Relationships between tree-ring cell features of Pinus koraiensis and climate factors in the Changbai Mountains, Northeastern China

Abstract

Anatomical characteristics have been proven useful for extracting climatic signals. To examine the climatic signals recorded by tree-ring cell features in the Changbai Mountains, we measured cell number and cell lumen diameter, in addition to ring widths, of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) tree rings at sites of varied elevation, and we developed chronologies of cell number (CN), mean lumen diameter (MLD), maximum lumen diameter (MAXLD) and tree-ring width (TRW). The chronologies were correlated with climatic factors monthly mean temperature and the sum of precipitation. As shown by our analysis, the cell parameter chronologies were suitable for dendroclimatology studies. CN and TRW shared relatively similar climatic signals which differed from MLD and MAXLD, and growth-climate relationships were elevation-dependent, as shown by the following findings: (1) at each elevation, MLD and MAXLD recorded different monthly climatic signals from those recorded by TRW for the same climatic factors; and (2) MLD and MAXLD recorded climatic factors that were absent from TRW at lower and middle elevations. Cell lumen diameter proved to be an effective archive for improving the climate reconstruction for this study area.