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Tree-Ring Stable Carbon Isotope as a Proxy for Hydroclimate Variations in Semi-Arid Regions of North-Central China

Shuyuan Kang Orcid Logo, Neil Loader Orcid Logo, Jianglin Wang Orcid Logo, Chun Qin, Jingjing Liu, Miao Song

Forests, Volume: 13, Issue: 4, Start page: 492

Swansea University Author: Neil Loader Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/f13040492

Abstract

Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) were measured in annual tree-ring cellulose samples dated from 1756 to 2015 CE. These samples were extracted from Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) trees located in a semi-arid region of north-central China. We found that tree-ring δ13C and δ18...

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Published in: Forests
ISSN: 1999-4907
Published: MDPI AG 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59690
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Abstract: Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) were measured in annual tree-ring cellulose samples dated from 1756 to 2015 CE. These samples were extracted from Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) trees located in a semi-arid region of north-central China. We found that tree-ring δ13C and δ18O values both recorded similar climatic signals (e.g., temperature and moisture changes), but found that tree-ring δ13C exhibited a stronger relationship with mean temperature, precipitation, average relative humidity, self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI), and standard precipitation evaporation index (SPEI) than δ18O during the period 1951–2015 CE. The strongest correlation observed was between tree-ring δ13C and scPDSI (previous June to current May), which explains ~43% of the variance. The resulting 130-year reconstruction reveals severe drought events in the 1920s and a sustained drying trend since the 1980s. This hydroclimate record based on tree-ring δ13C data also reveals similar dry and wet events to other proxy data (i.e., tree-ring width and historical documentation) that have allowed reconstructions to be made across the northern fringe of the Asian summer monsoon region. Our results suggest that both large-scale modes of climate variability (e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and North Atlantic Oscillation) and external forcing (e.g., solar variability) may have modulated moisture variability in this region. Our results imply that the relationship between tree-ring δ18O and local climate is less well-characterized when compared to δ13C and may be affected more strongly by the influences of these different atmospheric circulation patterns. In this semi-arid region, tree-ring δ13C appears to represent a better tool with which to investigate historical moisture changes (scPDSI).
Keywords: carbon isotope; oxygen isotope; Chinese pine; hydroclimate; north-central China
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant numbers 42130511, 41405085, and 41602192. J.W. acknowledges the support by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (no. 2018471)
Issue: 4
Start Page: 492

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