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- Sun, Lian, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the influence of reservoir impoundment on surrounding tree growth
- 2021
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Ingår i: Advances in Water Resources. - : Elsevier BV. - 0309-1708 .- 1872-9657. ; 153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the local scale, artificial impounded reservoirs in dry regions exert influence on the surrounding local climate. Impounded reservoirs have been found to alter precipitation patterns and increase temperature, specific humidity and surface evaporation. The consequences of impoundment or its related climatic changes on the surrounding vegetation are still not well understood. We here examined the potential effect on surrounding tree growth of the impoundment of the Ertan Reservoir, China, in 1998. We measured Yunnan pine tree rings at three sites on a slope close to the reservoir and two control sites far away from the reservoir. We compared the annual radial growth of tree rings at all sites with air temperature, precipitation and air humidity in the region. We also used cumulative distribution functions to quantify the probability of attributing radial growth changes to background climate variability. We find an enhancement of tree growth from 2000 to 2002, right after the reservoir's impounding in experimental and control sites. Hence, the tree growth can initially be explained by favourable conditions benefiting tree growth. However, we cannot entirely attribute such enhancement to the background climate variability when studying the relationship between tree growth and climatic variables over the 36 years and their probability of occurrence. Tree growth in the three years following impoundment can only be attributed to the simultaneous effect of favourable regional climate conditions and the reservoir's impoundment in itself. These conditions decrease vegetation stress by decreasing air temperature and increasing air relative humidity. Although the findings of this study shed more light on the environmental and climatic changes induced by the impoundment of reservoirs, they also call for the need of monitoring climatic variables in the vicinity of reservoirs.
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| 2. |
- Sun, Lian, et al.
(författare)
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Radial Growth Responses to Climate of Pinus yunnanensis at Low Elevations of the Hengduan Mountains, China
- 2020
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Ingår i: Forests. - : MDPI AG. - 1999-4907. ; 11:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relationship between climate and forest is critical to understanding the influence of future climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Research on trees at high elevations has uncovered the relationship in the Hengduan Mountains region, a critical biodiversity hotspot area in southwestern China. The relationship for the area at low elevations below 2800 m a.s.l. in the region remains unclear. In this study, we developed tree ring width chronologies of Pinus yunnanensis Franch. at five sites with elevations of 1170–1725 m in this area. Monthly precipitation, relative humidity, maximum/mean/minimum air temperature and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), a drought indicator with a multi-timescale, were used to investigate the radial growth-climate relationship. Results show that the growth of P. yunnanensis at different sites has a similar response pattern to climate variation. Relative humidity, precipitation, and air temperature in the dry season, especially in its last month (May), are critical to the radial growth of trees. Supplemental precipitation amounts and reduced mean or maximum air temperature can promote tree growth. The high correlations between chronologies and SPEI indicate that the radial growth of trees at the low elevations of the region is significantly limited by the moisture availability. Precipitation in the last month of the previous wet season determines the drought regime in the following dry seasons. In spite of some differences in the magnitudes of correlations in the low-elevation area of the Hengduan Mountains region, chronologies generally matched well with each other at different elevations, and the differences are not evident with the change in elevation.
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