Abstract
We developed a tree ring-width chronology of Abies georgei at the timber line in the Big Snow Mountain Scenic Area in northwestern Yunnan, China. The climate-tree growth response analysis indicated that temperature was the predominant regulator of A. georgei growth in this region. An annual mean minimum temperature (AMMT) reconstruction spanning A.D. 1837–2016 was developed with a linear regression model (y = 1.0x − 6e − 5) that accounted for 50.7% of the actual temperature variance during the common period (1960–2016). Based on the reconstructed temperature series, the warmer periods were 1840–1845, 1855–1865, 1880–1895, 1945–1965, and from 1995 until the present day, and the cold periods were 1870–1880, 1900–1930, and 1966–1980. By comparing our results with other regional tree ring records from surrounding areas, a distinctive amount of common warm and cold periods were found, indicating the reliability of our temperature reconstruction and suggesting that the climate in the study area was part of a large-scale climate system.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the National Key Research Development Program of China (2016YFC0502105) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 31770533). The monthly climate data used in this study were obtained from the National Meteorological Information Center (NMIC) of China. We would like to thank Ms. Buzeynep Metniyaz for her technical assistance with graphicing. We are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on this article.
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Keyimu, M., Li, Z., Zhang, G. et al. Tree ring–based minimum temperature reconstruction in the central Hengduan Mountains, China. Theor Appl Climatol 141, 359–370 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03169-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03169-5