RADIAL GROWTH OF HUASHAN PINE AND ITS RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

Intr0ducti0nltiswell-knownthattl1eannualringSoftreeprovideuniqueinformationfOrdeductionofpastclimaticchange.ProPertiesoftreeringrsuchaswooddensityandringwidthvaryinresPOnsetoclimaticc0nditionsthatlimittreegrowth7,l4].ByunderstandingtherelationsllipsbetweentreegroWthandclimatevariables,PaStclimaticvariationscanbederivedfromtree-ringdata.InChina,mostdendroclimaticstudieshavebeenconductedonclimaicallyextremesitesl2,l8,l9].TreesgrOwingonsuchsiteshavestrongandstraightfO~relationshipswithclim…

RADIAL GROWTH OF HUASHAN PINE AND ITS RESPONSE TO CLIMATE

Huashan pine (Finus armandii Franch) is a poential species for dendroclimatic study. Ring-width cores were sampled for four stands of two sites from the eastern extreme of the Qinling Mountains. The ring-width chronologies developed in this study cover a maximum Period from A.D. 1359 t0 1992 and show high common chronology variance over the common period 1911-1960.All the chronologies are significantly correlated with all others, and the degree of correlation appears related to tree age. Response function analyses reveal that from 41 to 75 Percent of chronology variance can be accounted for by monthly mean air temperature and monthly total precipitation. A sufficiently strong correlation of ringwidth index with May and June rainfall and June temperature exists, implying soil moisture to be a limiting factor for Huashan pine growth. The association displayed by response diagrams between narrow rings, low precipitation, and high temperature during spring and early summer indicates a promising potential of ring widths for reconstruction of spring drought for the study area.