Drought intensity affected the growth recovery of Picea crassifolia across different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2023.0165

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims With global climate change, the increased frequency and intensity of droughts lead to forest degradation, slow down tree growth, and even cause the death of trees. It is critical to understand the mechanisms of how drought influences tree radial growth, and to quantify the effect of drought intensity on tree radial growth.

Methods This study used correlation analysis to determine the main limiting climatic factors for radial growth of Picea crassifolia at three altitudes in the western Qilian Mountains, and then compared the response of tree radial growth to drought events with different levels of intensity, with respect to resistance, recovery, resilience, and growth deviation.

Important findings Tree radial growth across three altitudes was most responsive to the mean temperature of June, precipitation, and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), with SPEI being more pronounced, indicating that tree radial growth is strongly limited by drought stress. Radial growth of trees at three altitudes varied significantly with dryness and wetness. In response to increased drought intensity, tree resistance decreased and recovery increased. Trees at three altitudes exhibited compensatory growth after moderate and extreme drought events, but this compensatory growth was transitory, with growth condition returning to the pre-drought level in the second year. Following the severe drought events, trees at three altitudes did not exhibit compensatory growth in the first year. These results suggest that growth dynamics in the first year after a severe drought event is critical for predicting the growth recovery of P. crassifolia.

Key words: tree-ring, climate change, drought event, compensatory growth, radial growth, Picea crassifolia

ZHANG Peng, JIAO Liang, XUE Ru-Hong, WEI Meng-Yuan, DU Da-Shi, WU Xuan, WANG Xu-Ge, LI Qian. Drought intensity affected the growth recovery of Picea crassifolia across different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2024, 48(8): 977-987.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2023.0165

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2024/V48/I8/977

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Locations of sampling points of Picea crassifolia at different altitudes and weather station and landscape of sample plots in western Qilian Mountains. HA, high altitude; LA, low altitude; MA, medium altitude.

Fig. 2 Monthly mean air temperature, monthly precipitation, annual mean air temperature, and annual precipitation from 1951 to 2020 in western Qilian Mountains.

Table 1 Statistical characteristics of chronology of Picea crassifolia across different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains

年表参数 Dendrochronological parameter	海拔 Altitude (m)
年表参数 Dendrochronological parameter	2 650	2 869	3 070
树/样芯 Number of cores	25/50	25/50	25/50
时间跨度 Time span	1947-2020	1946-2020	1934-2020
平均敏感度 Mean sensitivity	0.330	0.212	0.179
标准差 Standard deviation	0.293	0.233	0.243
一阶序列自相关 Autocorrelation coefficient	0.174	0.477	0.610
序列间相关系数 Correlation coefficient (r)	0.579	0.618	0.442
树内平均相关度 Mean correlation in a tree (r1)	0.843	0.650	0.576
树间平均相关度 Mean correlation between trees (r2)	0.594	0.607	0.438
第一个主分量方差 Variance in the first principal component	0.638	0.640	0.486
信噪比 Signal to noise ratio	25.221	40.514	32.510
样本的总体信号 Expressing population signal	0.962	0.976	0.970

Table 2 Classification of dry and wet grades according to standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) values

SPEI	分类 Classification
2.00-3.00	极端湿润 Extreme wet
1.50-2.00	严重湿润 Severe wet
1.00-1.50	中等湿润 Moderate wet
0.00-1.00	轻度湿润 Mild wet
-1.00-0.00	轻度干旱 Mild drought
-1.50- -1.00	中等干旱 Moderate drought
-2.00- -1.50	严重干旱 Severe drought
-3.00- -2.00	极端干旱 Extreme drought

Fig. 3 Correlation coefficients between radial growth of Picea crassifolia and climatic factors at different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains. HA, high altitude; LA, low altitude; MA, medium altitude. Pre, precipitation; SPEI, standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index; Tmean, mean monthly air temperature. p denotes the month of the previous year. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01.

Fig. 4 Trends of tree ring width indices with drought intensity in Picea crassifolia at different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains (mean ± SE). HA, high altitude; LA, low altitude; MA, medium altitude. SPEI, standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index. Different lowercase letters in A-C indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) in tree ring width in dry and wet conditions. Shading in D represents SE.

Fig. 5 Effects of drought intensity on resistance (Rt), recovery (Rc), resilience (Rs) of Picea crassifolia at different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains (mean ± SE). ED, extreme drought; MD, moderate drought; SD, severe drought. HA, high altitude; LA, low altitude; MA, medium altitude. Different lowercase letters represent significant differences in drought indices under different drought intensities (p < 0.05).

Fig. 6 Recovery trajectories of Picea crassifolia at different altitudes in western Qilian Mountains during drought (year 0) and 1-2 years after drought (mean ± SE). ED, extreme drought; MD, moderate drought; SD, severe drought. HA, high altitude; LA, low altitude; MA, medium altitude. Different lowercase letters represent significant differences in growth recovery among years (p < 0.05).

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