Open AccessSeasonal divergence between soil water availability and atmospheric moisture recorded in intra-annual tree-ring δ18O extremes
Author(s) -
Guobao Xu,
Xiaohong Liu,
Weijun Sun,
Paul Szejner,
Xiaomin Zeng,
Kei Yoshimura,
Valérie Trouet
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
environmental research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.37
H-Index - 124
ISSN - 1748-9326
DOI - 10.1088/1748-9326/ab9792
Subject(s) - environmental science , dendrochronology , pinus massoniana , water content , relative humidity , climatology , atmospheric sciences , moisture , precipitation , seasonality , humidity , monsoon , growing season , agronomy , ecology , geography , meteorology , geology , biology , botany , geotechnical engineering , archaeology
Intra-annual variability of tree-ring oxygen stable isotopes (δ 18 O) can record seasonal climate variability and a tree’s ecophysiological response to it. Variability of sub-annual tree-ring δ 18 O maxima and minima, which usually occur in different parts of the growing season, may exhibit different climatic signals and can help in understanding past seasonal moisture conditions, especially in Asian monsoon areas. We developed minimum and maximum tree-ring δ 18 O series based on sub-annual tree-ring δ 18 O measurements of Pinus massoniana at a humid site in southeastern China. We found that interannual variability in minimum tree-ring δ 18 O is primarily controlled by the July–September soil water supply and source water δ 18 O, whereas the maximum latewood tree-ring δ 18 O is primarily controlled by the relative humidity (RH) in October. The maximum of variability of earlywood tree-ring δ 18 O records the RH of October of the previous year. We used minimum and maximum tree-ring δ 18 O to develop two reconstructions (1900–2014) of seasonal moisture availability. The summer soil water supply (July–September self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index) and the RH in fall show contrasting trends, which may be related to late-growing seasonal warming leading to a high vapor capacity and high atmospheric moisture. Our findings are valuable for research that aims to explore seasonal moisture changes under anthropogenic climate change and the ecological implications of such contrasting trends.