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Interannual NPP variation and trend of Picea schrenkiana forests under changing climate conditions in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China

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Ecological Research

Abstract

The interannual net primary production variation and trends of a Picea schrenkiana forest were investigated in the context of historical changes in climate and increased atmospheric CO2 concentration at four sites in the Tianshan Mountain range, China. Historical changes in climate and atmospheric CO2 concentration were used as Biome–BGC model drivers to evaluate the spatial patterns and temporal trends of net primary production (NPP). The temporal dynamics of NPP of P. schrenkiana forests were different in the western, middle and eastern sites of Tianshan, which showed substantial interannual variation. Climate changes would result in increased NPP at all study sites, but only the change in NPP in the western forest (3.186 gC m−2 year−1, P < 0.05) was statistically significant. Our study also showed a higher increase in the air temperature, precipitation and NPP during 1987–2000 than 1961–1986. Statistical analysis indicates that changes in NPP are positively correlated with annual precipitation (R = 0.77–0.92) but that NPP was less sensitive to changes in air temperature. According to the simulation, increases in atmospheric CO2 increased NPP by improving the water use efficiency. The results of this study show that the Tianshan Mount boreal forest ecosystem is sensitive to historical changes in climate and increasing atmospheric CO2. The relative impacts of these variations on NPP interact in complex ways and are spatially variable, depending on local conditions and climate gradients.

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Acknowledgments

The study was financially supported by a major project of National Natural Science Foundation (Grand No. 30590382) and “111 program” from Bureau of Foreign Expert of China (contract no. 2008-B08044). BIOME-BGC (version 4.1.1) and MT-CLIM were provided by the Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group (NTSG) at the University of Montana. The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions to improve the early version of this manuscript.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanxincun 20, Xiangshan, Haidian District, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

    Weiguo Sang & Hongxin Su

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  1. Weiguo Sang
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  2. Hongxin Su
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Correspondence to Weiguo Sang.

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W. Sang and H. Su contributed equally to this paper, arranged in alphabetical order by surnames.

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Sang, W., Su, H. Interannual NPP variation and trend of Picea schrenkiana forests under changing climate conditions in the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, China. Ecol Res 24, 441–452 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-008-0521-1

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