Topographic mediation of growth in high elevation foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana Grev. et Balf.) forests in the Sierra Nevada, USA

摘要: Aim Climate variability is an important mediating agent of ecosystem dynamics in cold, semi-arid regions such as the mountains western North America. Climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies offer a means assessing impact climate on tree growth across temporal scales years to centuries and spatial metres subcontinents. Our goal was bring practices from landscape ecology that highlight heterogeneity ecological pattern processes into dendroclimatic study shows biophysical setting target trees affects ring-width patterns. Location This conducted at two sites near alpine treeline Sequoia National Park, USA (36 ° 30 ′ 00 N, 118 W). Methods We collected stand information increment cores foxtail pines ( Pinus balfouriana Grev. et Balf.) for eight four extreme settings using proxies soil moisture radiation derived digital elevation model. Results Biophysical affected forest age‐class structure, with wet bright plots showing high recruitment after 1900  , but had no obvious effect immature stem density (e.g. seedlings). strongly patterns, having higher correlation instrumental temperature records while dry correlated better precipitation records. Ring-width showed strong low-frequency (i.e. hundreds years) multidecadal scales. Main conclusions There association between age-class patterns pine. The mediation ring widths by has potential further understanding expression synoptic-scale rugged terrain. When combined remotely sensed imagery, priori GIS modelling offers viable devise first-order predictions climatic impacts subalpine develop flexible powerful monitoring schemes.