Response of <i>Pinus sylvestris</i> var. <i>mongolica</i> to water change and drought history reconstruction in the past 260 years, northeast China

Abstract

We present a 260-year annual Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) reconstruction based on a tree-ring width chronology of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) from four sample sites in the central Daxing'an Mountains, northeast China. The reconstruction equation explained 38.2 % of the variance of annual PDSI in the calibration period from 1911 to 2010. Our reconstruction confirmed the local historical documents and other nearby hydroclimate reconstructions. Drought in the 1920s–1930s was more severe in the Daxing'an Mountains than in the surrounding areas. A slight moisture increase was identified in the study area, while a warm–dry pattern was found in the west-central Mongolian Plateau (mildly drier) and its transition zones: the west-central Mongolian Plateau (severely drier). Overall, the variation of drought in the Daxing'an Mountains and its relationship with surrounding areas may be affected by the Pacific or Atlantic oscillations (e.g., ENSO, PDO, AMO, NAO and SNAO), which can affect the Asian monsoon, change the local temperature and precipitation, and lead to drought.