Research Advance of Shrub Dendrochronology in the Cold and Arid Regions of China

Along with the booming of dendrochronology in China, the woody species for the tree-ring study have expanded gradually from tree species to the shrub and dwarf shrub species in the last decades. The zonal woody species in the vast alpine mountains, arid desert areas and arid regions in China are mostly shrubs and semi-shrubs, which is very important to understand the process of regional evolution, environmental protection and ecological recovery. In this paper, the shrub species which have been studied on tree rings in cold and arid areas of China were collected and sorted, and the fundamental research advances were presented, which include the shrub tree ring identification, radial growth characteristics, and chronology construction by different parameters. The applications of shrub dendrochronology to the subjects in eco-response, paleoclimate reconstruction, hydrological process, ecological study of artificial forest and ecological restoration were also presented. The prospect of shrub dendrochronology in the future was also discussed.