Temperature variations recorded in Pinus tabulaeformis tree rings from the southern and northern slopes of the central Qinling Mountains, central China

Abstract

The Qinling Mountain range constitutes a critical boundary for climate and vegetation distribution in eastern central mainland China owing to its importance as a geographic demarcation line. In this article, cores from 88 Chinese pines (Pinus tabulaeformis) from the southern (MW site) and northern (NWT site) slopes of the Qinling Mountains were used to reconstruct seasonal temperature variations. During the calibration period, significant correlations were found between ring width and the mean temperature from prior September to current April of 0.76 at the southern slope, and between ring width and the mean May–July temperature of 0.67 at the northern slope. The subsequent temperature reconstructions span 1760–2005 for the northern site and 1837–2006 for the southern site. Prior to the mid‐20th century, low September–April temperatures were, in general, followed by high May–July temperatures, probably reflecting variations in the winter and summer monsoon. However, since the mid‐20th century, both records show trends of a more pronounced increase in September–April temperature on the southern slope. The results provide independent support for the interpretation that recent warming is unusual in nature, coinciding with the observed record. The results compare well with tree‐ring based reconstructions from the surrounding regions, suggesting regional signals in the Qinling Mountain reconstructions.

Temperature Signals in Tree-Ring Width Chronologies of Alpine Treeline Conifers from the Baishui River Nature Reserve, China

“…Because of its size, high elevation and east-to-west arrangement, the Qinling Mountains constitute a huge physical obstacle for the movement of the synoptic regimes of China and are thus critical to the distribution of climate zones in China. Many dendrochronological studies have been carried out in the central and east Qinling Mountains and adjacent regions (Hughes et al 1994;Shao and Wu 1994;Liu and Shao 2003;Garfin et al 2005;Dang et al 2007;Liu et al 2008). However, no dendrochronological study has yet focused on climate variability in the western Qinling Mountains.…”

Asian Monsoon Variability Recorded in Other Archives

“…The long, low temperature period occurred from 1930 to 1950, with the lowest temperature of 12.0 °C occurring in 1933. The reconstructed temperature of Huashan Mountain was significantly corre- Liu et al 2009d) lated with the reconstructed temperature of Nanwutai Mountain, and a synchronous warming trend was found, which is related to global warming.…”

“…In the mid-eastern Qinling Mountains, the temperature reconstruction series includes mean temperature from May to Cores from 88 Chinese pines ( Pinus tabulaeformis) collected from the southern (MW site) and northern (NWT site) slopes of the Qinling Mountains were used to reconstruct seasonal temperature variations (Liu et al 2009d; Fig. 3.28).…”

Tree-ring based temperature reconstruction for the west Qinling Mountains (China): linkages to the High Asia, solar activity and Pacific-Atlantic Ocean

“…Many dendroclimatic studies have been carried out in central and east Qinling Mountains and adjacent regions (Hughes et al, 1994;Shao and Wu, 1994;Liu and Shao, 2003;Garfin et al, 2005;Dang et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2009). However, long-term dendroclimatological records still remain a lack in the western Qinling Mountains.…”