Tree rings as indicators of climatic variation in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, central Mexico


Por: Carlon Allende, Teodoro, Villanueva Diaz, Jose, Soto Castro, Gisela, Mendoza, Manuel E., Luis Macias, Jose

Publicada: 1 ene 2021
Resumen:
How tree growth responds to climate is determined by temperature and water availability, but climate change is causing shifts in forest growth that could be evaluated through tree-ring growth studies given that it is annual radial increase is influenced by interannual and multiannual climatic variations. We evaluated the influence of oceanic-atmospheric indices and the climate response on the annual radial increase of Pinus hartwegii Lindl. A total of 140 increment cores were obtained from 82 selected P. hartwegii specimens growing at the treeline of the Tancitaro stratovolcano, Michoacan, Mexico to develop a 348-year long ring-width chronology. Correlation and response function analyses were carried out between the tree-ring series and monthly climate records and by subperiods of 50 yrs. Climate records were obtained from six weather stations near the study site and oceanic-atmospheric indices were downloaded from international climatic sources. The chronology was related to drought indices involving precipitation, temperature, evaporation, and soil water content. The results indicated that accumulated precipitation from February to April, and the mean and minimum temperature from March to May and from September to November of the current growth year, had a positive correlation with the P. hartwegii ring-width chronology. The maximum temperature of March and May of the current growth year produced a negative correlation and in November positive correlation. The analysis of the response function indicated that P. hartwegii had a negative growth response to the average and maximum temperature of March. The analysis of the response function in 50-year subperiods indicated a stable response in precipitation from February to April of the period 1925 to 2000. However, when the temperature increased, the stability of the growth response became negative, mainly due to an increase in temperature in combination with low precipitation volumes, which usually occurs from March to May. The association between the ring-width series, and indices of ENSO (MEI, El Nino 4) showed a significant positive correlation, but negative with SOI. Similarly, the relationship with the PDO was positive, but negative with AMO. The association with drought indices (PDSI + JJA, PDSI*, SPEI) was positive and significant. We conclude that the populations of P. hartwegii of the Tancitaro stratovolcano constitute an ecological indicator of long-term precipitation and temperature variability and is a high-resolution proxy for regional rainfall reconstruction at least for the last three centuries.

Filiaciones:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, CONACYT Inst Geofis, Unidad Michoacan, Antigua Carretera Patzcuaro 8701, Morelia 58190, Michoacan, Mexico
Inst Nacl Invest Forestales Agr & Pecuarias, Km 6-5 Margen Derecha Canal Sacramento, Durango 35140, Mexico
Inst Tecnol Valle Morelia, Morelia Salamanca Km 6-5, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Invest Geog Ambiental, Antigua Carretera Patzcuaro 8701, Morelia 58190, Michoacan, Mexico
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Inst Geofis, Unidad Michoacan, Antigua Carretera Patzcuaro 8701, Morelia 58190, Michoacan, Mexico
ISSN: 1470160X





ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
Editorial
Elsevier, PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, Países Bajos
Tipo de documento: Article
Volumen: 120 Número:
Páginas:
WOS Id: 000591904100006

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