Climate control on tree growth at the upper and lower treelines: a case study in the qilian mountains, tibetan plateau.

ABSTRACT: It is generally hypothesized that tree growth at the upper treeline is normally controlled by temperature while that at the lower treeline is precipitation limited. However, uniform patterns of inter-annual ring-width variations along altitudinal gradients are also observed in some situations. How changing elevation influences tree growth in the cold and arid Qilian Mountains, on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, is of considerable interest because of the sensitivity of the region's local climate to different atmospheric circulation patterns. Here, a network of four Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskii Kom.) ring-width chronologies was developed from trees distributed on a typical mountain slope at elevations ranging from 3000 to 3520 m above sea level (a.s.l.). The statistical characteristi

SUBMITTER: Yang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3708892 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature