlation analysis between tree-ring δ18O and climate parameters revealed that δ18O for A. georgei/H. tibetana had negative correlations (r = −0.62/r = −0.69) with relative humidity in July–August, and spatial correlation revealed that δ18O for A. georgei/H. tibetana reflected the regional Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (29°–32° N, 88°–98° E). In addition, tree-ring δ18O in Xincuo has a significant correlation with tree-ring δ18O in Bhutan. The results indicate that cellulose δ18O for A. georgei and H. tibetana in Xincuo is a good proxy for the regional hydroclimate.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Pioneer Hundred Talents Program, the Strategic Priority Research Program of CAS (Grant No. XDB03030104), and the National Natural Science foundation of China (363718, 41271206, 41672179, 41630529, and 41690114), and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0600502), as well as a research grant from the Research Institute of Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan, grant-in-aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences Fellows (23242047 and 23-10262). Thanks are extended to Prof. Qibin Zhang who shared the tree ring oxygen isotope data in Bomi.

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Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Chenxi Xu, Feng Shi & Zhengtang Guo

  2. Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Haifeng Zhu & Eryuan Liang

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Haifeng Zhu, Eryuan Liang & Zhengtang Guo

  4. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Takeshi Nakatsuka, Masaki Sano & Zhen Li

  5. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zhengtang Guo

Authors
  1. Chenxi Xu
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  2. Haifeng Zhu
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  3. Takeshi Nakatsuka
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  4. Masaki Sano
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  5. Zhen Li
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  6. Feng Shi
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  7. Eryuan Liang
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  8. Zhengtang Guo
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Correspondence to Haifeng Zhu.

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Xu, C., Zhu, H., Nakatsuka, T. et al. Sampling strategy and climatic implication of tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotopes of Hippophae tibetana and Abies georgei on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Int J Biometeorol 63, 679–686 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-017-1365-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-017-1365-6

Keywords

  • Tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotopes
  • Relative humidity
  • Sampling design
  • Abies georgei
  • Hippophae tibetana