Growth-Climate Relationships and Long-Term Growth Trends of the Tropical Forest Tree Choerospondias axillaris (Anacardiaceae) in East-Central Thailand

Wisawakorn Surayothee,Supaporn Buajan,Pantana Tor-Ngern,Anuttara Nathalang,Wirong Chanthorn,Zexin Fan,Yajun Chen,Yongjiang Zhang,Nathsuda Pumijumnong,Warren Y Brockelman,Shankar Panthi,Patrick M Finnegan,Peili Fu

doi:10.3390/f12121655

Abstract

Tropical forests play important roles in global carbon cycling. Tree-ring analysis can provide important information for understanding long-term trends in carbon-fixation capacity under climate change. However, tree-ring studies in tropical regions are limited. We carried out a tree-ring analysis to investigate the dendrochronological potential of the tropical forest tree Choerospondias axillaris (Anacardiaceae) in east-central Thailand. Our study focused on growth-climate relationships and long-term growth trends. A chronology was constructed covering the period from 1932 to 2019. The tree-ring width index of C.axillaris was positively correlated with precipitation in June, July, and October. Furthermore, growth of C.axillaris was positively correlated with the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) from July to October, indicating that growth of C.axillaris is mainly limited by moisture availability in the late monsoon season. Moving correlation analysis further revealed the consistency and temporal stability of the relationship of tree growth with monsoon season precipitation and SPEI during the period under study. There was a significant increasing trend in long-term growth from 1932 to 2002 (slope = 0.017, p < 0.001); however, long-term growth decreased from 2003 to 2019 (slope = −0.014, p < 0.001). Our study provides important insight into the growth-climate correlations of a broad-leaved tree species in a dry evergreen forest in tropical Asia.

Highlights

IntroductionThe most significant evidence for climate change is rising temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme events, such as extreme drought, violent storms, and severe flooding [1]
Climate change has major impacts on natural ecosystems worldwide
The tree-ring width chronology of C. axillaris at Mo Singto spanned the period 1932 ttRoob22a00rT11w99hea((88st88r0eyy.e2ee-9ara7irrns.s)g)T..hTwTehihdeEetAPhASGcGhRvRrawoluwnaeosals(3o0.g37.9.y9769om8f)mmCfmo.yraeyxtahierleal−a1rrc−(ihTs1raao(btTnlaMeobl1olo)eg.SM1yin).esguaMtnorpessaaepnsnassnseiedntinevtsdihitteytihvwreietacyposewm0r.ia4mos1de20n1,.4d9a1n3e22dd, acnridteRribaaor fw0a.8s50.f2o9r7t.hTehpeeErPioSdv1a9lu3e2(t0o.926081)9f,orintdhiecachtirnognothloagtythseurepnatsirseed88th-yeeraercocmhrmoneonldoegdy cwriatseraicacoepf t0a.8b5leffoorrtdheenpderroiocldim1a9t3i2c atona2l0y1s9is, i(nFdigicuartein3g). that the entire 88-year chronology was acceptable for dendroclimatic analysis (Figure 3)

Summary

Introduction

The most significant evidence for climate change is rising temperatures and the increasing frequency of extreme events, such as extreme drought, violent storms, and severe flooding [1]. Tree-ring analysis can provide important information on climate change [10]. Tree rings provide a long-term record of past climates, and record environmental signals over the entire lifespan of a tree, both directly and indirectly [11]. The physiological mechanisms underlying variation in tree radial growth are complex, and are affected by climatic factors (e.g., precipitation and temperature), mean site conditions, and species characteristics [5,7]. Positive and negative effects of climatic factors can be read from the relative width of the rings [12,13]

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Conclusion