The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau
Little is known about the relationships between treeline elevation and climate at regional and local scales. It is compelling to fill this research gap with data from the Tibetan Plateau where some of the highest alpine treelines in the world are found. This research question partially results from...
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doaj-320fc3f3758e4cabb2aed8fd7d0bde0f2020-11-25T00:04:57ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072017-04-018410910.3390/f8040109f8040109The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan PlateauYafeng Wang0Eryuan Liang1Shalik Ram Sigdel2Bo Liu3J. Julio Camarero4College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaKey Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, ChinaKey Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100101, ChinaCollege of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, ChinaInstituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC), Avda. Montañana 1005, 50080 Zaragoza, SpainLittle is known about the relationships between treeline elevation and climate at regional and local scales. It is compelling to fill this research gap with data from the Tibetan Plateau where some of the highest alpine treelines in the world are found. This research question partially results from the lack of in situ temperature data at treeline sites. Herein, treeline variables (e.g., elevation, topography, tree species) and temperature data were collected from published investigations performed during this decade on the Tibetan Plateau. Temperature conditions near treeline sites were estimated using global databases and these estimates were corrected by using in situ air temperature measurements. Correlation analyses and generalized linear models were used to evaluate the effects of different variables on treeline elevation including thermal (growing-season air temperatures) and non-thermal (latitude, longitude, elevation, tree species, precipitation, radiation) factors. The commonality analysis model was applied to explore how several variables (July mean temperature, elevation of mountain peak, latitude) were related to treeline elevation. July mean temperature was the most significant predictor of treeline elevation, explaining 55% of the variance in treeline elevation across the Tibetan Plateau, whereas latitude, tree species, and mountain elevation (mass-elevation effect) explained 30% of the variance in treeline elevation. After considering the multicollinearity among predictors, July mean temperature (largely due to the influence of minimum temperature) still showed the strongest association with treeline elevation. We conclude that the coupling of treeline elevation and July temperature at a regional scale is modulated by non-thermal factors probably acting at local scales. Our results contribute towards explaining the decoupling between climate warming and treeline dynamics.http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/8/4/109air temperatureclimate warmingmass-elevation effecttree speciestreeline ecotone |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Yafeng Wang Eryuan Liang Shalik Ram Sigdel Bo Liu J. Julio Camarero |
spellingShingle |
Yafeng Wang Eryuan Liang Shalik Ram Sigdel Bo Liu J. Julio Camarero The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau Forests air temperature climate warming mass-elevation effect tree species treeline ecotone |
author_facet |
Yafeng Wang Eryuan Liang Shalik Ram Sigdel Bo Liu J. Julio Camarero |
author_sort |
Yafeng Wang |
title |
The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_short |
The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_full |
The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_fullStr |
The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Coupling of Treeline Elevation and Temperature is Mediated by Non-Thermal Factors on the Tibetan Plateau |
title_sort |
coupling of treeline elevation and temperature is mediated by non-thermal factors on the tibetan plateau |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Forests |
issn |
1999-4907 |
publishDate |
2017-04-01 |
description |
Little is known about the relationships between treeline elevation and climate at regional and local scales. It is compelling to fill this research gap with data from the Tibetan Plateau where some of the highest alpine treelines in the world are found. This research question partially results from the lack of in situ temperature data at treeline sites. Herein, treeline variables (e.g., elevation, topography, tree species) and temperature data were collected from published investigations performed during this decade on the Tibetan Plateau. Temperature conditions near treeline sites were estimated using global databases and these estimates were corrected by using in situ air temperature measurements. Correlation analyses and generalized linear models were used to evaluate the effects of different variables on treeline elevation including thermal (growing-season air temperatures) and non-thermal (latitude, longitude, elevation, tree species, precipitation, radiation) factors. The commonality analysis model was applied to explore how several variables (July mean temperature, elevation of mountain peak, latitude) were related to treeline elevation. July mean temperature was the most significant predictor of treeline elevation, explaining 55% of the variance in treeline elevation across the Tibetan Plateau, whereas latitude, tree species, and mountain elevation (mass-elevation effect) explained 30% of the variance in treeline elevation. After considering the multicollinearity among predictors, July mean temperature (largely due to the influence of minimum temperature) still showed the strongest association with treeline elevation. We conclude that the coupling of treeline elevation and July temperature at a regional scale is modulated by non-thermal factors probably acting at local scales. Our results contribute towards explaining the decoupling between climate warming and treeline dynamics. |
topic |
air temperature climate warming mass-elevation effect tree species treeline ecotone |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/8/4/109 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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