Abstract
Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii Sarg.) is a common tree species with ecological and economic importance across the subtropical forests of the central Himalayas. However, little is known about its growth response to the recent warming and drying trends observed in this region. Here, we developed a 268-year-long ring-width chronology (1743–2010) from western Nepal to investigate its growth response to climate. Based on nearby available meteorological records, growth was positively correlated with winter (November to February; r = 0.39, p < 0.05) as well as March to April (r = 0.67, p < 0.001) precipitation. Growth also showed a strong positive correlation with the sum of precipitation from November of the previous year to April of the current year (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). In contrast, a negative relationship with the mean temperature in March to April (r = −0.48, p < 0.05) suggests the influence of warming-induced evapotranspiration on tree growth. Spring droughts lasting 4–6 months constrain Chir pine growth. These results are supported by the synchronization between droughts and very narrow or locally missing rings. Warming and drying tendencies during winter and spring will reduce forest growth and resilience and make Chir pine forests more vulnerable and at higher risk of growth decline and dieback.
Highlights
Global climate change is significantly affecting forest ecosystem functions and species distribution, thereby altering forest composition, increasing the risk of loss of some ecosystem services, and threatening human wellbeing [1]
A 268-year tree-ring width chronology of Chir pine was developed from the subtropical belt of Kailali, western Nepal (Figure 4b)
RBAR and expressed population signal (EPS) statistics show that the chronology is reliable for the period
Summary
Global climate change is significantly affecting forest ecosystem functions and species distribution, thereby altering forest composition, increasing the risk of loss of some ecosystem services, and threatening human wellbeing [1]. Several studies have investigated forest radial-growth responses to changing climate in the central Himalayas and surrounding regions using tree-ring data [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Several studies in the Himalayas revealed that subtropical and tropical tree species showed dendrochronological potentials [17,18,19] As a dominant tree (with total stem volume 11.62 m3 /ha and total biomass 9.9 t/ha) across the Himalayan subtropical zone [20], Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is a representative species for investigating impacts of climate change in recent decades on the subtropical forest ecosystem. Its dendrochronological potential has not yet been fully explored [21,22]
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