Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
College/Unit
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department/Program/Center
Not Listed
Abstract
Determining the response of dominant height growth to climate change is important for understanding adaption strategies. Based on 550 permanent plots from a national forest inventory and climate data across seven provinces and three climate zones, we developed a climate-sensitive dominant height growth model under a mixed-effects model framework. The mean temperature of the wettest quarter and precipitation of the wettest month were found to be statistically significant explanatory variables that markedly improved model performance. Generally, future climate change had a positive effect on stand dominant height in northern and northeastern China, but the effect showed high spatial variability linked to local climatic conditions. The range in dominant height difference between the current climate and three future BC-RCP scenarios would change from ´0.61 m to 1.75 m (´6.9% to 13.5%) during the period 2041–2060 and from ´1.17 m to 3.28 m (´9.1% to 41.0%) during the period 2061–2080 across provinces. The impacts of climate change on stand dominant height decreased as stand age increased. Forests in cold and warm temperate zones had a smaller decrease in dominant height, owing to climate change, compared with those in the mid temperate zone. Overall, future climate change could impact dominant height growth in northern and northeastern China. As spatial heterogeneity of climate change affects dominant height growth, locally specific mitigation measures should be considered in forest management.
Digital Commons Citation
Zang, Hao; Lei, Xiangdong; Ma, Wu; and Zeng, Weisheng, "Spatial Heterogeneity of Climate Change Effects on Dominant Height of Larch Plantations in Northern and Northeastern China" (2016). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2000.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2000
Source Citation
Zang, H., Lei, X., Ma, W., & Zeng, W. (2016). Spatial Heterogeneity of Climate Change Effects on Dominant Height of Larch Plantations in Northern and Northeastern China. Forests, 7(12), 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/f7070151
Comments
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).