Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya

The recent warming in the mountain regions affect forest productivity in terms of tree growth, especially in the Himalayan region. However, the effects of climate change on the response of radial growth of different age-class trees in the Himalayan region remains unclear. The sensitivity of differen...

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Main Authors: Rupesh Dhyani, Rajesh Joshi, Parminder S. Ranhotra, Mayank Shekhar, A. Bhattacharyya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-06-01
Series:Trees, Forests and People
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719322000310
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author Rupesh Dhyani
Rajesh Joshi
Parminder S. Ranhotra
Mayank Shekhar
A. Bhattacharyya
author_facet Rupesh Dhyani
Rajesh Joshi
Parminder S. Ranhotra
Mayank Shekhar
A. Bhattacharyya
author_sort Rupesh Dhyani
collection DOAJ
description The recent warming in the mountain regions affect forest productivity in terms of tree growth, especially in the Himalayan region. However, the effects of climate change on the response of radial growth of different age-class trees in the Himalayan region remains unclear. The sensitivity of different age-class trees can differ from younger to old age-class tree growth which create uncertainty in tree-ring calibration against the climatic parameters. In the present study, we assessed the effect of climate change on the radial growth of Cedrus deodara (cedar) from two different age classes; young (age <100 years) and old (age >100 years) in lower temperate zone of Indian Western Himalaya for the period 1950-2015 CE. We modelled basal area increment (BAI) using the Generalized additive model (GAM) which predicted the observed pattern of BAI as a function of year and random effect of tree. The trend of old age stand BAI increased significantly by 0.13 cm2/year whereas it significantly declined by -0.27 cm2/year for young deodar stand. However, from 1990 CE both age classes showed significant decline (p<0.05) in BAI indicating reduction in tree productivity of cedar species which may be due to recent accelerated rise in temperature and decline in precipitation. Correlation analysis between BAI growth and climate revealed that the BAI from both age-class trees were mainly limited by spring season (March-May) climate, moreover, the signal was statistically strong for old age deodar stand. The tree age vs DBH relationship of old age stand forest showed significant positive relationship but no relationship was found for young age stand which indicated more environmental stress condition for young age deodar forest stand. Future efforts are required to identify the factors responsible for decline productivity of young deodar stand by using wide networks of tree-ring data.
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spelling doaj.art-ff21bba1e92e406782cbc1b9deddb22f2022-12-22T00:58:44ZengElsevierTrees, Forests and People2666-71932022-06-018100221Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western HimalayaRupesh Dhyani0Rajesh Joshi1Parminder S. Ranhotra2Mayank Shekhar3A. Bhattacharyya4G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora-263 643, Uttarakhand, INDIAG. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Sikkim Regional Centre, Pangthang, Gangtok-737 101, Sikkim, INDIA; Correspondence author.Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, University Road, Lucknow (UP), INDIABirbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, University Road, Lucknow (UP), INDIABirbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, University Road, Lucknow (UP), INDIAThe recent warming in the mountain regions affect forest productivity in terms of tree growth, especially in the Himalayan region. However, the effects of climate change on the response of radial growth of different age-class trees in the Himalayan region remains unclear. The sensitivity of different age-class trees can differ from younger to old age-class tree growth which create uncertainty in tree-ring calibration against the climatic parameters. In the present study, we assessed the effect of climate change on the radial growth of Cedrus deodara (cedar) from two different age classes; young (age <100 years) and old (age >100 years) in lower temperate zone of Indian Western Himalaya for the period 1950-2015 CE. We modelled basal area increment (BAI) using the Generalized additive model (GAM) which predicted the observed pattern of BAI as a function of year and random effect of tree. The trend of old age stand BAI increased significantly by 0.13 cm2/year whereas it significantly declined by -0.27 cm2/year for young deodar stand. However, from 1990 CE both age classes showed significant decline (p<0.05) in BAI indicating reduction in tree productivity of cedar species which may be due to recent accelerated rise in temperature and decline in precipitation. Correlation analysis between BAI growth and climate revealed that the BAI from both age-class trees were mainly limited by spring season (March-May) climate, moreover, the signal was statistically strong for old age deodar stand. The tree age vs DBH relationship of old age stand forest showed significant positive relationship but no relationship was found for young age stand which indicated more environmental stress condition for young age deodar forest stand. Future efforts are required to identify the factors responsible for decline productivity of young deodar stand by using wide networks of tree-ring data.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719322000310Cedrus deodaraClimate changeBasal Area IncrementForest productivityWestern HimalayaGrowth response
spellingShingle Rupesh Dhyani
Rajesh Joshi
Parminder S. Ranhotra
Mayank Shekhar
A. Bhattacharyya
Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
Trees, Forests and People
Cedrus deodara
Climate change
Basal Area Increment
Forest productivity
Western Himalaya
Growth response
title Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
title_full Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
title_fullStr Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
title_full_unstemmed Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
title_short Age dependent growth response of Cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of Western Himalaya
title_sort age dependent growth response of cedrus deodara to climate change in temperate zone of western himalaya
topic Cedrus deodara
Climate change
Basal Area Increment
Forest productivity
Western Himalaya
Growth response
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719322000310
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AT mayankshekhar agedependentgrowthresponseofcedrusdeodaratoclimatechangeintemperatezoneofwesternhimalaya
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