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Influence of altitude and tree class on climate-growth relationships in a larch plantation in subtropical China

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Abstract

Precise quantification of climate-growth relationships can make a major contribution to scientific forest management. However, whether differences in the response of growth to climate at different altitudes remains unclear. To answer this, 264 trees of Larix kaempferi from 88 plots, representing different altitudinal ranges (1000–2100 m) and tree classes were sampled and used to develop tree-ring chronologies. Tree-ring growth (TRG) was either positively (dominant) or negatively (intermediate and suppressed) correlated with climate in different tree classes at different altitudes. TRG was strongly correlated with growing season at low altitudes, but was less sensitive to climate at middle altitudes. It was mainly limited by precipitation and was highly sensitive to climate at low altitudes. Climate-growth relationships at high altitudes were opposite compared to those at low altitudes. TRG of dominant trees was more sensitive to climate change compared to intermediate and suppressed trees. Climate factors (annual temperatures; moisture, the number of frost-free days) had different effects on tree-ring growth of different tree classes along altitudinal gradients. It was concluded that the increase in summer temperatures decreased water availability, resulting in a significant decline in growth rates after 2005 at lower altitudes. L. kaempferi is suitable for planting in middle altitudes and dominant trees were the best sampling choice for accurately assessing climate-growth relationships.

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Abbreviations

AHMI:

Annual heat: moisture index

AMMs:

Additive mixed models

CHR:

The \(n\times 1\) vector of the response variable

DBH:

Diameter at breast height

DD > 5:

Days above 5 °C

EMT:

Extreme minimum temperature > 30 years

ES:

Enshi City, Hubei Province

GAMM:

Generalized additive mixed model

G CHR :

The monotonic differentiable function

NFFD:

The number of frost-free days

PM:

Mean annual precipitation

T ave _ sm :

Summer (June to August) mean temperature

TM:

Mean annual temperature

T max _ sm :

Mean maximum summer temperature

T max _ wt :

Mean minimum winter temperature

TMC:

Mean temperature of the coldest month

TMW:

Mean temperature of the warmest month

TRG:

Tree-ring growth

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Acknowledgements

We thank the researchers who made their data available for this study. We are grateful to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 100091, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyan Wu, Dongsheng Chen, Xiaomei Sun & Shougong Zhang

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  1. Chunyan Wu
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  2. Dongsheng Chen
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Contributions

C.W. conceived the study and wrote the manuscript. D.C., X.S. and S.Z. revised and commented the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dongsheng Chen, Xiaomei Sun or Shougong Zhang.

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This research was funded by Fundamental Research Funds of CAF (CAFYBB2022ZA00103), National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program) (31971652), National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001308), and Fundamental Research Funds of CAF (CAFYBB2022ZC001).

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Corresponding editor: Yanbo Hu.

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Wu, C., Chen, D., Sun, X. et al. Influence of altitude and tree class on climate-growth relationships in a larch plantation in subtropical China. J. For. Res. 34, 1869–1880 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-023-01630-5

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