The Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the most common tree species in semiarid and arid areas of China, especially in the sand dunes of the Hulunbeier steppe. This study addresses the morphological and physiological characteristics of the Mongolian pine according to sand dune height. Five sites were chosen with various sand dune heights (P1–P5). Nine years after planting, tree growth, leaf area, leaf mass per leaf unit area (LMA), diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, diameter at root collar (DRC), longest shoot length, carbon isotope composition, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) were measured to explore the responses of Mongolian pine trees to drought. DBH, tree height, DRC, leaf area, leaf length, and longest shoot length significantly decreased with greater sand dune height (p < 0.05). However, the carbon isotope actually increased with dune height (p < 0.05). Conversely, the iWUE of current-year pine needles was significantly higher at measurement points P3 (132.29 μmol CO2 mol −1 H2O), P4 (132.96 μmol CO2 mol −1 H2O), and P5 (125.34 μmol CO2 mol −1 H2O) than at the lower points P1 (95.18 ± 9.87 μmol CO2 mol −1 H2O) and P2 (103.10 ± 11.12 μmol CO2 mol −1 H2O). Greater sand dune height increases the distance to groundwater, which in this study led to an increase in iWUE in the Mongolian pines, thus these trees appear to adapt to increased sand dune height by increasing their iWUE and decreasing their leaf area. However, prolonged periods characterized by such adaptations can lead to tree death. We expect these findings to be useful when selecting plantation sites for Mongolian pines in semiarid and arid climates.

The Bagan, the central part of Myanmar, is dry zone where the mean annual precipitation is less than 600 mm for the last ten years. Forest in this region has been degraded due to biotic and abiotic disturbances. While there have been various efforts to rehabilitate the degraded area, the information on growth and physiological characteristics of planting species and the impacts of planting trees in the region still lacks. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the growth and physiological water use efficiency characteristics of five species (Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Acacia catechu Willd., Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn., Acacia leucophloea (Roxb.) Willd. and Albizia lebbek (L.) Willd.) which are utilized as rehabilitation species in the dry zone and to identify the impacts of tree planting on microclimate change in dry zone. The growth and the foliar carbon isotope composition of seedlings and the above mentioned five species planted in 2005 were measured. And from February 2015 to January 2016, microclimatic factors air temperature and relative humidity at 60 cm and 2 m above soil, soil temperature, soil water contents and precipitation were measured at every 30-minute interval from the two weather stations installed in the plantation located in Ngalinpoke Mt. Range. One was established in the center of A. indica plantation, and the other was in the barren land fully exposed to the sunlight. Among the five species, A. indica and A. lebbek which showed higher water use efficiency could be recommended as rehabilitation species in dry zone. Planting trees in the dry area was shown to affect the change of microclimate with shading effects, declining temperature of the land surface and aridity of the air, and to contribute to conserving more water in soil by preventing direct evaporation and containing more water with fine roots of trees.