Reconstruction of early spring temperature for central Japan from the tree‐ring widths of Hinoki cypress and its verification by other proxy records

Abstract

We describe the results of a dendroclimatic study in central Japan using ring width data from living trees of Hinoki cypress. February–April temperatures were reconstructed for the period AD 1719–1961. This reconstruction, from which five cooling events were determined for the late Little Ice Age, was validated against other climate proxies. There is a reasonable agreement with cold periods previously estimated from documentary records in Japan and China. A notably good agreement is also found for a dendroclimatic reconstruction for Korea, suggesting that the annual activity of the winter monsoon in the western Pacific Rim persisted longer in the 19th century than at present. Records of prolonged famines and unusual climatic phenomena support the reconstruction of the cold periods in the 1780s, 1810s and 1830s. It is thus revealed that the Hinoki chronology has enough potential to reconstruct the climatic variability further into the past.

February–May temperature reconstruction based on tree-ring widths of Abies fargesii from the Shennongjia area in central China

“…This study confirmed once again that winter-spring temperatures are the critical driving factor of tree radial growth (Fig.3); similar growth response relationships have been reported for Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) in northeastern China (Zhu et al 2009), Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) in central Japan (Yonenobu and Eckstein 2006), pine trees (Pinus massoniana) in southeastern China (Duan et al 2011), and Shensi fir (Abies chensiensis) in central China (Chen et al 2015). The above phenomenon may be caused by the photosynthetic Bmechanism^that is controlled by the temperature regime, and a higher winter-spring temperature prolongs the period of growth during which the trees are capable of photosynthesis.…”

Tree ring-based February–April temperature reconstruction for Changbai Mountain in Northeast China and its implication for East Asian winter monsoon

“…3) suggest that the radial growth of Korean Pine in Changbai Mountain is mainly limited by the pre-growth season temperature. A positive effect of winter temperature on tree growth was also reported for other temperate coniferous forests, such as in central Japan and in the Hudson River Valley (Pederson et al, 2004;Yonenobu and Eckstein, 2006), and from timberline forests on the east and northeast Tibetan Plateau (Brauning, 2001;Liang et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2007;Zhu et al, 2008). Warm winters may lead to damage to the roots and positive carbon gains for conifer trees when their leaves are not frozen (Brauning, 2001;Chabot and Hicks, 1982;Havranek and Tranquillini, 1995;Pederson et al, 2004).…”

“…Map showing the tree-ring sites, meteorological station, and other locations mentioned in text. CJ: Feburary-April temperature (Yonenobu and Eckstein, 2006); EC: Winter-half year temperature (Ge et al, 2003). The grids for the EAWMI are marked by the solid bars in the panel upper left.…”

“…Then we used the COFECHA program to evaluate the accuracy of the crossdating and measurements (Holmes, 1983). [Yonenobu and Eckstein, 2006]; EC: 312…”

“…Tree rings, as a continuously and annually resolved proxy, have been widely used to reconstruct past climate in North America and Europe (e.g., Briffa et al, 2004; Correspondence to: X. Q. Fang (xfang@bnu.edu.cn) Cook et al, 1999). In recent years, there are also several dendroclimatic reconstructions in East Asia (EA), such as in China, Korea and Japan (e.g., Choi et al, 1994;Shao and Wu, 1997;Yonenobu and Eckstein, 2006;Zhu et al, 2008). However, there still remains a lack of long temperature proxies for the northeast Asia, where winter climate is predominantly influenced by the intensity of the EAWM.…”