Changing Spring Phenology of Northeast China Forests during Rapid Warming and Short-Term Slowdown Periods

Fengyuan Zhang; Binhui Liu; Mark Henderson; Xiangjin Shen; Yuanhang Su; Wanying Zhou

doi:10.3390/f13122173

Forests (Dec 2022)

Changing Spring Phenology of Northeast China Forests during Rapid Warming and Short-Term Slowdown Periods

Fengyuan Zhang,
Binhui Liu,
Mark Henderson,
Xiangjin Shen,
Yuanhang Su,
Wanying Zhou

Affiliations

Fengyuan Zhang: College of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Binhui Liu: College of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Mark Henderson: Mills College at Northeastern University, Oakland, CA 94613, USA
Xiangjin Shen: Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Yuanhang Su: College of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Wanying Zhou: College of Forestry, The Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f13122173
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 12
p. 2173

Abstract

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The vast forests of Northeast China are under great pressure from climate change. Understanding the effects of changing climate conditions on spring phenology is of great significance to assessing the stability of regional terrestrial ecosystems. Using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2013, this paper investigated the changes in the start date of the vegetation growing season (SOS) of two main forest types in Northeast China, analyzing the changes in temporal and spatial patterns of forest spring phenology before and during the recent short-term warming slowdown, and exploring the effects of day and night temperatures and precipitation on the start of the growing season. The results showed that, during the rapid warming period (1982–1998), the SOS of deciduous needleleaf forests (DNF) was significantly advanced (−0.428 days/a, p p > 0.10). However, during the short-term slowdown (1998–2013), the SOS of DBF was strongly delayed (0.491 days/a, p p > 0.10). The SOS was sensitive to spring maximum temperature for both forest types during the analysis period. Increases in winter precipitation influenced the SOS during the rapid warming period for DNF; this combined with the increase in the spring maximum temperature contributed to the advance in SOS. The decrease in the spring maximum temperature during the short-term slowdown, combined with a decrease in the previous summer maximum temperature, contributed to the rapid delay of SOS for DBF. DBF SOS was also more influenced by lagged effects of prior conditions, such as previous autumn to spring precipitation during the rapid warming period and previous summer maximum temperature during the short-term slowdown. In general, SOS was mainly determined by changes in daytime thermal conditions; DNF is more sensitive to temperature increases and DBF is more sensitive to decreases. Different regional climate conditions lead to differences in the distribution of DNF and DBF, as well as in the response of SOS to climate change during the rapid warming and short-term slowdown periods.

Published in Forests

ISSN: 1999-4907 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Botany: Plant ecology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/

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