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- Title
Species- and Elevation-Dependent Growth Responses to Climate Warming of Mountain Forests in the Qinling Mountains, Central China.
- Authors
Liu, Bo; Liang, Eryuan; Liu, Kang; Camarero, J. Julio
- Abstract
Climate warming is significantly affecting the composition and function of forest ecosystems. However, the forest responses to climate change in sub-humid and temperate areas are understudied compared with cold and semi-arid areas. Here, we investigate the radial-growth responses of two subalpine conifer species along an elevational gradient located in the Qinling Mountains, a sub-humid and temperate area situated in central China. Three sites dominated by larch (<italic>Larix chinensis</italic> Beissn.) and two other sites dominated by fir (<italic>Abies fargesii</italic> Franch.) located at different elevations were sampled. <italic>L. chinensis</italic> at a higher elevation showed more common and stronger climatic signals than <italic>A. fargesii</italic> at a lower elevation. The radial growth of <italic>L. chinensis</italic> was limited by low pre-growing season temperatures and showed an increasing growth trend in the last few years. On the other hand, <italic>A. fargesii</italic> growth was limited by summer water shortage and it was characterized by a declining trend in the most recent decade. Consequently, <italic>L. chinensis</italic> would benefit from climate warming, whereas <italic>A. fargesii</italic> could be regarded as a vulnerable tree species to warming-induced drought stress.
- Subjects
QINLING Mountains (China); FORESTRY &; climate; MOUNTAIN forests; TEMPERATE forests; TREE-rings
- Publication
Forests (19994907), 2018, Vol 9, Issue 5, p248
- ISSN
1999-4907
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/f9050248