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1. Impacts of climate and tree morphology on tree-ring stable isotopes in central Mongolia

   https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpac142  

   Leland, Caroline; Andreu-Hayles, Laia; Cook, Edward R; Anchukaitis, Kevin J; Byambasuren, Oyunsanaa; Davi, Nicole; Hessl, Amy; Martin-Benito, Dario; Nachin, Baatarbileg; Pederson, Neil (December 2022, Tree Physiology)

   Cernusak, Lucas (Ed.)

   Abstract Recent climate extremes in Mongolia have ignited a renewed interest in understanding past climate variability over centennial and longer time scales across north-central Asia. Tree-ring width records have been extensively studied in Mongolia as proxies for climate reconstruction, however, the climate and environmental signals of tree-ring stable isotopes from this region need to be further explored. Here, we evaluated a 182-year record of tree-ring δ13C and δ18O from Siberian Pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) from a xeric site in central Mongolia (Khorgo Lava) to elucidate the environmental factors modulating these parameters. First, we analyzed the climate sensitivity of tree-ring δ13C and δ18O at Khorgo Lava for comparison with ring-width records, which have been instrumental in reconstructing hydroclimate in central Mongolia over two millennia. We also compared stable isotope records of trees with partial cambial dieback (‘strip-bark morphology’), a feature of long-lived conifers growing on resource-limited sites, and trees with a full cambium (‘whole-bark morphology’), to assess the inferred leaf-level physiological behavior of these trees. We found that interannual variability in tree-ring δ13C and δ18O reflected summer hydroclimatic variability, and captured recent, extreme drought conditions, thereby complementing ring-width records. The tree-ring δ18O records also had a spring temperature signal and thus expanded the window of climate information recorded by these trees. Over longer time scales, strip-bark trees had an increasing trend in ring-widths, δ13C (and intrinsic water-use efficiency, iWUE) and δ18O, relative to whole-bark trees. Our results suggest that increases in iWUE at this site might be related to a combination of leaf-level physiological responses to increasing atmospheric CO2, recent drought, and stem morphological changes. Our study underscores the potential of stable isotopes for broadening our understanding of past climate in north-central Asia. However, further studies are needed to understand how stem morphological changes might impact stable isotopic trends. 

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2. Wood alpha-cellulose stable C and O isotope ratios from New Hampshire and Vermont

   https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/4f307ee004b8835a0dec16093a99e92b  

   Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A; Jennings, Katie A; Ouimette, Andrew P; Asbjornsen, Heidi (January 2022, Environmental Data Initiative)

   To quantify the effects of tree height and canopy position on delta13C and delta18O of wood cellulose, we sampled 399 trees and saplings of eight species at nine forest stands across New Hampshire and Vermont, along with nearby saplings growing in the open. Samples were collected in 2017-18, and we analyzed the combined alpha-cellulose from growth rings formed in 2013-2017 for each tree. Carbon data are published in: Vadeboncoeur, M., K. Jennings, A. Ouimette, and H. Asbjornsen. (2020) Correcting tree-ring d13C time series for tree-size effects in eight temperate tree species. Tree Physiology. https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpz138 

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3. High Leaf Respiration Rates May Limit the Success of White Spruce Saplings Growing in the Kampfzone at the Arctic Treeline

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.746464  

   Griffin, Kevin L.; Schmiege, Stephanie C.; Bruner, Sarah G.; Boelman, Natalie T.; Vierling, Lee A.; Eitel, Jan U. (November 2021, Frontiers in Plant Science)

   Arctic Treeline is the transition from the boreal forest to the treeless tundra and may be determined by growing season temperatures. The physiological mechanisms involved in determining the relationship between the physical and biological environment and the location of treeline are not fully understood. In Northern Alaska, we studied the relationship between temperature and leaf respiration in 36 white spruce ( Picea glauca ) trees, sampling both the upper and lower canopy, to test two research hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that upper canopy leaves, which are more directly coupled to the atmosphere, will experience more challenging environmental conditions and thus have higher respiration rates to facilitate metabolic function. The second hypothesis is that saplings [stems that are 5–10cm DBH (diameter at breast height)] will have higher respiration rates than trees (stems ≥10cm DBH) since saplings represent the transition from seedlings growing in the more favorable aerodynamic boundary layer, to trees which are fully coupled to the atmosphere but of sufficient size to persist. Respiration did not change with canopy position, however respiration at 25°C was 42% higher in saplings compared to trees (3.43±0.19 vs. 2.41±0.14μmolm −2 s −1 ). Furthermore, there were significant differences in the temperature response of respiration, and seedlings reached their maximum respiration rates at 59°C, more than two degrees higher than trees. Our results demonstrate that the respiratory characteristics of white spruce saplings at treeline impose a significant carbon cost that may contribute to their lack of perseverance beyond treeline. In the absence of thermal acclimation, the rate of leaf respiration could increase by 57% by the end of the century, posing further challenges to the ecology of this massive ecotone. 

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4. Divergent water use efficiency trends among eastern North American temperate tree species

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05753-w  

   Malcomb, Jacob D; Epstein, Howard E; Vadeboncoeur, Matthew A; Druckenbrod, Daniel L; Lanning, Matthew; Wang, Lixin; Asbjornsen, Heidi; Scanlon, Todd M (July 2025, Oecologia)

   Both theory and observations suggest that tree intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE)—the ratio of photosynthetic carbon assimilation to stomatal conductance to water—increases with atmospheric CO2. However, the strength of this relationship varies across sites and species, prompting questions about additional physiological constraints and environmental controls on iWUE. In this study, we analyzed tree core carbon isotope ratios to examine trends in, and drivers of, iWUE in 12 tree species common to the temperate forests of eastern North America, where forests have experienced changes in CO2, climate, and atmospheric pollution in recent decades. Across all site-species combinations, we found that tree iWUE increased 22.3% between 1950 and 2011, coinciding with a 25.2% increase in atmospheric CO2. iWUE trajectories varied markedly among tree functional groups and within species across sites. Needleleaf evergreen iWUE increased until circa 2002 before declining in recent years, while iWUE of broadleaf deciduous species continued to increase. The analysis of environmental controls on iWUE trends revealed smaller increases in iWUE in trees subjected to higher atmospheric pollution loads. Our results suggest that tree functional characteristics and atmospheric pollution history influence tree response to atmospheric CO2, with implications for forest carbon and water balance in temperate regions. 

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5. Different climate sensitivity for radial growth, but uniform for tree-ring stable isotopes along an aridity gradient in Polylepis tarapacana , the world’s highest elevation tree species

   https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpab021  

   Rodriguez-Caton, Milagros; Andreu-Hayles, Laia; Morales, Mariano S; Daux, Valérie; Christie, Duncan A; Coopman, Rafael E; Alvarez, Claudio; Rao, Mukund Palat; Aliste, Diego; Flores, Felipe; et al (February 2021, Tree Physiology)

   Cernusak, Lucas (Ed.)

   Abstract Tree growth is generally considered to be temperature limited at upper elevation treelines, yet climate factors controlling tree growth at semiarid treelines are poorly understood. We explored the influence of climate on stem growth and stable isotopes for Polylepis tarapacana Philipi, the world’s highest elevation tree species, which is found only in the South American Altiplano. We developed tree-ring width index (RWI), oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) chronologies for the last 60 years at four P. tarapacana stands located above 4400 m in elevation, along a 500 km latitude aridity gradient. Total annual precipitation decreased from 300 to 200 mm from the northern to the southern sites. We used RWI as a proxy of wood formation (carbon sink) and isotopic tree-ring signatures as proxies of leaf-level gas exchange processes (carbon source). We found distinct climatic conditions regulating carbon sink processes along the gradient. Current growing-season temperature regulated RWI at northern-wetter sites, while prior growing-season precipitation determined RWI at arid southern sites. This suggests that the relative importance of temperature to precipitation in regulating tree growth is driven by site water availability. By contrast, warm and dry growing seasons resulted in enriched tree-ring δ13C and δ18O at all study sites, suggesting that similar climate conditions control carbon-source processes along the gradient. Site-level δ13C and δ18O chronologies were significantly and positively related at all sites, with the strongest relationships among the southern drier stands. This indicates an overall regulation of intercellular carbon dioxide via stomatal conductance for the entire P. tarapacana network, with greater stomatal control when aridity increases. This manuscript also highlights a coupling (decoupling) between physiological processes at leaf level and wood formation as a function of similarities (differences) in their climatic sensitivity. This study contributes to a better understanding and prediction of the response of high-elevation Polylepis woodlands to rapid climate changes and projected drying in the Altiplano. 

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