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Title: CO 2 Fertilization Confounds Tree-Ring Records of Regional Hydroclimate at Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Journal Article · · Earth and Space Science
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [6];  [7]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chengdu (China). The Key Lab. of Mountain Environment Evolution and Regulation, Inst. of Mountain Hazards and Environment; Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Inst. of Eco‐Environment and Resources
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Inst. of Eco‐Environment and Resources; Shaanxi Normal Univ., Xi'an (China). School of Geography and Tourism
  3. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Inst. of Eco‐Environment and Resources
  4. Swiss Federal Research Inst. (WSL), Birmensdorf (Switzerland). Dendro Sciences Group
  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research
  6. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chengdu (China). The Key Lab. of Mountain Environment Evolution and Regulation, Inst. of Mountain Hazards and Environment
  7. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Understanding historical hydroclimate change during the last millennium is of fundamental importance for forecasting and evaluating the regional hydrologic cycle and water security under global warming1-3. Here, we compared observations of tree-ring stable isotope ratios ($$δ$$13C and $$δ$$18O), tree-ring widths, lake sediment estimates of regional hydroclimate and glacier advance and retreat for northeastern QTP. Our composite isotope record and tree-ring widths indicated similar hydroclimate dynamics throughout the last millennium until the latter half of the 20th century, after which they diverged with the tree-ring widths indicating an unprecedented wet period whilst the isotopic results, sediment proxies and glaciers demonstrated a drying pattern. Atmospheric CO2 rise allowed increases in canopy-scale intrinsic water-use efficiency and growth, causing tree-ring widths to underestimate overwhelming the regional drying signal in the growth record. Precipitation inferred only rom tree-ring width may be overestimated due to atmospheric CO2 fertilization over the last century; this bias should be considered in tree-ring width reconstructions of palaeoclimate.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1567262
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-134734; TRN: US2001044
Journal Information:
Earth and Space Science, Vol. 6, Issue 5; ISSN 2333-5084
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Figures / Tables (5)