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Reduced growth of Alaskan white spruce in the twentieth century from temperature-induced drought stress

Nature volume 405, pages 668–673 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The extension of growing season at high northern latitudes seems increasingly clear from satellite observations of vegetation extent and duration1,2. This extension is also thought to explain the observed increase in amplitude of seasonal variations in atmospheric CO2 concentration. Increased plant respiration and photosynthesis both correlate well with increases in temperature this century and are therefore the most probable link between the vegetation and CO2 observations3. From these observations1,2, it has been suggested that increases in temperature have stimulated carbon uptake in high latitudes1,2 and for the boreal forest system as a whole4. Here we present multi-proxy tree-ring data (ring width, maximum late-wood density and carbon-isotope composition) from 20 productive stands of white spruce in the interior of Alaska. The tree-ring records show a strong and consistent relationship over the past 90 years and indicate that, in contrast with earlier predictions, radial growth has decreased with increasing temperature. Our data show that temperature-induced drought stress has disproportionately affected the most rapidly growing white spruce, suggesting that, under recent climate warming, drought may have been an important factor limiting carbon uptake in a large portion of the North American boreal forest. If this limitation in growth due to drought stress is sustained, the future capacity of northern latitudes to sequester carbon may be less than currently expected.

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Figure 1: Climate trends in interior Alaska in the twentieth century.
Figure 2: Map of field area.
Figure 3: Characteristics of white spruce radial-growth sample.
Figure 4: Correlation of tree-ring properties to Fairbanks mean monthly temperature for the three years before completion of tree-ring growth.
Figure 5: Tree-ring properties in relation to Fairbanks climate during the twentieth century.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the financial support of the McIntire–Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program, the US NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program and Paleoclimates from Arctic Lakes and Estuaries (PALE) Program, the University of Alaska's Natural Resource Fund, International Arctic Research Centre (IARC), and the Centre for Global Change and Arctic System Research. We thank T. Chapin for enthusiastic support and helpful review of this manuscript. We also thank G. Jacoby for use of his laboratory and equipment for density analyses, and A. Krumhardt for field and laboratory assistance.

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  1. Valerie A. Barber and Glenn Patrick Juday: These authors contributed equally to the work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Science,

    Valerie A. Barber & Bruce P. Finney

  2. Forest Sciences Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, 99775, AK, USA

    Valerie A. Barber & Glenn Patrick Juday

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  1. Valerie A. Barber
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Correspondence to Valerie A. Barber.

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Barber, V., Juday, G. & Finney, B. Reduced growth of Alaskan white spruce in the twentieth century from temperature-induced drought stress. Nature 405, 668–673 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35015049

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