Relationship between climatic factors and geographical distribution of spruce forests in China

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00372

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Our objective was to examine the relationship between climatic factors and geographical distribution of spruce forests in China.
Methods We sampled 613 points within the geographical range of Chinese spruce forests, of which 235 points were at the upper altitudinal limit and 228 at the lower altitudinal limit. The elevation for each point was determined using Google Earth while climatic data were from the Chinese meteorological interpolation database. Linear regression, comparison of coefficient of variation (CV) and principal component analysis (PCA) were conducted for data analysis.
Important findings Within the distribution range of Chinese spruce forests, mean values of mean annual air temperature (MAT), mean air temperature of the coldest month (MTCM), mean air temperature of the warmest month (MTWM), growing degree days on a 5 ℃ basis (GDD₅) and on a 0 ℃ basis (GDD₀), mean annual precipitation (MAP), soil moisture (SM) and aridity index (α) are 3.38 ℃, -9.75 ℃, 14.78 ℃, 1 227.83 ℃·d, 2 271.19 ℃·d, 712.23 mm, 80.02% and 0.50, respectively. Both the upper and lower limits of altitude were significantly correlated with each of the climatic factors. In terms of CV, MAT and MTCM are significantly higher than the other six climatic factors; however, no significant differences were detected among those six. In addition, GDD₅and GDD₀have higher loading on the first principal component, yet MAP and SM have higher loading on the second and third principal component. Major conclusions are that GDD₀and GDD₅ are likely the key factors that influence the distribution of Chinese spruce forest, followed by MAP and SM.

Key words: climatic factors, coefficient of variation, principal component analysis, spruce forest in China, upper and lower altitudinal limits, vertical distribution

LI He, ZHANG Wei-Kang, WANG Guo-Hong. Relationship between climatic factors and geographical distribution of spruce forests in China[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2012, 36(5): 372-381.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2012.00372

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Figures/Tables 5

References 38

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海拔及其对应的气候因子 Altitude and corresponding climatic factors	平均值 Mean	标准误差 Standard error	95%置信区间 95% confidence intervals		最小值 Minimum	最大值 Maximum
海拔及其对应的气候因子 Altitude and corresponding climatic factors	平均值 Mean	标准误差 Standard error	下限 Lower limit	上限 Upper limit	最小值 Minimum	最大值 Maximum
海拔 Altitude (m)	2 444.09	42.20	2 361.21	2 526.96	300.00	4 347.00
年平均气温 Mean annual air temperature (℃)	3.38	0.19	3.00	3.75	-9.18	20.10
最冷月平均气温 Mean air temperature of the coldest month (℃)	-9.75	0.34	-10.43	-9.07	-30.51	11.52
最热月平均气温 Mean air temperature of the warmest month (℃)	14.78	0.20	14.38	15.17	1.69	27.27
≥5 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 5 ℃ basis (℃·d)	1 227.83	35.46	1 158.20	1 297.46	0.00	5 527.56
≥0 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 0 ℃ basis (℃·d)	2 271.19	46.72	2 179.44	2 362.94	69.76	7 352.57
年降水量 Mean annual precipitation (mm)	712.23	14.52	683.71	740.75	103.65	2 050.37
土壤水分含量 Soil moisture (%)	80.02	0.83	78.40	81.64	0.00	97.83
干燥指数 Aridity index	0.50	0.01	0.49	0.52	0.00	0.90

海拔及其对应的气候因子 Altitude and corresponding climatic factors	平均值 Mean	标准误差 Standard error	95%置信区间 95% confidence intervals		最小值 Minimum	最大值 Maximum
海拔及其对应的气候因子 Altitude and corresponding climatic factors	平均值 Mean	标准误差 Standard error	下限 Lower limit	上限 Upper limit	最小值 Minimum	最大值 Maximum
海拔 Altitude (m)	2 444.09	42.20	2 361.21	2 526.96	300.00	4 347.00
年平均气温 Mean annual air temperature (℃)	3.38	0.19	3.00	3.75	-9.18	20.10
最冷月平均气温 Mean air temperature of the coldest month (℃)	-9.75	0.34	-10.43	-9.07	-30.51	11.52
最热月平均气温 Mean air temperature of the warmest month (℃)	14.78	0.20	14.38	15.17	1.69	27.27
≥5 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 5 ℃ basis (℃·d)	1 227.83	35.46	1 158.20	1 297.46	0.00	5 527.56
≥0 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 0 ℃ basis (℃·d)	2 271.19	46.72	2 179.44	2 362.94	69.76	7 352.57
年降水量 Mean annual precipitation (mm)	712.23	14.52	683.71	740.75	103.65	2 050.37
土壤水分含量 Soil moisture (%)	80.02	0.83	78.40	81.64	0.00	97.83
干燥指数 Aridity index	0.50	0.01	0.49	0.52	0.00	0.90

气候因子 Climatic factor	主分量载荷 Principal component (PC) loading value
	分布上限 Upper distribution limit			分布下限 Lower distribution limit
	PC1	PC2	PC3	PC1	PC2	PC3
年平均气温 Mean annual air temperature (℃)	0.89	0.31	-0.28	0.87	0.32	-0.34
最冷月平均气温 Mean temperature of the coldest month (℃)	0.51	0.74	-0.38	0.42	0.75	-0.48
最热月平均气温 Mean temperature of the warmest month (℃)	0.79	-0.56	0.12	0.79	-0.57	0.14
≥5 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 5 ℃ basis (℃·d)	0.93	-0.33	-0.06	0.96	-0.25	-0.05
≥0 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 0 ℃ basis (℃·d)	0.96	-0.20	-0.12	0.98	-0.12	-0.09
年降水量 Mean annual precipitation (mm)	0.47	0.75	0.12	0.25	0.88	0.15
土壤水分含量 Soil moisture (%)	0.17	0.72	0.60	0.06	0.78	0.58
干燥指数 Aridity index	0.72	-0.26	0.49	0.74	-0.08	0.62
特征值 Eigenvalue	4.24	2.26	0.87	4.06	2.46	1.12
信息量 Information amount (%)	53.02	28.22	10.90	50.77	30.81	11.06

气候因子 Climatic factor	主分量载荷 Principal component (PC) loading value
	分布上限 Upper distribution limit			分布下限 Lower distribution limit
	PC1	PC2	PC3	PC1	PC2	PC3
年平均气温 Mean annual air temperature (℃)	0.89	0.31	-0.28	0.87	0.32	-0.34
最冷月平均气温 Mean temperature of the coldest month (℃)	0.51	0.74	-0.38	0.42	0.75	-0.48
最热月平均气温 Mean temperature of the warmest month (℃)	0.79	-0.56	0.12	0.79	-0.57	0.14
≥5 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 5 ℃ basis (℃·d)	0.93	-0.33	-0.06	0.96	-0.25	-0.05
≥0 ℃积温 Growing degree days on a 0 ℃ basis (℃·d)	0.96	-0.20	-0.12	0.98	-0.12	-0.09
年降水量 Mean annual precipitation (mm)	0.47	0.75	0.12	0.25	0.88	0.15
土壤水分含量 Soil moisture (%)	0.17	0.72	0.60	0.06	0.78	0.58
干燥指数 Aridity index	0.72	-0.26	0.49	0.74	-0.08	0.62
特征值 Eigenvalue	4.24	2.26	0.87	4.06	2.46	1.12
信息量 Information amount (%)	53.02	28.22	10.90	50.77	30.81	11.06