Recent drought stress leads to growth reductions in <i>Larix sibirica</i> in the western Khentey, Mongolia

Dulamsuren, Choimaa; Hauck, Markus; Leuschner, Christoph

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02147.x

Cited by 128 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This finding points to a high vulnerability of the trees at the taiga's LT to climate warming. This conclusion is supported by ecophysiological, dendrochronological and palynological studies from the LT of the mountain taiga of western Khentei (Dulamsuren et al, 2009a(Dulamsuren et al, , 2010bSchlütz et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…In the driest regions of western and southern Mongolia, no specific trends occurred at all. Based on tree-ring data, Dulamsuren et al (2010b) documented increasing drought stress for larch trees in the Khentei Mountains, which they attributed to increasing aridity caused by rising summer temperatures and decreasing summer precipitation during the last 50 years. Although trees at the outer boundary of the forest stands might be better adapted to drought stress, obvious margins of dead trees surrounding the forest islands were recently found in many places in the forest-steppe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

et al. 2018

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Abstract. In northern Mongolia, at the southern boundary of the Siberian boreal forest belt, the distribution of steppe and forest is generally linked to climate and topography, making this region highly sensitive to climate change and human impact. Detailed investigations on the limiting parameters of forest and steppe in different biomes provide necessary information for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and prognosis of potential landscape change. In this study, remote sensing data and gridded climate data were analyzed in order to identify main distribution patterns of forest and steppe in Mongolia and to detect environmental factors driving forest development. Forest distribution and vegetation vitality derived from the normalized differentiated vegetation index (NDVI) were investigated for the three types of boreal forest present in Mongolia (taiga, subtaiga and forest-steppe), which cover a total area of 73 818 km 2 . In addition to the forest type areas, the analysis focused on subunits of forest and nonforested areas at the upper and lower treeline, which represent ecological borders between vegetation types. Climate and NDVI data were analyzed for a reference period of 15 years from 1999 to 2013.The presented approach for treeline delineation by identifying representative sites mostly bridges local forest disturbances like fire or tree cutting. Moreover, this procedure provides a valuable tool to distinguish the potential forested area. The upper treeline generally rises from 1800 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the northeast to 2700 m a.s.l. in the south. The lower treeline locally emerges at 1000 m a.s.l. in the northern taiga and rises southward to 2500 m a.s.l. The latitudinal gradient of both treelines turns into a longitudinal one on the eastern flank of mountain ranges due to higher aridity caused by rain-shadow effects. Less productive trees in terms of NDVI were identified at both the upper and lower treeline in relation to the respective total boreal forest type area. The mean growing season temperature (MGST) of 7.9-8.9 • C and a minimum MGST of 6 • C are limiting parameters at the upper treeline but are negligible for the lower treeline. The minimum of the mean annual precipitation (MAP) of 230-290 mm yr −1 is a limiting parameter at the lower treeline but also at the upper treeline in the forest-steppe ecotone. In general, NDVI and MAP are lower in grassland, and MGST is higher compared to the corresponding boreal forest. One exception occurs at the upper treeline of the subtaiga and taiga, where the alpine vegetation consists of mountain meadow mixed with shrubs. The relation between NDVI and climate data corroborates that more precipitation and higher temperatures generally lead to higher greenness in all ecological subunits. MGST is positively correlated with MAP of the total area of forest-steppe, but this correlation turns negative in the taiga. The limiting factor in the forest-steppe is the relative humidity and in the taiga it is the snow cover distribution. The subtaiga represents a...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

et al. 2018

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“…Previous year dry autumn weather conditions appeared to negatively affect larch growth rates. Increased summer droughts have been denoted in previous studies as being a key factor for reduced radial growth of larch trees across the northern hemisphere (Pederson et al 2001;Dulamsuren et al 2010b;Khishigjargal et al 2014;Lévesque et al 2014). Khishigjargal et al (2014) found that recent increases in the frequency of summer droughts have promoted the frequency of growth anomalies such as narrow latewood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In regions of the Selenge Aimag in Northern Mongolia, logging activity and high intensity fires caused larch forest area as pure or mixed-species to decrease, while increasing birch forest area (Gradel et al 2010). Larch forest degradation in the mountain forest steppe has been the subject of considerable research (Dulamsuren 2010a(Dulamsuren , 2010bDulamsuren et al 2011;Kishigjargal et al 2014). To our knowledge, no study has yet compared how Siberian larch and white birch are influenced by climatic factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-growth relationships and pointer year analysis of a Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) chronology from the Mongolian mountain forest steppe compared to white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukaczev)

et al. 2017

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Background: Forest area, stand quality and growth of Siberian larch in Mongolia have decreased significantly over recent decades. This forest decline is frequently attributed to factors such as unregulated logging, increased ecological disturbances (primarily fire) and climate change. In this study, we analyzed climate-growth response and pointer years for Siberian larch observed in the Altansumber forest research area in the Mongolian mountain forest steppe zone. We compare our results with previously published results of white birch from the same area. Methods: We built a reference chronology from wood core samples taken from 30 trees in three neighboring larch stands. Climate-growth relationships were analyzed monthly and seasonally over the period 1962-2009 using climate data from the Eroo weather station. Pointer year analysis covered the same time frame. Results: Our analysis of the larch chronology showed that precipitation during autumn of the previous year and directly before the growing season of the current year was the most decisive factor determining tree-ring growth. Regional pointer year analysis further indicated that a humid summer and autumn followed by a warm spring support current-year tree-ring growth in these larch stands. Our findings were comparable to a white birch study in the same area. The larch trees, however, showed stronger growth performance and were more tolerant of higher temperatures, notably in spring during peak fire season.Conclusions: Water availability is the decisive factor for larch growth in the mountain forest steppe zone. The chronologies showed no climatic indication of insect infestations. Differences in climate-growth relationships of birch and larch trees during peak fire season may to some degree be explained by their respective means of protecting themselves against low-intensity surface fires (e.g. thick bark of larch). These fire events occur regularly in the region and are influenced by climatic factors. Our analysis and comparison of climate tree-growth relationships may be valuable for developing climate-and disturbance-resilient forestry practices in Mongolian mountain forest ecosystems.

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“…Drought stress as a local factor impeding tree growth in recent decades has been supposed for different treeline environments (e.g. Lloyd and Fastie, 2002;Daniels and Veblen, 2004;Dulamsuren et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2011;Fajardo and McIntire, 2012;Ohse et al, 2012).…”

Section: Tree Physiognomy and Growth Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Climate warming is expected to induce treelines to advance to higher elevations. Empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges, however, give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines and rather insignificant responses. The inconsistency of findings suggests distinct differences in the sensitivity of global treelines to recent climate change. It is still unclear where Himalayan treeline ecotones are located along the response gradient from rapid dynamics to apparently complete inertia. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge regarding sensitivity and response of Himalayan treelines to climate warming, based on extensive field observations, published results in the widely scattered literature, and novel data from ongoing research of the present authors.Several sensitivity indicators such as treeline type, treeline form, seed-based regeneration, and growth patterns are evaluated. Since most Himalayan treelines are anthropogenically depressed, observed advances are largely the result of land use change. Near-natural treelines are usually krummholz treelines, which are relatively unresponsive to climate change. Nevertheless, intense recruitment of treeline trees suggests a great potential for future treeline advance. Competitive abilities of seedlings within krummholz thickets and dwarf scrub heaths will be a major source of variation in treeline dynamics. Tree growth-climate relationships show mature treeline trees to be responsive to temperature change, in particular in winter and pre-monsoon seasons. High pre-monsoon temperature trends will most likely drive tree growth performance in the western and central Himalaya. Ecological niche modelling suggests that bioclimatic conditions for a range expansion of treeline trees will be created during coming decades.

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Recent drought stress leads to growth reductions in Larix sibirica in the western Khentey, Mongolia

Cited by 128 publications

References 45 publications

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

Climate-growth relationships and pointer year analysis of a Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) chronology from the Mongolian mountain forest steppe compared to white birch (Betula platyphylla Sukaczev)

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

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