Increasing radial and latewood growth rates of Larix cajanderi Mayr. and Pinus sylvestris L. in the continuous permafrost zone in Central Yakutia (Russia)

Abstract

A vast area of Siberian boreal forest is covered by continuous permafrost, where tree radial growth is strongly limited by low temperatures. Understanding how climate controls Siberian conifer growth is critical in order to predict their response to ongoing climate change.

To explore variations in the radial growth and earlywood/latewood formation of Pinus sylvestris L. and Larix cajanderi Mayr. trees along a climate gradient within the continuous permafrost zone in Central Yakutia (Russia), a region experiencing accelerated warming.

We evaluated spatiotemporal differences in tree-ring and latewood width among sites by using generalized additive mixed models. Pearson’s correlations were used to analyze the effect of local climate (temperature, precipitation) and drought (SPEI) on the formation of earlywood and latewood.

Both conifers showed increased radial growth in recent decades. Radial growth was controlled by temperature and precipitation in both species along the gradient, with earlier precipitation events being critical for the formation of wide rings.

Although temperature is considered as the main limiting factor triggering tree growth in the continuous permafrost zone, our results showed that water availability also plays a key role in radial tree growth even in the coldest sites.