Response of Radial Growth of Mongolian Pine to Climate Factors in Mu Us Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia

Abstract

The Mu Us sandy land is located on the northwestern edge of the East Asian monsoon region in China, and its environment is fragile and sensitive to climate change. To explore the response of the radial growth of Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica), the main afforestation tree species in this area, to climate change, a traditional method of tree-ring climatology was adopted to analyze the correlation of radial growth to climatic factors in the region from 1959 to 2019 based on annual ring widths of Mongolian pine. The results showed that water and heat conditions in May of the current year were the main climatic factors restricting the growth of this tree species in the Mu Us sandy land, mainly manifested as a negative correlation with the average temperature and maximum temperature in May of the current year, while a positive correlation with precipitation in this month. In addition, the average temperature and minimum temperature in March of the current year are also restricted to tree growth. Mongolian pine is one of the excellent tree species suitable for desertification control and afforestation in the Mu Us sandy land. Under the background of the changing climate, becoming warmer and drier, the effect of drought stress on the radial growth of Mongolian pine will become more and more prominent. If the temperature continues to increase in the future, the radial growth and carbon sequestration of Mongolian pine in Mu Us sandy land will be severely affected.