Site-aspect influence on climate sensitivity over time of a high-altitude Pinus cembra tree-ring network
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2009
Citazione:
Site-aspect influence on climate sensitivity over time of a high-altitude Pinus cembra tree-ring network / G. Leonelli, M. Pelfini, G. Battipaglia, P. Cherubini. - In: CLIMATIC CHANGE. - ISSN 0165-0009. - 96:1-2(2009 Sep), pp. 185-201. [10.1007/s10584-009-9574-6]
Abstract:
Recently a divergence between tree-ring parameters from temperaturelimited
environments and temperature records has been observed worldwide but
comprehensive explanations are still lacking. From a dendroclimatic analysis performed
on a high-altitude tree-ring network of Pinus cembra (L.) in the Central
Italian Alps we found that site aspect influences non-stationary growth-climate
relationships over time. A general increasing divergence between ring width and the
summer temperature record (J–A) has been observed especially for chronologies
from SW-facing slopes, whereas chronologies from N-facing sites showed stable
relationships over time. The monthly analysis revealed that the decrease in sensitivity
was mostly accounted for by the changes in the relationships with June temperature
(decreasing correlations especially for S- and W-facing site chronologies), whereas
trees from N-facing sites showed an increasing sensitivity to July temperatures. Our
data suggest that at high altitudes, low temperatures at the beginning of the growing
season no longer limit growth. We also found that our temperature-sensitive trees
did not linearly respond in radial growth to the extreme heat event of summer
2003, and formed an annual ring of average width, resulting in a strong divergence
from the temperature record. Our findings underline the importance of site ecology
for tree-ring based climate reconstructions using temperature-sensitive ring-width
chronologies, and may help in solving the ‘divergence problem’.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Elenco autori:
G. Leonelli, M. Pelfini, G. Battipaglia, P. Cherubini
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