The Pinus taiwanensis trees of a Chinese endemic species form pure forests at infertile sites in humid subtropical China, which can aid soil reservation and ecological resiliency at such sites. Herein, we used dendroc...The Pinus taiwanensis trees of a Chinese endemic species form pure forests at infertile sites in humid subtropical China, which can aid soil reservation and ecological resiliency at such sites. Herein, we used dendrochronological methods to investigate the growth patterns and their relationship with climate by analyzing 158 cores of 79 P. taiwanensis trees at 4 sites in their southernmost distribution in China's Mainland at Daiyun Mountain in Fujian Province. Tree growths at sites with favor- able conditions generally showed an age-related growth trend, which decreased from approximately 5 mm to 0.5 mm in about a century. Trees in moderately stressed environments established high growth in their juvenile periods but were highly suscep- tible to environmental stresses such as a sharp growth decline in the 1990s. The temperature in February and the moisture in July are the major limiting factors for most of the tree growths, except for a few extremely stressed P. taiwanensis trees. The growth of the dwarf P. taiwanensis trees, with all ring diameters of the first 20 years less than 4 ram, is mainly limited by the dry climate in May. Under the potential future warming trend, drought stress can be particularly threatening to these dwarf P. taiwanensis trees, which are likely to be the germplasm resources for this species in this region.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41471172U1405231+2 种基金and 41171039)Non-profit Research Funds of Fujian Province(Grant No.2014R1034-2)the Fellowship for Distinguished Young Scholars of Fujian Province(Grant No.2015J06008)in addition to students’training program of Fujian Province
文摘The Pinus taiwanensis trees of a Chinese endemic species form pure forests at infertile sites in humid subtropical China, which can aid soil reservation and ecological resiliency at such sites. Herein, we used dendrochronological methods to investigate the growth patterns and their relationship with climate by analyzing 158 cores of 79 P. taiwanensis trees at 4 sites in their southernmost distribution in China's Mainland at Daiyun Mountain in Fujian Province. Tree growths at sites with favor- able conditions generally showed an age-related growth trend, which decreased from approximately 5 mm to 0.5 mm in about a century. Trees in moderately stressed environments established high growth in their juvenile periods but were highly suscep- tible to environmental stresses such as a sharp growth decline in the 1990s. The temperature in February and the moisture in July are the major limiting factors for most of the tree growths, except for a few extremely stressed P. taiwanensis trees. The growth of the dwarf P. taiwanensis trees, with all ring diameters of the first 20 years less than 4 ram, is mainly limited by the dry climate in May. Under the potential future warming trend, drought stress can be particularly threatening to these dwarf P. taiwanensis trees, which are likely to be the germplasm resources for this species in this region.
