Abstract
In recent decades there has been an increase in the radial growth of Larix sibirica Ledeb., Pinus sibirica Du Tour, and Abies sibirica in the Kuznetsk Alatau alpine forest-tundra ecotone. Larch growth correlates positively with summer temperatures; cedar and fir growth is determined by temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration. It is shown that the current growth of maturing larch trees is about 55% higher than that of a similar age group observed 200 years ago. The rate of larch advancement along the height gradient is estimated at 1 m/10 years. A periodical limitation of the radial growth in fir by winter and summer temperatures is found; the strongest correlation is revealed with summer temperatures (r = 0.9). The growth rate of all conifers correlates highly with the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere (r = 0.42–0.84). Increased winter temperatures induce the transformation of the elfin forms in larch and cedar (the early 1970s) and later fir (the early 1980s) into vertical forms.
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Original Russian Text © I.A. Petrov, V.I. Kharuk, M.L. Dvinskaya, S.T. Im, 2015, published in Sibirskii Ekologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, No. 4, pp. 518–527.
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Petrov, I.A., Kharuk, V.I., Dvinskaya, M.L. et al. Reaction of coniferous trees in the Kuznetsk Alatau alpine forest-tundra ecotone to climate change. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 8, 423–430 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515040137
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515040137