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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2021, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (1): 95-104.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.20210110

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A Climate-Sensitive Individual-Tree DBH Growth Model for Cyclobalanopsis glauca

Shuai Liu,Jianjun Li,Dongsheng Qing,Kaiwen Zhu,Zhenyan Ma   

  1. Central South University of Forestry and Technology Changsha 410004
  • Received:2020-03-19 Online:2021-01-25 Published:2021-03-10
  • Contact: Jianjun Li

Abstract:

Objective: Climate is considered as a potential driver of tree growth. Cyclobalanopsis glauca is an important timber species in southern China. However, we lack an understanding about the growth of this species and its response to climate. The purpose of this study was to explore the long-term effects of climate on the growth of C. glauca in order to provide a basis for the management decision of C. glauca forests under future climatic changes. Method: In this study, based on the data of C. glauca trees dissected in Lutou forest farm, Hunan Province, we constructed the re-parameterization model and the nonlinear mixed-effects(NLME) model with climate variables by using the Mitscherlich growth equation as the basic model, and the diameter at breast height(DBH) growth of C. glauca under the three representative concentration pathways(RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) in the future was also predicted. Result: 1) The NLME growth model could accurately describe the complex nonlinear relationships between the DBH growth of C. glauca and climate variables, and exhibited more advantages than the traditional regression models in terms of fitting accuracy and error level. 2) The incorporation of climate variables enabled the growth model of C. glauca to respond to the impacts of climate changes on tree growth. The mean coldest month temperature was the most important climatic factor affecting the DBH growth of C. glauca, and was negatively correlated with tree DBH growth. Other climate factors were not included in the growth model because they were not statistically significant. So their effects on the growth of C. glauca were not clear. 3) The response of the DBH growth of C. glauca to different climate scenarios was different. High emission RCP8.5 had a greater negative impact on the DBH growth of C. glauca, while low emission RCP2.6 had a relatively small negative impact. These effects would become more pronounced over time. It was estimated that by 2100, the DBH growth of C. glauca at 30 ages would decrease by 6.3%, 15.6% and 53.1%, respectively, under the scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, compared with the current climate conditions. Conclusion: This study might be a beneficial exploration on the influences of climate changes on the growth of C. glauca, and the NLME DBH growth model for C. glauca proposed in our paper presented the advantages of climate-sensitivity, statistically reliability and predictive effectiveness, etc. These findings of the study would contribute to address the challenges of future climate changes in forest management.

Key words: Cyclobalanopsis glauca, DBH growth, climate variable, mixed-effects model, climate scenario

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