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Microenvironmental effects on growth response of Pinus massoniana to climate at its northern boundary in the Tongbai Mountains, Central China

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Abstract

The Tongbai Mountains is an ecologically sensitive region and the northern boundary of Pinus massoniana Lamb. To analyze the effect of different microenvironments on tree growth response to climate factors, we developed standard chronologies for earlywood width (EWW), latewood width (LWW), and total ring width (TRW) of P. massoniana at two sampling sites on slopes with different orientations, then analyzed characteristics of the chronologies and their correlations with climate variables from five stations in the region and with a regional normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Statistical results showed that the TRW/EWW/LWW chronology consistency and characteristics (mean sensitivity, signal to noise ratio, expressed population signal) for trees growing on the southeastern slope were much higher than for trees on the northeastern slope. Correlations indicated that temperature in current March and August has a significant positive effect on TRW/EWW/LWW formation, and the effect on the northeastern slope was weaker than on the southeastern slope. Compared to temperature, precipitation has more complicated effects on tree growth, but the effect on the northeastern slope was also generally weaker than on the southeastern slope. Stepwise linear regression analyses showed that temperature in August was the main limiting factor at the two sampling sites. Similarly, the response of tree growth on the southeastern slope as determined by the NDVI is better than on the northeastern slope, and the TRW/EWW/LWW chronologies for the southeastern slope explained over 50% of the total NDVI variances in June. Overall, the results indicate that the difference in the climate response of P. massoniana at two sampling sites is clearly caused by differences in the microenvironment, and such differences should be properly considered in future studies of forest dynamics and climate reconstructions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station of Forest Ecosystem in Dabie Mountains, Henan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Geography and Environmental Science, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, People’s Republic of China

    Jianfeng Peng, Jiayue Cui, Meng Peng, Xiaoxu Wei, Jinkuan Li, Xuan Li, Yamen Liu & Jiaxin Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Simulation of Henan Province, Kaifeng, 475004, People’s Republic of China

    Jianfeng Peng

  3. Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Jinbao Li

  4. HKU Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen, 518057, People’s Republic of China

    Jinbao Li

  5. Henan Academy of Forestry, Zhengzhou, 450000, People’s Republic of China

    Yongtao Ma

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  1. Jianfeng Peng
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Correspondence to Jianfeng Peng.

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Project funding: This study was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFA0605601) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.42077417 and41671042).

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Corresponding editor: Tao Xu.

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Peng, J., Cui, J., Li, J. et al. Microenvironmental effects on growth response of Pinus massoniana to climate at its northern boundary in the Tongbai Mountains, Central China. J. For. Res. 35, 26 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-023-01658-7

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