scholarly journals Regional and Local Moisture Gradients Drive the Resistance to and Recovery from Drought of Picea crassifolia Kom. in the Qilian Mountains, Northwest China

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingnan Zhang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Yilin Ran ◽  
Keyi Wang ◽  
Xiaomin Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radial Growth ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Western Region ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Picea Crassifolia ◽  
The Western Region ◽  
The Qilian Mountains

Increasing evidence suggests that extreme droughts cause more frequent tree growth reduction. To understand the consequences of these droughts better, this study used tree-ring cores from nine sites to investigate how moisture and altitudinal gradients affect the radial growth of Picea crassifolia Kom., a common species in the Qilian Mountains in northwest China. The total annual precipitation and mean annual temperature in the eastern region were higher than those in the western region of the Qilian Mountains. The trees in the eastern region showed stronger resistance to drought than those in the west, as they had a smaller difference in radial growth between drought disturbance and pre-drought disturbance. At the same time, the trees in the east showed weaker ability to recover from drought, as they had a subtle difference in radial growth between post-drought disturbance and drought disturbance. Furthermore, the trees in the east also showed weaker relative resilience to drought, as they had a small difference in radial growth between post-drought and drought disturbance weighted by growth in pre-drought disturbance. For trees below 3000 m a.s.l., trees with high resistance capacity usually had low recovery capacity and low relative resilience capacity. Trees at higher altitudes also showed stronger resistance to drought and weaker ability to recover from drought after a drought event than those at lower altitudes in the middle of the Qilian Mountains. Trees at lower altitudes in the middle of the Qilian Mountains had more difficulties recovering from more severe and longer drought events. In the context of global warming, trees in the western region and at lower altitudes should be given special attention and protection in forest management to enhance their resistance to extreme droughts.

Lingering response of radial growth of Picea crassifolia to climate at different altitudes in the Qilian Mountains, Northwest China

Trees ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 455-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingnan Zhang ◽  
Yuan Jiang ◽  
Shoudong Zhao ◽  
Xinyu Kang ◽  
Wentao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radial Growth ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Picea Crassifolia ◽  
The Qilian Mountains ◽  
Different Altitudes

scholarly journals Comparison of the Radial Growth Response of Picea crassifolia to Climate Change in Different Regions of the Central and Eastern Qilian Mountains

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1015
Author(s):  
Xuan Wu ◽  
Liang Jiao ◽  
Dashi Du ◽  
Changliang Qi ◽  
Ruhong Xue
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Total Precipitation ◽  
Picea Crassifolia ◽  
The Qilian Mountains

It is important to explore the responses of radial tree growth in different regions to understand growth patterns and to enhance forest management and protection with climate change. We constructed tree ring width chronologies of Picea crassifolia from different regions of the Qilian Mountains of northwest China. We used Pearson correlation and moving correlation to analyze the main climate factors limiting radial growth of trees and the temporal stability of the growth–climate relationship, while spatial correlation is the result of further testing the first two terms in space. The conclusions were as follows: (1) Radial growth had different trends, showing an increasing followed by a decreasing trend in the central region, a continuously increasing trend in the eastern region, and a gradually decreasing trend in the isolated mountain. (2) Radial tree growth in the central region and isolated mountains was constrained by drought stress, and tree growth in the central region was significantly negatively correlated with growing season temperature. Isolated mountains showed a significant negative correlation with mean minimum of growing season and a significant positive correlation with total precipitation. (3) Temporal dynamic responses of radial growth in the central region to the temperatures and SPEI (the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index) in the growing season were unstable, the isolated mountains to total precipitation was unstable, and that to SPEI was stable. The results of this study suggest that scientific management and maintenance plans of the forest ecosystem should be developed according to the response and growth patterns of the Qinghai spruce to climate change in different regions of the Qilian Mountains.

Response of stem radial growth of Qinghai spruce ( Picea crassifolia ) to environmental factors in the Qilian Mountains of China

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 76-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quanyan Tian ◽  
Zhibin He ◽  
Shengchun Xiao ◽  
Xiaomei Peng ◽  
Aijun Ding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Picea Crassifolia ◽  
The Qilian Mountains ◽  
Qinghai Spruce

Response to climate changes in radial growth of Picea crassifolia in the Qilian mountains of northwestern China

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Mei Xu ◽  
Fu-Cheng Bao ◽  
Jian-Xiong Lv ◽  
Rong-Feng Huang ◽  
You-Ke Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radial Growth ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Northwestern China ◽  
Picea Crassifolia ◽  
The Qilian Mountains

scholarly journals Mapping and Evaluating Human Pressure Changes in the Qilian Mountains

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2400
Author(s):  
Quntao Duan ◽  
Lihui Luo ◽  
Wenzhi Zhao ◽  
Yanli Zhuang ◽  
Fang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Qilian Mountains ◽  
Western China ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Human Footprint ◽  
Illegal Activities ◽  
The Qilian Mountains ◽  
The Impact

Human activities have dramatically changed ecosystems. As an irreplaceable ecological barrier in western China, the Qilian Mountains (QLM) provide various ecosystem services for humans. To evaluate the changes in the intensity of human activities in the QLM and their impact on the ecosystem, the human footprint (HF) method was used to conduct a spatial dataset of human activity intensity. In our study, the NDVI was used to characterize the growth of vegetation, and six categories of human pressures were employed to create the HF map in the QLM for 2000–2015 at a 1-km scale. The results showed that the mean NDVI during the growing season showed a significant increasing trend over the entire QLM in the period 2000–2015, while the NDVI showed a significant declining trend of more than 70% concentrated in Qinghai. Human pressure throughout the QLM occurred at a low level during 2000–2015, being greater in the eastern region than the western region, while the Qinghai area had greater human pressure than the Gansu area. Due to the improvement in traffic facilities, tourism, overgrazing, and other illegal activities, grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands, and bare land were the vegetation types most affected by human activities (in decreasing order). As the core area of the QLM, the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve (NR) has effectively reduced the impact of human activities. However, due to the existence of many ecological historical debts caused by unreasonable management in the past, the national park established in 2017 is facing great challenges to achieve its goals. These data and results will provide reference and guidance for future protection and restoration of the QLM ecosystem.

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