Spatio-temporal variability of Pinus rigida in a coastal pine barren

Patterson, Thomas; Collins, Savannah; Downe, Madison; Gannon, Benjamin; Harley, Grant; Ma, Lan; Maxwell, R.; Raso, Chance; Russell, Cody; Teets, Aaron

From the abstract: "Pinus rigida Mill. (pitch pine) is a native species of the eastern United States that establishes in stressful environmental conditions and has medium to low annual growth. The purpose of this study was to examine climate growth relationships using dendroclimatological applications at the Wonderland pine barren in Acadia National Park, Maine. This woodland type is globally rare and also at the extreme northern range for pitch pine, making it susceptible potentially to impending climate change. Our chronology extended from 1711 to 2014 CE and included 63 dated series from 43 trees. We found significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between the pitch pine growth chronology and winter and April temperatures, as well as with August precipitation during the period 1895-2014. Previous year July precipitation and minimum temperature were correlated negatively with growth. Moving interval correlation analysis of these monthly correlations showed that some remained stable while others varied. The late summer mean precipitation regime shifts showed an early 21st century upward trend along with general warming occurring over the past century. To assess regional tree growth-climate relationships, we performed a Principal Components Analysis with all chronologies located in Maine (n=24) and investigated climate response in KNMI Climate Explorer. This analysis revealed a spatial correlation between the PC1 eigenvalues and January-May sea surface temperature and the Labrador current. The climate signal for the Wonderland chronology did not correlate well with other chronologies in Maine and could be related to the unique ecology of the Wonderland site as a pitch pine barren."

Spatio-temporal variability of Pinus rigida in a coastal pine barren

See also