Chinese Academy of Sciences; Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS; Mahidol University; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS; Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Western Australia; University of Maine System; University of Maine Orono; Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University; Chulalongkorn University; Kasetsart University; National Science & Technology Development Agency - Thailand; Mahidol University
Type
Article
Source Title
FORESTS
Year
2021
Volume
12
Issue
12
Open Access
Green Published, gold
Publisher
MDPI
DOI
10.3390/f12121655
Format
PDF
Abstract
Tropical forests play important roles in global carbon cycling. Tree-ring analysis can provide important information for understanding long-term trends in carbon-fixation capacity under climate change. However, tree-ring studies in tropical regions are limited. We carried out a tree-ring analysis to investigate the dendrochronological potential of the tropical forest tree Choerospondias axillaris (Anacardiaceae) in east-central Thailand. Our study focused on growth-climate relationships and long-term growth trends. A chronology was constructed covering the period from 1932 to 2019. The tree-ring width index of C. axillaris was positively correlated with precipitation in June, July, and October. Furthermore, growth of C. axillaris was positively correlated with the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) from July to October, indicating that growth of C. axillaris is mainly limited by moisture availability in the late monsoon season. Moving correlation analysis further revealed the consistency and temporal stability of the relationship of tree growth with monsoon season precipitation and SPEI during the period under study. There was a significant increasing trend in long-term growth from 1932 to 2002 (slope = 0.017, p < 0.001); however, long-term growth decreased from 2003 to 2019 (slope = -0.014, p < 0.001). Our study provides important insight into the growth-climate correlations of a broad-leaved tree species in a dry evergreen forest in tropical Asia.
