Standardization of Qilian Juniper ring-width series in the eastern margin of the Qaidam Basin

Standardization is one of the important procedures in dendroclimatology. We used abundant Qilian juniper （Sabina przewalskii Kom.） tree-ring samples from the eastern margin of the Qaidam Basin to develop a new standardization method, i.e. total growth curve （TGC）. The samples that contained the complete pith and reached to the growing culmination around the 40th-60th year were used to fit TGC, and the generalized negative exponential function was used to fit the curve. Usually, most cores cannot reach the arboreal pith for some reasons and it is difficult to determine the arboreal cambial age. The empirical model of initial radial growth （IRG） was employed to estimate the number of rings missing from the pith by the same data and IRG model explained 90.9% of the variance. When developing the chronology, the cambial ages of cores that contained the complete pith were regarded as beginning from the first year and others were determined by the numbers of missing and included rings in the core. Standardization was accomplished by dividing each tree-ring series by corresponding TGC. The chronologies developed by TGC can retain more low-frequency variational information and TGC helps to develop more reliable tree-ring width chronology.

Which climatic factors limit radial growth of Qilian juniper at the upper treeline on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau？

There are differing views regarding the climatic factors that limit radial growth of Qilian juniper （Juniperus przewalskii Kom.） at the upper treelines on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. In this study, trees from an upper tree northeastern Tibetan Plateau were selected to limits the radial growth of Qilian juniper. Using ine site in the Anyemaqen Mountains of the present new evidence that low temperature a signal-free regional curve standardization （SF-RCS） method, a ring-width chronology for Qilian juniper was developed extending from AD 1082 to 2010. The results of correlation analysis between tree-ring index and instrumental climatic variables showed that both winter （December in the previous year and January in the current year） and summer （July and August in the current year） temperatures were signifi- cantly and positively correlated with the tree-ring index. Precipitation in June was also significantly and positively correlated with the tree-ring index, but was not as important as low temperature in controlling tree growth. To test the key limiting climatic factor for tree radial growth at different altitudes, an indicator termed the ＂relative distance to upper treeline＂ （RDUT） was developed to quantify the representativeness of collected samples for the forest＇s upper treeline. The RDUT showed that the upper 20% of the forest belt may be an important boundary in terms of capturing the temperature signal from tree-ring width at the upper treelines on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Our findings enhance the existing understanding that temperature is the limiting factor at upper treelines on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, and will be useful in the reconstruction of past temperature in future studies.

Difference in Tree Growth Responses to Climate at the Upper Treeline: Qilian Juniper in the Anyemaqen Mountains

Three ring-width chronologies were developed from Qilian Juniper （Sabina przewalskii Kom.） at the upper treeline along a west-east gradient in the Anyemaqen Mountains. Most chronological statistics, except for mean sensitivity （MS）, decreased from west to east. The first principal component （PC1） Ioadings indicated that stands in a similar climate condition were most important to the variability of radial growth. PC2 Ioadings decreased from west to east, suggesting the difference of tree-growth between eastern and western Anyemaqen Mountains. Correlations between standard chronologies and climatic factors revealed different climatic influences on radial growth along a west-east gradient in the study area. Temperature of warm season （July-August） was important to the radial growth at the upper treeline in the whole study area. Precipitation of current May was an important limiting factor of tree growth only in the western （drier） upper treeline, whereas precipitation of current September limited tree growth in the eastern （wetter） upper treeline. Response function analysis results showed that there were regional differences between tree growth and climatic factors in various sampling sites of the whole study area. Temperature and precipitation were the important factors influencing tree growth in western （drier） upper treeline. However, tree growth was greatly limited by temperature at the upper treeline in the middle area, and was more limited by precipitation than temperature in the eastern （wetter） upper treeline.