Growth-ring variations of dwarf shrubs reflect regional climate signals in alpine environments rather than topoclimatic differences

Journal of Biogeography

Volumn 35, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 625-636

  Bär, Annette ^a,b   Pape, Roland ^a,b   Bräuning, Achim ^c   Löffler, Jörg ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BONN   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OLDENBURG   (Germany)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ERLANGEN NUREMBERG   (Germany)

Author keywords

Alpine vegetation; Climate growth relationships; Dendroclimatology; Dendroecology; Empetrum hermaphroditum; Norwegian Scandes; Ring width; Snow cover; Wood anatomy

Indexed keywords

ALPINE ENVIRONMENT; CLIMATE CHANGE; DENDROCLIMATOLOGY; DENDROECOLOGY; GROWTH; SHRUB; SNOW COVER; SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION; VEGETATION TYPE; WATER SUPPLY;

EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN EUROPE; NORWAY; OPPLAND; SCANDES MOUNTAINS; SCANDINAVIA; VAGAMO;

EMPETRUM HERMAPHRODITUM;

EID: 40749130429     PISSN: 03050270     EISSN: 13652699     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01804.x     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. Bär, A., Bräuning, A. Löffler, J. (2006) Dendroecology of dwarf shrubs in the high mountains of Norway - a methodological approach. Dendrochronologia, 24, 17 27.
2. Bär, A., Bräuning, A. Löffler, J. (2007) Ring-width chronologies of the alpine dwarf shrub Empetrum hermaphroditum from the Norwegian mountains. IAWA Journal, 28, 325 338.
3. Barry, R.G. (1992) Mountain, weather and climate. Routledge, London.
4. Beniston, M. (2002) Climate modeling at various spatial and temporal scales: where can dendrochronology help? Dendrochronologia, 20, 117 131.
5. Breiman, L., Friedman, J.H., Olshen, R.A. Stone, C.G. (1984) Classification and regression trees. Wadsworth International Group, Belmont, CA, USA.
6. Briffa, K.R., Jones, P.D., Pilcher, J.R. Hughes, M.K. (1988) Reconstructing summer temperatures in northern Fennoscandinavia back to AD 1700 using tree-ring data from Scots Pine. Arctic and Alpine Research, 20, 385 394.
7. Briffa, K.R., Jones, P.D., Bartholin, T.S., Eckstein, D., Schweingruber, F.H., Karlen, W., Zetterberg, P. Eronen, M. (1992) Fennoscandian summers from AD 500: temperature changes on short and long time scales. Climate Dynamics, 7, 111 119.
8. Cernusca, A. (1976) Bestandesstruktur, Bioklima und Energiehaushalt von alpinen Zwergsträuchern. Oecologia Plantarum, 11, 71 102.
9. Cook, E.R. (1985) A time series analysis approach to tree-ring standardization. PhD thesis, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ, USA.
10. Cropper, J.P. (1979) Tree-ring skeleton plotting by computer. Tree-Ring Bulletin, 39, 47 59.
11. D'Arrigo, R.D., Kaufmann, R.K., Davi, N., Jacoby, C., Lasowski, C., Myneni, R.B. Cherubini, P. (2004) Thresholds for warming-induced growth decline at elevational tree-line in the Yukon Territory, Canada. Global Biogeochemistry Cycles, 18, GB3021. doi:.
12. Dahl, E. (1987) Alpine-subalpine plant communities of South Scandinavia. Phytocoenologia, 15, 455 484.
13. De'ath, G. Fabricius, K.E. (2000) Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology, 81, 3178 3192.
14. Dierßen, K. (1996) Vegetation Nordeuropas. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
15. Elvebakk, A. Spjelkavik, S. (1995) The ecology and distribution of Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum on Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Nordic Journal of Botany, 15, 541 552.
16. García-González, I. Eckstein, D. (2003) Climatic signal of earlywood vessels of oak on a maritime site. Tree Physiology, 23, 497 504.
17. Graglia, C., Johanson, S., Michelsen, A. Schmidt, I.K. (1997) Effects of shading, nutrient application and warming on leaf growth and shoot densities of dwarf shrubs in two arctic/alpine plant communities. Écosience, 4, 191 198.
18. Grissino-Mayer, H.D., Romme, W.H., Floyd, M.L. Hanna, D.D. (2004) Climatic and human influences on fire regimes of the southern San Juan Mountains, Colorado, USA. Ecology, 85, 1708 1724.
19. Jacoby, G.C. D'Arrigo, R. (1989) Reconstructed northern hemisphere annual temperature since 1671 based on high-latitude tree-ring data from North America. Climatic Change, 14, 39 59.
20. Johnstone, J.F. Henry, H.R. (1997) Retrospective analysis of growth and reproduction in Cassiope tetragona and relations to climate in the Canadian high arctic. Arctic and Alpine Research, 29, 459 469.
21. Jones, P.D., Pomeroy, J.W., Walker, D.A. Hoham, R.W. (2001) Snow ecology: an interdisciplinary examination of snow-covered ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
22. Karlsen, S.R. Elvebakk, A. (2003) A method using indicator plants to map local climatic variation in the Kangerlussuaq/Scoresby Sund area, East Greenland. Journal of Biogeography, 30, 1469 1491.
23. Kirdyanov, A.V., Hughes, M.K., Vaganov, E.A., Schweingruber, F.H. Silkin, P.P. (2003) The importance of early summer temperature and date of snow melt for tree growth in the Siberian Subarctic. Trees, 17, 61 69.
24. Kolishchuk, V.G. (1990) Dendroclimatological study of prostrate woody plants. Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences (ed. by E.R. Cook L.A. Kairiukstis pp. 51 55. Kluwer, London.
25. Körner, C. (2003) Alpine plant life. Functional plant ecology of high mountain ecosystems. Springer, Berlin.
26. Körner, C. Paulsen, J. (2004) A world-wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. Journal of Biogeography, 31, 713 732.
27. Kudo, G., Nordenhäll, U. Molau, U. (1999) Effects of snowmelt timing on leaf traits, leaf production, and shoot growth of alpine plants: comparisons along a snowmelt gradient in northern Sweden. Écoscience, 6, 439 450.
28. Löffler, J. (2005) Snow cover, soil moisture and vegetation ecology in central Norwegian high mountain catchments. Hydrological Processes, 19, 2384 2405.
29. Löffler, J. Pape, R. (2004) Across-scale temperature modelling using a simple approach for the characterization of high mountain ecosystem complexity. Erdkunde, 58, 331 348.
30. Löffler, J., Pape, R. Wundram, D. (2006) The climatologic significance of topography, altitude and region in high mountains - a survey of oceanic-continental differentiations of the Scandes. Erdkunde, 60, 15 24.
31. Meteorologisk institutt (eklima) (2006) http://www.eklima.no.
32. Michaelsen, J., Davis, F.W. Borchert, M. (1987) A non-parametric method for analyzing hierarchical relationships in ecological data. Coenoses, 2, 39 48.
33. Michaelsen, J., Schimel, D.S., Friedl, M.A., Davis, F.W. Dubayah, R.C. (1994) Regression tree analyses of satellite and terrain data to guide vegetation sampling and surveys. Journal of Vegetation Science, 5, 673 686.
34. Moen, A. (1999) National atlas of Norway: vegetation. Norwegian Mapping Authority, Hönefoss, Norway.
35. Pape, R. Löffler, J. (2004) Modelling spatio-temporal near-surface temperature variation in high mountain landscapes. Ecological Modelling, 178, 483 501.
36. Rayback, S.A. Henry, H.R. (2005) Dendrochronological potential of the arctic dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona. Tree-Ring Research, 61, 43 53.
37. Rayback, S.A. Henry, H.R. (2006) Reconstruction of summer temperature for a Canadian high arctic site from retrospective analysis of the dwarf shrub Cassiope tetragona. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 38, 228 238.
38. Régent Instruments Inc. (2004) WinCELL software package. Régent Instruments, Canada.
39. Rinntech (2005) lignovisionand TSAPWinsoftware package. Rinntech, Heidelberg, Germany.
40. Salford Systems (2006) cart6.0 software. San Diego, CA, USA.
41. Schmidt, N.M., Baittinger, C. Forchhammer, M.C. (2006) Reconstructing century-long snow regimes using estimates of high arctic Salix arctica radial growth. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 38, 257 262.
42. Schweingruber, F.H. (1996) Tree-rings and environment. Dendroecology. Paul Haupt, Wien.
43. Suzuki, M., Yoda, K. Suzuki, H. (1996) Phenological comparison of the onset of vessel formation between ring-porous and diffuse-porous deciduous trees in a Japanese temperature forest. IAWA Journal, 14, 431 444.
44. Wilmking, M., D'Arrigo, R., Jacoby, G. Juday, G. (2005) Increased temperature sensitivity and divergent growth trends in circumpolar boreal forests. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L15715. doi:.
45. Wilson, R.J.S. Luckman, B.H. (2003) Dendroclimatic reconstruction of maximum summer temperatures from upper treeline sites in Interior British Columbia, Canada. The Holocene, 13, 851 861.
46. Woodcock, H. Bradley, R.S. (1994) Salix arctica (PALL.): its potential for dendroclimatological studies in the high arctic. Dendrochronologia, 12, 11 22.