Compensation effect of winter snow on larch growth in Northeast China

Yuanqiao Li,Pei Wang,Shoudong Zhao,Yang Wang,Yuhong Tian,Xiaoyan Li,Chongyang Xu,Xiuchen Wu,Shulei Zhang,Cicheng Zhang,Fangzhong Shi,Yuting Yang,Pengwu Zhao,Yongmei Huang

doi:10.1007/s10584-021-02998-1

Yuanqiao Li, Pei Wang + Show 12 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-02998-1

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Abstract

Winter snow plays a crucial role in regulating tree growth during the subsequent growing season in regions suffering seasonal or even annual drought stress, but the mechanisms of the potential compensation effect of winter snow on subsequent growing-season tree growth are not well understood. In this study, we establish tree-ring chronologies of six larch forest stands along a marked drought gradient across Northeast China. We identify the spatial pattern in the compensation effects of winter snow on subsequent growing-season tree radial growth and uncover a potentially enhanced compensation effect in drier climates. Our results indicate that in snow-rich sites, winter snow tends to exert a significantly positive effect on tree growth during the growing season, whereas this growth compensation effect is reduced in drier sites. More importantly, our findings identify a much higher compensation effect of winter snow on growing-season larch growth in drier years (24.4–48.0%) than in wetter years (6.1–8.1%) at snow-rich sites. Given the projected increase in both severity and duration of droughts in temperate regions, the potential compensation effect of winter snow could play a crucial role in mediating the adaptation ability of boreal/hemi-boreal forest ecosystems in response to a warmer and drier future climate in these regions.

Highlights

Increase in both the frequency and severity of drought accompanying global warming has been widely observed and projected in temperate regions (IPCC 2013; Dai 2013)
The response of tree growth to winter snow cover/depth could provide critical insight into the comprehensive and complex effects of winter climate on tree radial growth, over cool temperate forests where tree growth tends to be susceptible to seasonal drought, and winter snow exhibits dramatic interannual variations
Our findings indicate that winter snow exerts spatially divergent compensation effect on the subsequent growing-season tree growth for larch forests across a drought gradient, and this compensation effect is more evident in sites with higher winter snow

Summary

Introduction

Increase in both the frequency and severity of drought accompanying global warming has been widely observed and projected in temperate regions (IPCC 2013; Dai 2013). Winter snow emerges as an important driver of subsequent tree growth by regulating a range of ecosystem processes, yet these processes are often overlooked when considering the impacts of future climate on forest function These processes include an increase in soil moisture content, which could partially compensate water loss caused by drought during the growing season (Potopova et al 2016; Shamir et al 2020), insulation effects of snow, which reduce winter damage to the shallow roots of trees (Blume-Werry et al 2016; Reinmann and Templer 2016; Reinmann and Templer 2018; Wipf and Rixen 2010; Wipf et al 2009; Reinmann et al 2019), and regulation of the soil nutrient cycles (Wu 2018). The response of tree growth to winter snow cover/depth could provide critical insight into the comprehensive and complex effects of winter climate on tree radial growth, over cool temperate forests where tree growth tends to be susceptible to seasonal drought, and winter snow exhibits dramatic interannual variations

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