Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Multi-species approach strengthens the reliability of dendroclimatic reconstructions in monsoonal Northeast China

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The unstable sensitivity of growth-climate relationships greatly restricts tree-ring-based paleoclimate reconstructions, especially in areas with frequent “divergence” problems, such as the monsoonal zone of Northeast China. Here, we test the proposition that the tree species mixing method can improve the stability and reliability of reconstruction models in monsoonal areas, taking the tree-ring-based growing-season minimum temperature reconstruction for the northern Changbai Mountains in Northeast China as an example. Compared with previous temperature reconstruction models, ours is more stable and reliable and explains up to 70.4% of the variance. Our reconstruction is also highly consistent with historical records and tree-ring-based temperature reconstructions from the nearby Laobai and Zhangguangcai Mountains and across the Northern Hemisphere. Our reconstruction uses two different tree species and is more accurate than temperature reconstructions developed from a single species. Six significant warm and four cold periods are identified over the past 247 years (AD 1769–2015). The reconstruction indicates rapid warming since the 1980s, which is consistent with other instrumental and reconstructed records. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and volcano eruptions play a crucial role in driving the growing-season minimum temperature in the northern Changbai Mountains.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The reconstructed temperature sequences will be uploaded to NOAA, and all the data published in this study will be available for non-commercial scientific purposes.

References

  • Alexander MR, Pearl JK, Bishop DA, Cook ER, Anchukaitis KJ, Pederson N (2019) The potential to strengthen temperature reconstructions in ecoregions with limited tree line using a multispecies approach. Quat Res 92:583–597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen CD, Macalady AK, Chenchouni H, Bachelet D, McDowell N, Vennetier M, Kitzberger T, Rigling A, Breshears DD, Hogg EH, Gonzalez P, Fensham R, Zhang Z, Castro J, Demidova N, Lim JH, Allard G, Running SW, Semerci A, Cobb N (2010) A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecol Manag 259:660–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anchukaitis KJ, Wilson R, Briffa KR, Buntgen U, Cook ER, D’Arrigo R, Davi N, Esper J, Frank D, Gunnarson BE, Hegerl G, Helama S, Klesse S, Krusic PJ, Linderholm HW, Myglan V, Osborn TJ, Zhang P, Rydval M, Schneider L, Schurer A, Wiles G, Zorita E (2017) Last millennium Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures from tree rings: part II, spatially resolved reconstructions. Quat Sci Rev 163:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brgel F, Frauen C, Neumann T, Meier HEM (2020) The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation controls the impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on North European climate. Environ Res Lett 15:104025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briffa KR, Jones PD, Schweingruber FH, Osborn TJ (1998) Influence of volcanic eruptions on Northern Hemisphere summer temperature over the past 600 years. Nature 393:450–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunn AG (2008) A dendrochronology program library in R (dplR). Dendrochronologia 26:115–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buras A (2017) A comment on the expressed population signal. Dendrochronologia 44:130–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao J, Zhao B, Gao L, Li J, Li Z, Zhao X (2018) Increasing temperature sensitivity caused by climate warming, evidence from Northeastern China. Dendrochronologia 51:101–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F, Gagen MH, Zhang H, Chen Y, Fan Z, Chen F (2021a) Warm season temperature in the Qinling Mountains (north-central China) since 1740 CE recorded by tree-ring maximum latewood density of Shensi fir. Clim Dyn 57:2653–2667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F, Opała-Owczarek M, Khan A, Zhang H, Owczarek P, Chen Y, Ahmed M, Chen F (2021b) Late twentieth century rapid increase in high Asian seasonal snow and glacier-derived streamflow tracked by tree rings of the upper Indus River basin. Environ Res Lett 16:094055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F, Yuan Y, Chen F, Wei W, Yu S, Chen X, Fan Z, Zhang R, Zhang T, Shang H (2013) A 426-year drought history for Western Tian Shan, Central Asia, inferred from tree rings and linkages to the North Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific Oceans. Holocene 23:1095–1104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Kairiukstis LA (1990) Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences. Springer Science & Business Media

  • Crowley TJ (2000) Causes of climate change over the past 1000 years. Science 289:270–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Arrigo R, Wilson R, Liepert B, Cherubini P (2008) On the ‘Divergence Problem’ in Northern Forests: a review of the tree-ring evidence and possible causes. Global Planet Chang 60:289–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davi NK, D’Arrigo R, Jacoby GC, Cook ER, Anchukaitis KJ, Nachin B, Rao MP, Leland C (2015) A long-term context (931–2005 CE) for rapid warming over Central Asia. Quat Sci Rev 121:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong BW, Sutton RT, Scaife AA (2006) Multidecadal modulation of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variance by Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures. Geophys Res Lett 33:93–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Enfield DB, Mestas-Nuez AM, Trimble PJ (2001) The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and its relation to rainfall and river flows in the continental U.S. Geophys Res Lett 28:2077–2080

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang K, Guo Z, Chen D, Wang L, Dong Z, Zhou F, Zhao Y, Li J, Li Y, Cao X (2019) Interdecadal modulation of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) on southwest China’s temperature over the past 250 years. Clim Dyn 52:2055–2065

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank D, Esper J (2005) Characterization and climate response patterns of a high-elevation, multi-species tree-ring network in the European Alps. Dendrochronologia 22:107–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gan Z, Guan X, Kong X, Guo R, Huang H, Huang W, Xu Y (2019) The key role of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation in minimum temperature over North America during global warming slowdown. Earth Space Sci 6:387–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao CC, RobockA, Ammann C (2008) Volcanic forcing of climate over the past 1500 years: an improved ice core-based index for climate models. J Geophys Res Atmos 113: D23113

  • García-Suárez AM, Butler CJ, Baillie MGL (2009) Climate signal in tree-ring chronologies in a temperate climate: a multi-species approach. Dendrochronologia 27:183–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray ST (2004) A tree-ring based reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation since 1567 A.D. Geophys Res Lett 31:261–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grinsted A, Moore JC, Jevrejeva S (2004) Application of the cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence to geophysical time series. Nonlinear Process Geophys 11:561–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmes RL (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measurement. Tree-Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2021) Climate change 2021: the physical science basis. In: Masson-Delmotte V, Zhai P, Pörtner HO, Roberts D, Skea J, Shukla PR, Pirani A, Moufouma-Okia W, Péan C, Pidcock R, Connors S, Matthews JBR, Chen Y, Zhou X, Gomis MI, Lonnoy E, Maycock T, Tignor M, Waterfield T (eds), Cambridge University Press ed. United Kingdom

  • Knight JR, Folland CK, Scaife AA (2006) Climate impacts of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 33: L17706

  • Li J (1997) Korean pine mixed forest ecology and management. Northeast Forestry University Press, Harbin

    Google Scholar 

  • Li S, Jing Y, Luo F (2015) The potential connection between China surface air temperature and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation(AMO) in the Pre-industrial Period. Sci China Earth Sci 10:1814–1826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu R, Liu Y, Li Q, Song H, Li X, Sun C, Cai Q, Song Y (2019) Seasonal Palmer drought severity index reconstruction using tree-ring widths from multiple sites over the central-western Da Hinggan Mountains, China since 1825 AD. Clim Dyn 53: 3661–3674

  • Lyu S, Li Z, Zhang Y, Wang X (2016) A 414-year tree-ring-based April-July minimum temperature reconstruction and its implications for the extreme climate events, northeast China. Clim Past 12:1879–1888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann ME, Lees JM (1996) Robust estimation of background noise and signal detection in climatic time series. Clim Change 33:409–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann ME, Zhang ZH, Rutherford S, Bradley RS, Hughes MK, Shindell D, Ammann C, Faluvegi G, Ni FB (2009) Global signatures and dynamical origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly. Science 326:1256–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell RS, Hessl AE, Cook ER, Pederson N (2011) A multispecies tree ring reconstruction of Potomac River streamflow (950–2001). Water Resour Res 47: W05512

  • Oglesby R, Feng S, Hu Q, Rowe C (2012) The role of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on medieval drought in North America: synthesizing results from proxy data and climate models. Global Planet Chang 84–85:56–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pederson N, Bell AR, Cook ER, Lall U, Devineni N, Seager R, Eggleston K, Vranes KP (2013) Is an epic pluvial masking the water insecurity of the greater New York City region? J Clim 26:1339–1354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shao XM, Wu XD (1997) Reconstruction of climate change on Changbai Mountain, Northeast China using tree-ring data. Quat Sci 17:76–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi S, Li J, Shi J, Zhao Y, Huang G (2017) Three centuries of winter temperature change on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and its relationship with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Clim Dyn 49: 1305–1319

  • Stokes MA, Smiley TL (1968) An introduction to tree-ring dating. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun Y, Wang L, Chen J (2012) Response of tree growth to climate change and reconstruction of summer temperature based on Korean larch. J Earth Environ 3:889–899

    Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM, López-Moreno JI (2008) Nonstationary influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on European precipitation. J Geophys Res Atmos 113:D20120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Li S, Luo D (2009) Seasonal response of Asian monsoonal climate to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. J Geophys Res Atmos 114:D02112

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang W, Zhang J, Dai G, Wang X, Han S, Zhang H, Wang Y (2012) Variation of autumn temperature over the past 240 years in Changbai Mountains of Northeast China: a reconstruction with tree-ring records. Chin J Ecol 31:787–793

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Yang B, Ljungqvist FC, Zhao Y (2013) The relationship between the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and temperature variability in China during the last millennium. J Quat Sci 28:653–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Zhang M, Ji Y, Li Z, Zhang Y (2016) Temperature signals in tree-ring width and divergent growth of Korean pine response to recent climate warming in northeast Asia. Trees-Struct Funct 31:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen K (2008) Meteorological disasters dictionary of China. Meteorological Press

  • Wilson R, D’Arrigo R, Buckley B, Büntgen U, Esper J, Frank D, Luckman B, Payette S, Vose R, Youngblut D (2007) A matter of divergence: tracking recent warming at hemispheric scales using tree ring data. J Geophys Res 112: D17103

  • Wilson R, Anchukaitis K, Briffa KR, Buntgen U, Cook E, D’Arrigo R, Davi N, Esper J, Frank D, Gunnarson B, Hegerl G, Helama S, Klesse S, Krusic PJ, Linderholm HW, Myglan V, Osborn TJ, Rydval M, Schneider L, Schurer A, Wiles G, Zhang P, Zorita E (2016) Last millennium northern hemisphere summer temperatures from tree rings: part I: the long term context. Quat Sci Rev 134:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu J (2019) Response of radial growth of main tree species of broad-leaved Korean pine forest to climate change in Changbai Mountain and temperature reconstruction. PhD, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing

  • Zeng AY, Zhou F, Li W, Bai Y, Zeng C (2019) Tree-ring indicators of winter-spring temperature in Central China over the past 200 years. Dendrochronologia 58:125634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang H, Han S, Li Y, Zhang J (2007) Reconstruction of temporal variations of precipitation in Changbai Mountains area over past 240 years by using tree-ring width data. Chin J Ecol 26:1924–1929

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang R, Thomas DL (2007) Impact of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on North Pacific climate variability. Geophys Res Lett 34:229–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XL, Bai XP, Chang YX, Chen ZJ (2016) Increased sensitivity of Dahurian larch radial growth to summer temperature with the rapid warming in Northeast China. Trees-Struct Funct 30:1799–1806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu H, Fang X, Shao X, Yin Z (2009) Tree ring-based February-April temperature reconstruction for Changbai Mountain in Northeast China and its implication for East Asian winter monsoon. Clim Past 5:661–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Li S, Wang X (2015a) Tree-ring reconstruction of Feb-Mar mean minimum temperature back to AD 1790 in Yichun, Northeast China. Quat Sci 35:1175–1184

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Yang J, Zhu C, Wang X (2015b) Influences of gap disturbance and warming on radial growth of Pinus koraiensis and Abies nephrolepis in Xiaoxing’ an Mountain, Northeast China. Chin J Ecol 34:2085–2095

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Li Z, Zhang Y, Wang X (2017) A 211-year growing season temperature reconstruction using tree‐ring width in Zhangguangcai Mountains, Northeast China: linkages to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Int J Climatol 37: 3145-3153

  • Zhu L, Yao Q, Cooper DJ, Han S, Wang X (2018b) Response of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica to water change and drought history reconstruction in the past 260 years, northeast China. Clim Past 14:1213–1228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Cooper DJ, Yang J, Zhang X, Wang X (2018a) Rapid warming induces the contrasting growth of Yezo spruce (Picea jezoensis var. microsperma) at two elevation gradient sites of northeast China. Dendrochronologia 50:52–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Cooper DJ, Yuan D, Li Z, Zhang Y, Liang H, Wang X (2020) Regional scale temperature rather than precipitation determines vessel features in earlywood of Manchurain ash in temperate forests. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 125:JGRG21771

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu L, Cooper DJ, Han S, Yang J, Zhang Y, Li Z, Zhao H, Wang X (2021) Influence of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on drought in northern Daxing’an Mountains, Northeast China. Catena 198:105017

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Neil Pederson, Sensior Scientist at Harvard Forest, for his valuable and constructive comments on revision of the manuscript. We are grateful to the Forestry Bureau staff for their assistance in the field.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42107476), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2021JJ41075), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M682600), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (2020RC2058), and the Research Foundation of the Bureau of Education in Hunan Province (20B627).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, College of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, 410004, China

    Liangjun Zhu, Shuguang Liu & Yu Zhu

  2. Center for Ecological Research and Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China

    Liangjun Zhu, Danyang Yuan, Wenqi Song & Xiaochun Wang

  3. Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100864, China

    Haifeng Zhu

  4. Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    David J. Cooper

  5. State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Zongshan Li

  6. Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Environment of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, China

    Yuandong Zhang

  7. Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Hanxue Liang

  8. College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Xianyang, China

    Xu Zhang

Authors
  1. Liangjun Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shuguang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haifeng Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David J. Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Danyang Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yu Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Zongshan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yuandong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hanxue Liang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Xu Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Wenqi Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Xiaochun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

For this article, LZ and XW conceived the study; LZ, HZ, DY, and XZ collected the data; LZ, DC, DY, YZ, HL, and XW elaborated the methodology; LZ, SL, ZL, YZ, and DY analyzed the data; LZ, SL, and XW led the writing of the manuscript; LZ, DC, WS, ZL, YZ, and XW revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaochun Wang.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1023 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, L., Liu, S., Zhu, H. et al. Multi-species approach strengthens the reliability of dendroclimatic reconstructions in monsoonal Northeast China. Climatic Change 171, 7 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03328-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03328-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation