Snow accumulation and ablation response to changes in forest structure and snow surface albedo after attack by mountain pine beetle

This study quantified changes in snow accumulation and ablation with forest defoliation in a young pine stand attacked by mountain pine beetle, a mature mixed species stand, and a clearcut in south‐central British Columbia. From 2006 to 2012, as trees in the pine stand turned from green to grey, average canopy transmittance increased from 27% to 49%. In the mixed stand, transmittance remained constant at 19%. In 2009, the year of greatest needle loss, average snow surface litter cover in the pine stand was 29% (range 4 – 61%), compared to ≤9% in other years and over double that in the mixed stand. By 2012, litter accumulation in the now‐grey pine stand was only a sixth of that in the mixed stand. Inter‐annual variability in the weather had the greatest effect on snow accumulation and ablation, with the greatest differences between both forested stands and the clearcut occurring in 2010, the year of lowest SWE. Differences in snow accumulation between the pine and mixed stand increased in 2010 as a result of decreased snow interception in the young stand after needlefall. Average ablation rates in the attacked stand were most different from the mixed stand in 2009 and 2012, the years with the largest and smallest over‐winter needle loss, respectively. This study shows that grey, non‐pine, and understory trees moderate snow response to changes in the main canopy. It also highlights the complex interrelationships between ecohydrological processes key to assessing watershed response to forest cover loss in snow dominated hydrologic regimes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the effects of post‐pine beetle forest litter on snow albedo

The effect of forest litter on snow surface albedo has been subject to limited study, mainly in the hardwood‐dominated forests of the northeastern United States. Given the recent pine beetle infestation in Western North America and associated increases in litter production, this study examines the effects of forest litter on snow surface albedo in the coniferous forests of south‐central British Columbia. Measured changes in canopy transmittance provide an indication of canopy loss or total litterfall over the winter of 2007–2008. Relationships between percent litter cover, an index of albedo, snow depth, and snow ablation during the 2008 melt season are compared between a mature, young, and clearcut coniferous stand. Results indicate a strong feedback effect between canopy loss and subsequent enhanced shortwave transmittance, and litter accumulation on the snow surface from that canopy loss. However, this relationship is confounded by other variables concurrently affecting albedo. While results suggest that a relatively small percent litter cover can have a significant effect on albedo and ablation, further research is underway to extract the litter signal from that of other factors affecting albedo, particularly snow depth. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a Neolithic pine tree‐ring chronology for northern Scotland

The peatlands of northern Scotland (one of the largest and most intact areas of blanket bog in the world) contain a rare widespread horizon of subfossil pine in stratigraphic context. Eighteen bog pine from three new sites are incorporated into a mean Neolithic pine chronology now composed of subfossil pine from 12 sites, which is tree‐ring‐dated against Irish bog pine chronologies to span 3198–2757 BC. Germination and peaks of radial growth infer drier conditions between 3199 and 3130 BC. Dying‐off phases and depression of growth reflect a change to wetter conditions between 3023 and 3002 BC and a terminal decline of pine between 2809 and 2782 BC. The close synchronization of germination/die‐off phases and major ring‐width variations between sites across this region indicates that the environmental changes are probably triggered by climate change. Twenty‐four bog pine samples remain unmatched. Future multi‐discipline research into this important example of climatic change at the Neolithic/Bronze Age transition is recommended. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling investigation of water partitioning at a semiarid ponderosa pine hillslope

The effects of vegetation root distribution on near‐surface water partitioning can be two‐fold. On the one hand, the roots facilitate deep percolation by root‐induced macropore flow; on the other hand, they reduce the potential for deep percolation by root‐water‐uptake processes. Whether the roots impede or facilitate deep percolation depends on various conditions, including climate, soil, and vegetation characteristics. This paper examines the effects of root distribution on deep percolation into the underlying permeable bedrock for a given soil profile and climate condition using HYDRUS modelling. The simulations were based on previously field experiments on a semiarid ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) hillslope. An equivalent single continuum model for simulating root macropore flow on hillslopes is presented, with root macropore hydraulic parameterization estimated based on observed root distribution. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the root macropore effect dominates saturated soil water flow in low conductivity soils (K_matrix below 10^?7 m/s), while it is insignificant in soils with a K_matrix larger than 10^?5 m/s, consistent with observations in this and other studies. At the ponderosa pine site, the model with simple root‐macropore parameterization reasonably well reproduces soil moisture distribution and some major runoff events. The results indicate that the clay‐rich soil layer without root‐induced macropores acts as an impeding layer for potential groundwater recharge. This impeding layer results in a bedrock percolation of less than 1% of the annual precipitation. Without this impeding layer, percolation into the underlying permeable bedrock could be as much as 20% of the annual precipitation. This suggests that at a surface with low‐permeability soil overlying permeable bedrock, the root penetration depth in the soil is critical condition for whether or not significant percolation occurs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

湿地松新梢化学成分与粉蚧为害关系初步研究

用五点法进行抽样调查并探讨了湿地松粉蚧（Ｏｒａｃｅｌｌａ ａｃｕｔａ Ｌｏｂｄｅｌｌ）侵入后,湿地松（Ｐｉｎｕｓｅｌｌｉｏｔｉｉ）新植树皮化学成分与粉蚧为害的关系。结果表明：均衡、协调的营养对粉蚧生长和繁殖有利;粉蚧为害主要导致新梢树皮蛋白质、粗灰分含量明显增加,还原糖含量明显减少;粉蚧发生高峰期,新梢树皮蛋白质含量与与粉蚧虫口密度呈显著正相关。     

On modelling the effects of afforestation on acidification in heterogeneous catchments at different spatial and temporal scales

A modelling approach is presented for simulating and predicting future changes in streamwater Gran alkalinity throughout a large, heterogeneous river system. The methodology is based on integrating End Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA), the Model of Acidification of Groundwater in Catchments (MAGIC) and spatial data describing the catchment characteristics stored on a Geographical Information System (GIS). These are integrated within a Functional Unit Network (FUN) to predict the changes in Gran alkalinity resulting from possible future changes in atmospheric deposition and land use (low intensity afforestation) in the River Dee catchment, NE Scotland. Model results indicate that declining sulphate and constant nitrogen deposition, combined with low intensity Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) afforestation are unlikely to contribute significantly to streamwater acidification.     

Climatic significance of the stable carbon isotope composition of tree-ring cellulose: Comparison of Chinese hemlock (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tsuga chinensis</Emphasis> Pritz) and alpine pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus densata</Emphasis> Mast) in a temperate-moist region of China

In the reconstruction of past climate using stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C) in tree ring, the responses of the stable carbon composition (δ13C) of multiple tree species to environmental factors must be known detailedly. This study presented two δ13C series in annual tree rings for Chinese hemlock (Tsuga chinensis Pritz) and alpine pine (Pinus densata Mast), and investigated the relationships between climatic parameters and stable carbon discrimination (Δ13C) series, and evaluated the potential of climatic reconstruction using Δ13C in both species, in a temperate-moist region of Chuanxi Plateau, China. The raw δ13C series of the two species was inconsistent, which may be a result of different responses caused by tree's inherent physiological differences. After removing the low-frequency effects of CO2 concentration, the high-frequency (year-to-year) inter-series correlation of Δ13C was strong, indicating that Δ13C of the two tree species were controlled by common environmental conditions. The Δ13C series of the species were most significantly correlated with temperature and moisture stress, but in different periods and intensity between the species. During the physiological year, the impacts of temperature and moisture stress on Δ13C occur earlier for Chinese hemlock (previous December to February for moisture stress and February to April for temperature, respectively) than for alpine pine (March to May for moisture stress and April to July for temperature, respectively). In addition, in temperatemoist regions, the control on Δ13C of single climatic parameter was not strongly dominant and the optimal multiple regressions functions just explained the 38.5% variance of the total. Therefore, there is limited potential for using δ13C alone to identify clear, reliable climatic signals from two species.     

松粉热解脂肪酸生物标志物的特征及其地球化学意义

现代松粉的温－压热模拟实验中，产出的轻质烃和氯仿抽提物芳烃馏份的GC－MS分析均检出大量偶数碳优势明显的脂肪酸类分子生物标志物，轻烃主要为C16，C18烷酸及其甲，乙酯，芳烃组分相对比较复杂，包括饱和脂肪酸（酯），不饱和脂肪酸（酯）和脂肪酸内酯，前者碳数分布为C15－，C30，C16，C18碳酸（酯）相对丰度占绝对优势为特征，后者碳数分布为C20-C30,以C26，C28和C30脂肪酸内酯为主，在250℃以下样品中检测出相对丰度较高的不饱和C18碳酸（酯），脂肪酸酯化合物在极低的温度条件下便可排出，并分别在200－300℃和300－400℃之间形成两次产出高峰；花粉内质体中的游离态脂肪酸及不饱和脂肪酸形成低温阶段的第一次高峰；花粉壁脂质结构中的脂肪酸及饱和脂肪酸在较高温度阶段形成第二次高峰，原样及低温样品以脂肪酸酯为主，250℃及其以上温度条件下因水解产生较多的脂肪酸，随温率继续升高，脂肪酸酯易发生脱羰反应而生成链烷烃。400℃以后因强烈降解脂肪酸酯含量大大降低，这与350－450℃之间奇数碳优势正构烷烃在轻质烃和饱和烃中的大量产出相吻合，研究表明，植物花粉是沉积有机质中饱和及不饱和C16，C18脂肪酸酯的重要母源之一。     

Reconstructed summer temperature in the northern Rocky Mountains wilderness, USA

Ring widths from whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Englem.) and subalpine larch (Larix lyallii Parl.) collected at three high-elevation sites were used to develop tree-growth chronologies to reconstruct summer temperature anomalies. A step-wise multiple regression procedure was used to screen potential predictor variables to generate a transfer function capable of skillfully reconstructing summer temperature. The resulting regression model explained approximately 38% of the adjusted variance in the instrumental temperature record. The fidelity of the reconstruction was verified using product mean and sign tests, both of which suggested significant predictive power in the reconstructions (p < 0.05). Reduction of error (RE) and coefficient of efficiency (CE) measures were both positive, indicating the reconstruction contained useful climate information. Cool periods often coincided with reduced solar activity and/or periods of increased volcanic activity. Differences between this reconstruction and others encompassing a broader geographic scale highlight the importance of developing local reconstructions of climate variability, particularly when used in conjunction with ecological data sets that describe the occurrence of fires or insect epidemics. Mixed and divergent climate-response relationships were evident in the whitebark pine chronologies and suggest subalpine larch may be a more useful species than whitebark pine to target for the development of temperature reconstructions in this region.     

黄柏山树轮生长对气候因子的响应及模拟

利用大别山西部的3个黄山松（Pinus taiwanensis Hayata）树木年轮采样点的样本,建立3个标准年表,其特征值都表明黄山松树木年轮宽度中含有较高的环境信息;年表间相关密切,区域主要受气候因子影响、南北差异显著;年表与气候因素的相关也显示不同环境生长的黄山松差异性要大于共性;同样多元线性回归也确定该研究区影响树木生长的主导因子为前一年10月的均温,而前一年8月的降水同样起着非常重要的作用。不同要素的模拟结果有较好的一致性,但极端气候条件下树木的生长差异显著。