Warming‐induced upward migration of the alpine treeline in the Changbai Mountains, northeast China

Du, Haibo; Liu, Jie; Li, Mai‐He; Büntgen, Ulf; Yang, Yonghui; Wang, Lei; He, Hong S.

doi:10.1111/gcb.13963

Cited by 90 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Recent photographic comparisons have shown that climate change during the past several decades has caused glacier retreat and subsequent upward shifts of the alpine tree line in the area (Baker & Moseley, ). This is in line with findings for the wider Asian mountain region, where there is widespread evidence for climate‐related glacier shrinkage and tree and shrub line advancement (Cogley, ; Du et al, ; Myers‐Smith & Hik, ), potentially threatening regional endemism in alpine communities.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Upward elevation and northwest range shifts for alpine Meconopsis species in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains region

Burgess

Yang

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate change may impact the distribution of species by shifting their ranges to higher elevations or higher latitudes. The impacts on alpine plant species may be particularly profound due to a potential lack of availability of future suitable habitat. To identify how alpine species have responded to climate change during the past century as well as to predict how they may react to possible global climate change scenarios in the future, we investigate the climatic responses of seven species of Meconopsis , a representative genus endemic in the alpine meadow and subnival region of the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains. We analyzed past elevational shifts, as well as projected shifts in longitude, latitude, elevation, and range size using historical specimen records and species distribution modeling under optimistic (RCP 4.5) and pessimistic (RCP 8.5) scenarios across three general circulation models for 2070. Our results indicate that across all seven species, there has been an upward shift in mean elevation of 302.3 m between the pre‐1970s (1922–1969) and the post‐1970s (1970–2016). The model predictions suggest that the future suitable climate space will continue to shift upwards in elevation (as well as northwards and westwards) by 2070. While for most of the analyzed species, the area of suitable climate space is predicted to expand under the optimistic emission scenario, the area contracts, or, at best, shows little change under the pessimistic scenario. Species such as M. punicea , which already occupy high latitudes, are consistently predicted to experience a contraction of suitable climate space across all the models by 2070 and may consequently deserve particular attention by conservation strategies. Collectively, our results suggest that the alpine high‐latitude species analyzed here have already been significantly impacted by climate change and that these trends may continue over the coming decades.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Upward elevation and northwest range shifts for alpine Meconopsis species in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains region

Burgess

Yang

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The growth limitation hypothesis states that tree growth at treelines is primarily controlled by temperature during the growing season (Holtmeier & Broll, ; Körner, ), so climatic warming should enhance growth and favor an upslope shift of alpine treelines. Warmer conditions have been associated with increased tree regeneration and encroachment at treeline ecotones worldwide (Camarero & Gutiérrez, ; Liang et al, ; Liang, Wang, Eckstein, & Luo, ), and also with upward treeline shifts in many sites (Beckage et al, ; Du et al, ; Harsch et al, ; Huang et al, ; Peñuelas, Ogaya, Boada, & Jump, ). Changes in the patterns of distributional limits of tree species at treelines, however, are not homogenous and depend on many local‐scale interactions (Camarero et al, ; Case & Duncan, ; Elliott, ; Kharuk, Ranson, Im, & Vdovin, ; Liu & Yin, ; Loranger, Zotz, & Bader, ; Wang, Camarero, Luo, & Liang, ; Wang, Liang, Sigdel, Liu, & Camarero, ; Zhu, Woodall, & Clark, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moisture‐mediated responsiveness of treeline shifts to global warming in the Himalayas

Sigdel

Wang

Camarero

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

133

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Among forest ecosystems, the alpine treeline ecotone can be considered to be a simplified model to study global ecology and climate change. Alpine treelines are expected to shift upwards in response to global warming given that tree recruitment and growth are assumed to be mainly limited by low temperatures. However, little is known whether precipitation and temperature interact to drive long-term Himalayan treeline dynamics. Tree growth is affected by spring rainfall in the central Himalayan treelines, being good locations for testing if, in addition to temperature, precipitation mediates treeline dynamics. To test this hypothesis, we reconstructed spatiotemporal variations in treeline dynamics in 20 plots located at six alpine treeline sites, dominated by two tree species (birch, fir), and situated along an east-west precipitation gradient in the central Himalayas. Our reconstructions evidenced that treelines shifted upward in response to recent climate warming, but their shift rates were primarily mediated by spring precipitation. The rate of upward shift was higher in the wettest eastern Himalayas, suggesting that its ascent rate was facilitated by spring precipitation. The drying tendency in association with the recent warming trends observed in the central Himalayas, however, will likely hinder an upslope advancement of alpine treelines and promote downward treeline shifts if moisture availability crosses a critical minimum threshold. Our study highlights the complexity of plant responses to climate and the need to consider multiple climate factors when analyzing treeline dynamics.

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“…This leads to adaptive changes in the species and physiological characteristics of the trees. Many studies have shown that low temperature is the main limiting factor for alpine treeline formation and can explain nearly 80% of the global variability of alpine treeline elevation [3,4,14]. Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), including soluble sugars and starch, are critical energy involved in plant growth and metabolism [15][16][17].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[27], while the highest distribution of the evergreen conifer Picea jezoensis is 1800 m a.s.l. With climate warming, the upper limit of their distribution may shift up to varying degrees [3]. Thus, understanding the physiological adaptation of different treeline species to environmental changes enables more effective predictions of the alpine treeline and tree species distribution shifts in the future.In this study, we selected P. jezoensis and B. ermanii, the treeline species naturally occurred in Changbai Mountain, and measured the concentration of NSC, soluble sugars and starch in one-year-old leaves, shoots, stems and fine roots along with elevation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Structural Carbohydrate Storage Strategy Explains the Spatial Distribution of Treeline Species

Han

et al. 2020

Plants

Self Cite

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Environmental factors that drive carbon storage are often used as an explanation for alpine treeline formation. However, different tree species respond differently to environmental changes, which challenges our understanding of treeline formation and shifts. Therefore, we selected Picea jezoensis and Betula ermanii, the two treeline species naturally occurring in Changbai Mountain in China, and measured the concentration of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), soluble sugars and starch in one-year-old leaves, shoots, stems and fine roots at different elevations. We found that compared with P. jezoensis, the NSC and soluble sugars concentrations of leaves and shoots of B. ermanii were higher than those of P. jezoensis, while the starch concentration of all the tissues were lower. Moreover, the concentration of NSC, soluble sugars and starch in the leaves of B. ermanii decreased with elevation. In addition, the starch concentration of B. ermanii shoots, stems and fine roots remained at a high level regardless of whether the soluble sugars concentration decreased. Whereas the concentrations of soluble sugars and starch in one-year-old leaves, shoots and stems of P. jezoensis responded similarly changes with elevation. These findings demonstrate that compared with P. jezoensis, B. ermanii has a higher soluble sugars/starch ratio, and its shoots, stems and fine roots actively store NSC to adapt to the harsh environment, which is one of the reasons that B. ermanii can be distributed at higher altitudes.

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Warming‐induced upward migration of the alpine treeline in the Changbai Mountains, northeast China

Cited by 90 publications

References 69 publications

Upward elevation and northwest range shifts for alpine Meconopsis species in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains region

Upward elevation and northwest range shifts for alpine Meconopsis species in the Himalaya–Hengduan Mountains region

Moisture‐mediated responsiveness of treeline shifts to global warming in the Himalayas

Non-Structural Carbohydrate Storage Strategy Explains the Spatial Distribution of Treeline Species

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