Dendrochronologia最新文献

{"title":"Linking wood formation and non-structural carbohydrate dynamics in Larix olgensis along an elevational gradient","authors":"Nipeng Qian ,&nbsp;Gangdun Li ,&nbsp;Linxu Wang ,&nbsp;Chunchao Dong ,&nbsp;Kuan Shi ,&nbsp;Asghar Ali ,&nbsp;Guang Zhou ,&nbsp;Qijing Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126418","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126418","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the interplay between wood formation and non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) dynamics is essential to identifying the drivers of tree growth under changing climates. In this study, we investigated intra-annual wood formation in the stems of <em>Larix olgensis</em> across a 700 m elevational gradient on Changbai Mountain, Northeast China, during the 2023 growing season. Weekly microcoring was performed on 35 trees at seven elevations to assess cambial phenology and wood formation, while NSC (soluble sugar and starch) concentrations were measured in needles, branches, coarse roots, phloem (stem), xylem from 20 trees at four elevations over seven sampling dates. We found that the onset of cell enlargement, wall-thickening, and lignification was significantly delayed with increasing elevation, and closely predicted by temperature and GDD. In contrast, growth cessation showed no consistent variation across elevations and unrelated to temperature, but was better explained by CDD. Despite a shortened growing season at higher elevations, NSC concentrations in most organs exhibited similar seasonal patterns across sites. NSC levels in needles, branches, and roots reached their lowest during peak cell enlargement in mid-June, indicating high sink demand, while xylem NSC peaked early and declined steadily thereafter. Our results demonstrate the critical role of thresholds in regulating the onset and cessation of wood formation. The temporal alignment between NSC dynamics and cambial activity suggests a functional coupling between carbon availability and sink demand. These findings advance our understanding of the environmental control of growth phenology and carbon use in boreal conifers across elevational gradients.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126418"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145020457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The underground forest: Tracing forest history in the Erzgebirge through the wood finds from the medieval silver mines of Dippoldiswalde","authors":"Grit Neubauer ,&nbsp;Ernst van der Maaten ,&nbsp;Christiane Hemker ,&nbsp;Marieke van der Maaten-Theunissen","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126429","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126429","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The medieval silver rush profoundly impacted the landscape and vegetation of Europe’s mining regions, a phenomenon strikingly illustrated by the exceptionally well-preserved silver mines discovered in Dippoldiswalde (Eastern Erzgebirge/Saxony) in 2009. This study analyses over 2000 wooden finds collected in those mines, including 1183 specimens that help date the mining activities from the second half of the 12th century to the late 13th century, utilising dendrochronological techniques. Our extensive dendro-dataset provides a valuable resource for exploring various aspects, such as landscape and climatic change, the effects of mining on primary forests, and the selective use of wood in mining processes. The timber reveals new insights not only into previously unknown mining technologies but also into the primeval forest and early forest use.</div><div>Initially, miners exploited the forest non-selectively. As a result, early timber use provides important insights into the composition of primeval <em>Fagus</em>-<em>Abies</em> forests that once covered the region. By the 12th century, extensive timber use began to emerge, eventually leading to the complete deforestation of large areas in the mining regions of the Erzgebirge in the Middle Ages. This study underscores the valuable potential of dendrochronologically dating all available archaeological wood, rather than just selected samples, for advancing research in the fields of environmental history and medieval mining.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126429"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An 831-year pine tree-ring chronology from Northern Belarus reveals historical timber trade routes to the Baltic and beyond","authors":"Maxim Yermokhin ,&nbsp;Māris Zunde","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126421","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126421","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since the early medieval period wide and slow-moving Dzvina River (known as Zapadnaya Dvina in Russia and Daugava in Latvia) and its forested tributaries were key route to transporting timber from the upper Dzvina and Dnieper basins to Riga, and further to Western Europe. As a result, timber also from the territory of present-day Belarus appears in many European timber collections as “Baltic oak” and “Riga pines”. To trace this historic trade route and to further dating of undated wooden structures, we developed a new 831-year Scots pine (<em>Pinus sylvestris</em> L.) tree-ring chronology (BY03b) using samples from living trees, historic, and archaeological timber from northern Belarus. These include samples from Polatsk and Vitsebsk archaeological excavations, historical buildings in Polatsk, and samples from Riga’s Dannenstern House which was built from the timber imported from the middle part of Dzvina basin. The BY03b chronology aligns well with modern tree-ring datasets from eastern Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and western Belarus, though these links weaken near the coast of the Baltic Sea. Our evidence suggests the pine timber trade between the upper and lower Dzvina / Daugava basin began in the 14th century and peaked in the 16th–17th centuries. As a result, many historical sites in Riga consist of timber from Belarus. In addition, timber from northern Belarus was used to build Danson House and Lytham Hall in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, located 2000 kilometers from the region of timber origins, confirming the very long-distance export of Belarusian timber throughout Europe. Thus, this new Belarusian multi-century pine chronology provides an exclusive basis for tracing precisely in time the trade connections of pine timber exported from the Dzvina / Daugava (and possibly Dnieper) basin to Western Europe via Riga in 14th – 19th centuries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126421"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Complex growth responses of riparian tree species to dam-related hydrological alterations at their climatic niche limits","authors":"Irati Sanz-Zubizarreta ,&nbsp;Idoia Biurrun ,&nbsp;Nere Amaia Laskurain ,&nbsp;Patricia María Rodríguez-González","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126425","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126425","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Artificial dams disrupt natural river flows, endangering riparian trees and their ecosystems. We studied the impact of a dam located in the transition from temperate to Mediterranean climate in SW Europe. We used dendrochronological analysis on 250 individuals of three widespread riparian tree species (<em>Alnus glutinosa</em>, <em>Fraxinus angustifolia</em>, <em>F. excelsior</em>) to evaluate their growth responses to climatic and dam-related hydrological changes. Growth patterns differed among species, with <em>Alnus glutinosa</em> showing a stable tendency, while both <em>Fraxinus</em> species exhibited greater variability. Temperature was the most limiting factor for the three species, but climate-growth relationship was species-specific. The increase in the average annual temperature favoured <em>Alnus glutinosa</em> and <em>F. angustifolia</em> but limited <em>F. excelsior</em> growth, revealing the vulnerability to rising temperatures of <em>F. excelsior</em> rear-edge populations in the warmest margins of the species climatic niche. Additionally, rising summer temperatures reduced the growth of <em>Alnus glutinosa</em> and <em>Fraxinus angustifolia</em> in the sub-Mediterranean zone. The dam altered the river’s hydrology, changing a unimodal annual flow pattern to a bimodal one with higher summer water discharge. This shift favoured the annual growth of dam-affected <em>Alnus glutinosa</em> and <em>Fraxinus angustifolia</em> trees. However, the resilience and resistance of the latter to cope with dry years significantly decreased after the dam’s construction compared with the control sections. This may place a long-term risk for key structural trees in these riparian ecosystems, especially under climate change scenarios with increasing droughts, underscoring the importance of implementing ecological flow regimes as a mitigation strategy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126425"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145266178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Response of radial growth of siberian larch to climate change in different river valleys of Southern Altai Mountains","authors":"Guankui Gao ,&nbsp;Amannisa Kuerban ,&nbsp;Hailiang Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126441","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126441","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Altai Mountains, recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot and a climate-sensitive region, have shown altered growth patterns of Siberian larch (<em>Larix sibirica</em>) in response to global warming. However, research on river valley forests key habitats within this region has long been limited. This study investigates six representative river valleys in the Altai Mountains. By developing tree-ring width chronologies and analyzing dendroclimatic relationships, we reveal spatially variable growth responses of valley-dwelling Siberian larch to climatic factors. Key findings include the following: (1) Significant spatial heterogeneity was observed in the sensitivity of radial growth to air temperature. In valleys with low moisture availability (XDG and SKE), elevated temperatures constrained larch growth. (2) In valleys with sufficient moisture (TLH and KEM), moderate warming during the growing season enhanced radial growth. Low winter temperatures imposed significant growth limitations across all study sites. Heavy precipitation events during the growing season suppressed radial growth in moisture-saturated soils (TLH and XDG), potentially due to root hypoxia and scouring. (3) Overall, climate change has substantially altered the dominant climatic controls and sensitivity trajectories of Siberian larch radial growth in river valleys. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for conserving river valley forest ecosystems and for developing adaptive management strategies in response to ongoing climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126441"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inter- and intra-annual ring width and δ13C responses to drought in tree species of a laurel cloud forest (Tenerife, Canary Islands)","authors":"J. Julio Camarero ,&nbsp;Águeda M. González-Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Cristina Valeriano ,&nbsp;Beatriz Fernández-Marín ,&nbsp;Elisa Tamudo ,&nbsp;Katja T. Rinne-Garmston ,&nbsp;José Carlos Miranda","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126414","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126414","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Subtropical cloud forests grow under particular climate conditions characterized by narrow thermal ranges, high relative humidity and low radiation levels. These diverse ecosystems include many endemisms and are threatened by climate and anthropogenic land-use pressures, particularly in islands. This is the case of some laurel cloud forests found in Macaronesian archipelagos such as the Canary Islands. To assess growth response to climate variability, we studied tree-ring series in three evergreen species (the Macaronesain endemisms <em>Laurus novocanariensis</em> and <em>Morella faya,</em> and the Mediterranean <em>Prunus lusitanica</em>) co-occurring in a laurel cloud forest (Anaga) located in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The intra-annual wood δ¹³C was also measured in the rings formed from 2011 to 2013 in two of these species (<em>L</em>. <em>novocanariensis</em>, <em>P. lusitanica</em>) to determine how they responded to the severe 2012 drought. Sampled trees were young (age ranged from 33 to 54 years). <em>L. novocanariensis</em> and <em>P. lusitanica</em> presented the highest (2.44 mm) and lowest (1.84 mm) mean growth rates, respectively. Wet, cool and foggy conditions in the prior winter enhanced the growth of <em>L. novocanariensis</em> and <em>M. faya</em>, whereas <em>P. lusitanica</em> was less responsive to climate variability. The tree-ring δ¹³C values were higher in <em>P. lusitanica</em> (mean ± SE = −26.10 ± 0.07 ‰) than in <em>L. novocanariensis</em> (-26.56 ± 0.08 ‰), and the difference intensified during the dry year of 2012. In <em>P. lusitanica</em>, δ¹³C values decreased as the number of foggy days increased. These findings demonstrate species-specific differences in growth and δ¹³C responsiveness to climate. The study of these proxies at different temporal resolutions highlights how reduced fog input and drought, affecting atmospheric water demand and soil moisture availability, respectively, constrain tree growth in laurel cloud forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126414"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145004449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wood anatomical structure of Picea obovata in plantation stands of different planting densities","authors":"Yulia A. Kholdaenko ,&nbsp;Liliana V. Belokopytova ,&nbsp;Dina F. Zhirnova ,&nbsp;Santosh K. Shah ,&nbsp;Nivedita Mehrotra ,&nbsp;Elena A. Babushkina ,&nbsp;Eugene A. Vaganov","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126396","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126396","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study we analyzed the tree growth and the wood anatomical parameters of <em>Picea obovata</em> Ledeb. in an even-aged plantation in the southern taiga, Central Siberia. The samples were collected from six plots having planting densities from 750 to 96,000 trees/ha. Cell radial diameter (CRD) and cell wall thickness (CWT) were measured for the years 2000–2020. The chronologies of maximum and mean CRD and CWT were compared with the number of cells per radial row in the ring (N), tree-ring width (TRW) and basal area increment (BAI). Porosity of the wood was also calculated from CRD and CWT. A significant (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) log-linear decrease in CRD with planting density was recorded. In the dense stands, calculated theoretical optimal values of CRD (average CRD for wide rings) were lower, and narrow rings (N &lt; 50 cells) with suppressed CRD occurred frequently. An increase in optimal CWT with planting density was not significant. Suppressed CWT occurred only in the narrowest rings (N &lt; 20 cells). This pattern was considered to be driven by: (1) hydraulic requirements to CRD being related to stand density through tree height, (2) requirements to CWT for safety of water conduction not depending on stand density; (3) legacy effect under stress, i.e., growth suppression at the stage of cell production impacting further cell differentiation. The positive relationship of latewood ratio with planting density, and the formation of less porous wood in dense stands as result of the variation in the anatomical structure has also been observed in previous studies. A more detailed analysis of tracheidograms (intra-seasonal curves of anatomical parameters) is suggested for further research to resolve ambiguity in relationships between stand density and wood anatomy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126396"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144908806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pinus tabulaeformis plantations have higher drought recovery than its natural forests in the warm temperate-subtropical climate transition zone","authors":"Qin Huang ,&nbsp;Guanjie Wang ,&nbsp;Kun Shi ,&nbsp;Bing Zhao ,&nbsp;Zhenjiang Li ,&nbsp;Xin Huang ,&nbsp;Ting Wang ,&nbsp;Ximei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126445","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126445","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global change has increased the intensity, duration and frequency of drought events, which cause forest dieback and alter forest ecosystem function. Over the past several decades, afforestation efforts have significantly increased globally to compensate for the deficiencies of natural forest. It is critical to understand the sensitivity and resilience to extreme drought in planted and natural forests, which may provide valuable information for forest ecosystem management in sight of climate change. Chinese pine (<em>Pinus tabulaeformis</em>) is a widely planted tree species in northern China, strategies of its marginal forests to drought stress are important to explore their responses to past drought events and evaluate their potential to withstand future droughts. In this study, dendrochronological methods and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to analyze the differences in the driving mechanisms of drought resistance and recovery between the planted and the natural <em>P. tabulaeformis</em> forests in the warm temperate-subtropical climate transition zone of China. The results indicated the following: (1) Both the planted forest and the natural forest of <em>P. tabuliformis</em> exhibited low resistance (RT) but high recovery (RC), while the planted forest showed lower RT and higher RC compared to the natural forest; (2) Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was the dominant climatic factor, exerting similar positive effects on RT of the two forests but with contrasting effects on RC (significantly positive in planted forest yet negative in the natural forest); (3) Biotic factors, specifically the tree growth of the two preceding years (PreTRW) and tree age (AGE), also played critical roles by negatively influencing RT and RC in both forest types. (4) Compared to the natural forest, the higher drought risk in the planted forest was mainly attributed to its homogeneous age and similar individual structural characteristics (such as DBH and tree height), which underscored their greater vulnerability and limited their resistance under drought stress. These findings indicate that biotic and abiotic factors co-regulate the drought resilience of the planted and the natural <em>P. tabulaeformis</em> forests. This research provides useful references for afforestation planning and the preservation of natural forests under future climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126445"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145617732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cumulative droughts and legacy effects decreased long-term growth resilience in Pinus massoniana in the middle Dabie Mountains","authors":"Yameng Liu ,&nbsp;Jinkuan Li ,&nbsp;Jianfeng Peng ,&nbsp;Jiaxin Li ,&nbsp;Xiaoxu Wei ,&nbsp;Keyu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126424","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126424","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global warming has increased the frequency and intensity of droughts, thereby increasing the risk of forest decline and mortality. Although the negative impacts of drought on tree growth have been extensively studied, the mechanisms underlying tree growth resilience to cumulative drought effects and legacy responses remain poorly understood. Using tree-ring width and basal area increment analyses in the Dabie Mountains ecotone, a critical climate transition zone in China, we reveal that: (1) High-temperature-induced drought stress during mid-growing season (June-July) result in the primary constraint on radial growth because of the strong positive correlation between radial growth and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, highlighting the vulnerability to drought of trees in this transition-zone; (2) A fundamental trade-off between resistance and recovery shapes drought resilience: increasing drought frequency reduces resistance but enhances recovery, while drought intensity effects are context-dependent, collectively driving nonlinear responses; (3) Drought legacy effects induce persistent radial growth decline through reduced biomass accumulation. These findings provide critical ecophysiological insights for modeling forest resilience in transitional ecosystems under climate change scenarios.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126424"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synchrony patterns of radial growth of Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia) across elevational gradients in the eastern Qilian Mountains","authors":"Tian Chen ,&nbsp;Yu Xia ,&nbsp;Peiyao Tao ,&nbsp;Jingyun Ma ,&nbsp;Xiaohua Gou ,&nbsp;Miaomiao Du ,&nbsp;Fen Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126405","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126405","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Investigating the growth synchrony of a tree species across spatiotemporal scales could enhances the understanding of species' climatic responses, which is particularly critical for addressing future ecological risks under climate change. However, studies on the growth synchrony of <em>Picea crassifolia</em> across elevation remain largely unclear in the Qilian Mountains. The tree cores of 592 <em>P. crassifolia</em> were collected from nine forest sites in the eastern Qilian Mountains to investigate the tree growth synchrony and its climatic drivers. The growth synchrony of <em>P. crassifolia</em> was the highest at 3100–3200 m during 1975–2005 but showed a significant decline with time. Although it was lower, the growth synchrony of <em>P. crassifolia</em> remained stable at 2712–2800 m and 2900–2960 m. At high elevations, current January precipitation, temperature in preceding August, and precipitation and temperature variability in preceding July explained 89 % of the changes in growth synchrony. At low elevations, variability of drought in October and the temperature during spring-summer accounted for 42 % of the synchrony changes. At middle elevations, only the variability of summer temperature and the drought in July explained 17 % of the synchrony changes. The high explanatory power of climatic factors for the synchrony changes at high and low elevations indicates that forest management strategies should pay increased attention to the ecological responses in these regions under changing climatic conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 126405"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}