PJB-2018-1729
Growth response of Pinus wallichiana to climatic factors from the Chiraah Karakoram region, Northern Pakistan
Fayaz Asad, Haifeng Zhu, Farooq Jan, Tabassum Yaseen, Ajmal Khan and Muhammad Khalid
Abstract
Pinus wallichiana is the most dominant evergreen species at upper treeline, which is naturally distributed in the Karakoram region of northern Pakistan. The age of this species is reaching up to 800-years old. However, little is known the impact of the climate on the tree growth. In the present study, we developed a long (1409-2015) tree-ring width (TRW) chronology from the upper Pinus wallichiana forest limit to investigate its response to climate change. The TRW was significantly (p<0.05) correlated with the winter (December-February) temperatures and had no significant correlations with precipitation and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). These findings confirmed that the Pinus wallichiana tree growth was mainly limited to temperature rather than precipitation and PDSI, and suggesting that this species had a potential for the past climate reconstruction in the study area.
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