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For the mechanistic understanding of hydroclimate variability, stable oxygen isotopic ratios (δ 18 O) of tree-ring α-cellulose can play a key role in paleoclimatic research. On the north-east Tibetan Plateau (TP), a region particularly sensitive to climate change, there exists a distinct lack of δ 18 O research in tree-ring archives. The few currently existing tree-ring δ 18 O chronologies were obtained by pooling the wood material from the same year from different trees prior to preparation and analysis. Although this method is time and cost efficient, it might impede the analysis of changes within the internal variability of oxygen isotope signals and a deeper understanding of the resulting climate reconstruction. We selected five Qilian juniper ( Sabina przewalskii Kom .) trees covering the period 1951–2011 on the north-east TP to investigate the climate signals contained in stable oxygen isotopic composition records obtained using single tree analysis. Although the inter-series correlation between the five individual δ 18 O series indicates a highly significant relationship (mean r = 0.59, n = 59, p = 0.01), the five individual δ 18 O series show significantly differently mean values. We found significant negative correlations between drought/hydroclimatically triggered climate parameters (PDSI, precipitation) and each of the individual δ 18 O series. Spatial correlation maps indicate negative correlation of tree-ring δ 18 O and Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures, and inverse correlation patters of moisture conditions on the northern and southern TP. Our results provide a reference for future research on stable oxygen isotope/climate signals in the species S. przewalskii Kom .. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the further development of a new technique for standardization of tree-ring records called the eigen analysis of tree-ring records. The data are from the same sample set of 56 long-lived Qilian junipers ( Sabina przewalskii Kom.) from the Dulan region in western China as was used in our previous paper (Yang et al. ). To assess the heteroscedasticity of individual record deviations from the sample set regional curve (RC), we tested five different definitions of those deviations. Direct computations of eigenvectors of all relevant intrarecord covariation matrices turned out to be greatly affected by observational and computational noise; an analytic approximation of these vectors was therefore desirable. The Bessel function of the first kind and the zero order proved suitable for such an approximation, especially because the deviations were defined via subtraction of the RC from raw ring width records. Exclusion of the contributions of the first segment of the Bessel approximation, corresponding to the extremely large first eigenvalue, rendered individual record deviations from RC homoscedastic. Therefore, the routine Fourier basis became applicable to extract climate-dependent components of the residual deviations. A Fourier expansion of the Dulan chronology revealed the quasi-200-year-long solar activity cycle to be the main factor affecting Dulan tree growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technique of expanding meteorological fields on eigenvectors of the field covariation matrix is popular. In this paper, we propose for the first time to use a mathematically similar technique to solve the main problem of dendrochronology: classifying variations in tree-ring records as either age- and microenvironment-dependent or climate-induced. Applying this technique to a sample of very long-lived Qilian junipers ( Sabina przewalskii Kom.) from the Dulan region in western China, we demonstrate that the ring-width variations projected on the first eigenvector are age-dependent, but those projected on several of the first subsequent vectors are mainly climate-induced. In particular, the second and third projections capture multi-centennial climatic variations, and the variations projected on the fourth through seventh eigenvectors show periodic variations that are probably induced by the 178-year solar cycle. The projections on the smallest eigenvectors seem to be negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.) is a widely distributed tree species growing on south-facing slopes in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in arid northwestern China. We established a tree-ring width network based on two new chronologies and four previously published chronologies. Correlation and response function analyses demonstrate that precipitation positively influences radial growth. Despite of minor differences in local climate–growth relations, precipitation for the annual window between previous July and current June shows consistent positive correlations with ring width at all study sites. Similar to the so called ‘pointer year’ approach, ‘anomalous’ growth years were defined to extract extreme climate events for the period AD 1450–2006. We defined a dryness–wetness grade series with five grades of climate events inferred from anomalous year analysis. During the last 50years, the frequency of wet events increased and that of drought events decreased noticeably, implying that the probability of occurrence of dry years in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau will further decrease in the future if regional warming continues. Combining our proxy records with a historical dryness–wetness record from eastern China, we mapped dryness–wetness patterns over large parts of China. By analyzing the atmospheric pressure patterns at the 850hPa level over China for selected extreme event years, we found that the confluence of cold and hot air is a precondition for a flood event in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Thus, a counter-clockwise atmospheric circulation centered in south of Lake Baikal only occurs in flood event years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although cambial reactivation is considered to be strongly dependent on temperature, the importance of water availability at the onset of xylogenesis in semi-arid regions still lacks sufficient evidences. In order to explore how environmental factors influence the initiation of cambial activity and wood formation, we monitored weekly cambial phenology in Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii) from a semi-arid high-elevation region of northwestern China. We collected microcores from 12 trees at two elevations during the growing seasons in 2013 and 2014, testing the hypothesis that rainfall limits cambial reactivation in spring. Cambium was reactivated from late April to mid-May, and completed cell division from late July to early August, lasting 70–100 days. Both sites suffered from severe drought from January to April 2013, receiving < 1 mm of rain in April. In contrast, rainfall from January to April 2014 was 5–6 times higher than that in 2013. However, cambial reactivation in 2014 was delayed by 10 days. In spring, soil moisture gradually increased with warming temperatures, reaching 0.15 m3/m3 before the onset of xylogenesis, which may have ensured water availability for tree growth during the rainless period. We were unable to confirm the hypothesis that rainfall is a limiting factor of cambial reactivation. Our results highlight the importance of soil moisture in semi-arid regions, which better describe the environmental conditions that are favorable for cambial reactivation in water-limited ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A tree-ring width chronology of 528 years was developed from Tibetan junipers (Juniperus tibetica Kom.) from south-central Tibet in western China. The correlation and response analysis displays high correlation between tree-ring width and observed mean annual precipitation series during the period 1960–2008. Based on a linear regression model, an annual (prior July to current June) precipitation series from AD 1480 to 2008 was reconstructed. This is the first well-calibrated precipitation reconstruction for south-central Tibet. The results show that periods of wet years occurred in AD 1480–1535, 1626–1639, 1651–1671, 1704–1798, 1845–1872, 1888–1907, 1917–1940 and after 1994, whereas relatively dry periods prevailed during AD 1536–1625, 1640–1650, 1672–1703, 1799–1844, 1873–1887, 1908–1916 and 1914–1993. The dry intervals in AD 1500s–1550s, 1710s–1800s, 1850s–1870s and 1900s–1920s, and the wet intervals in AD 1550s–1630s, 1680s–1720s, 1800s–1850s and 1960s–1990s occurred contemporaneously in northeastern Tibet, reflecting regional climatic variations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]