Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing the climatic sensitivity of Douglas-fir at its northern range margins in British Columbia, Canada

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Northern hemisphere tree species growing at their northern range margins may be particularly responsive to climate change and could provide important information regarding future broad-scale responses. We analyzed and compared tree-ring data between five Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Mirb.) Franco] populations growing at the species’ northernmost distribution in British Columbia, Canada, and five populations located 150 km to the southeast. We quantified climate–growth relationships using uni- and multivariate techniques at different temporal scales. Our data suggest that (1) even at its northernmost distributions, precipitation limits long-term mature Douglas-fir radial growth more than temperatures, (2) northernmost Douglas-fir populations are distinct from populations located further within the species’ range in terms of certain key short-term growth responses, and (3) northernmost Douglas-fir growth sensitivities to climate may be increasing over time. In the future, mature Douglas-fir productivity in the northern portion of its range may be primarily limited by precipitation, and responses may be strongest at the species’ range margins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aitken SN, Yeaman S, Holliday JA, Wang T, Curtis-McLane S (2008) Adaptation, migration or extirpation: climate change outcomes for tree populations. Evol Appl 1:95–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BC MoE (2007) Environmental trends in British Columbia: 2007. State of Environment Reporting BC Ministry of Environment. Available from http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/et07/. Accessed 5 February 2007

  • Biondi F (2000) Are climate–tree growth relationships changing in north-central Idaho, U.S.A.? Arct Antarct Alp Res 32:111–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biondi F, Waikul K (2004) Dendroclim2002: a C++ program for statistical calibration of climate signals in tree-ring chronologies. Comput Geosci 30:303–311

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Büntgen U, Frank DC, Schmidhalter M, Burkhard N, Seifert M, Esper J (2006) Growth/climate response shift in a long subalpine spruce chronology. Trees 20:99–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrer M, Urbinati C (2006) Long-term change in the sensitivity of tree-ring growth to climate forcing in Larix decidua. New Phytol 170:861–872

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Case MJ, Peterson DL (2005) Fine-scale variability in growth-climate relationships of Douglas-fir, North Cascade Range, Washington. Can J For Res 35:2743–2755

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cayan DR, Kammerdiener SA, Dettinger MD, Caprio JM, Peterson DH (2001) Changes in the onset of spring in the western United States. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 82:399–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen JH, Hewitson B, Busuioc A, Chen A, Gao X, Held I, Jones R, Kolli RK, Kwon WT, Laprise R, Magaña Rueda V, Mearns L, Menéndez CG, Räisänen J, Rinke A, Sarr A, Whetton P (2007) Regional climate projections. In: Solomon SD, Qin D, Manning M et al (eds) The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 848–940

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook E (1985) A time series analysis approach to tree-ring standardization. Dissertation, University of Arizona

  • Cook E, Kairiukstis L (1990) Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences. Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Krusic P (2005) Users manual for program ARSTAN Tree-Ring Lab, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. Available from http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/fac/trl/public/publicSoftware.html. Accessed 14 Oct 2006

  • D’Arrigo R, Wilson R, Liepert B, Cherubini P (2007) On the ‘Divergence problem’ in Northern Forests: a review of the tree-ring evidence and possible causes. Glob Planet Change 289–305

  • Daintith N, Vyse A (1999) Douglas-fir in the British Columbia interior: research and management experience. In: Lousier JD, Kessler WB (eds) Ecology and management of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var glauca) at the northern extreme of its range. Proceedings of a workshop held 7–9 October 1996 in Fort St. James, British Columbia. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, pp 24–26

  • Daniels LD, Veblen TT (2004) Spatiotemporal influences of climate on altitudinal treeline in northern Patagonia. Ecology 85:1284–1296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeLong SC (1999) Ecology of Douglas-fir at its northern limits. In: Lousier JD, Kessler WB (eds) Ecology and management of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var glauca) at the northern extreme of its range. Proceedings of a workshop held 7–9 October 1996 in Fort St. James, British Columbia. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, pp 27–28

  • Feliksek E, Wilczynski S (2003) Dendroecological characterization of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) in the Wielkopolska region. Elect J Polish Agric Univ Ser For 6:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritts HC (1976) Tree rings and climate. The Blackburn Press, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Givnish TJ (1995) Plant stems: biomechanical adaptation for energy capture and influence on species distributions. In: Barbara GL (ed) Plant stems: physiology and functional morphology. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 3–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray ST, Betancourt JL, Jackson ST, Eddy RG (2006) Role of multidecadal climate variability in a range extension of pinyon pine. Ecology 87:1124–1130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green DS (2005) Adaptive strategies in seedlings of three co-occurring, ecologically distinct northern coniferous tree species across and elevational gradient. Can J For Res 35:910–917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griesbauer H, Green DS (2010) Regional and ecological patterns in interior Douglas-fir climate–growth relationships in British Columbia, Canada. Can J For Res (in press)

  • Guiot J (1990) Methods of calibration. In: Cook ER, Kairiukstis LA (eds) Methods of dendrochronology. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 165–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamann A, Wang T (2006) Potential effects of climate change on ecosystem and tree species distribution in British Columbia. Ecology 87:2773–2786

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hermann RK, Lavender DP (1990) Douglas-fir U.S. Department of Agriculture. Available from http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pseudotsuga/menziesii.htm. Accessed July 15, 2006

  • Holmes R (1983) Computer-assisted quality control in tree-ring dating and measuring. Tree-Ring Bull 43:69–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Tardif JC, Bergeron Y, Denneler B, Berninger F, Girardin MP (2009) Radial growth response of four dominant boreal tree species to climate along a latitudinal gradient in the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Global Change Biol. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01990.x

  • Josza L (1988) Increment core sampling techniques for high quality cores Rep. Special Publication SP-30. Forintek Canada Corp, Vancouver, BC

    Google Scholar 

  • Jull MJ (1999) Douglas-fir silviculture “on the edge”: silvicultural systems at the northern range of the species. In: Lousier JD, Kessler WB (eds) Ecology and management of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) at the northern extreme of its range. Proceedings of a workshop held 7–9 October 1996 in Fort St. James, British Columbia. Prince George, BC. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, pp 34–44

  • Kessler WB (1999) Workshop summary: research themes emerging from the Douglas-fir problem analysis. In: Lousier JD, Kessler WB (eds) Ecology and management of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var glauca) at the northern extreme of its range. Proceedings of a workshop held 7–9 October 1996 in Fort St. James, British Columbia. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, pp 92

  • Kozlowski TT, Pallardy SG (1997) Growth control in woody plants. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Littell JS (2006) Climate impacts to forest ecosystem processes: Douglas-fir growth in north-western U.S. mountain landscapes and area burned by wildfire in western U.S. eco-provinces. Dissertation, University of Washington

  • Littell JS, Peterson DL (2005) A method for estimating vulnerability of Douglas-fir growth to climate change in the northwestern U.S. Forest Chron 81:369–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Littell JS, Peterson DL, Tjoelker M (2008) Douglas-fir growth in mountain ecosystems: water limits tree growth from stand to region. Ecol Monogr 78:349–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loehle C (1998) Height growth rate tradeoffs determine northern and southern range limits for trees. J Biogeogr 735–742

  • Loehle C (2000) Forest ecotone response to climate change: sensitivity to temperature response functional forms. Can J For Res 30:1632–1645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantua NJ, Hare SR (2002) The Pacific decadal oscillation. J Oceanogr 58:35–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantua NJ, Hare SR, Zhang Y, Wallace JM, Francis RC (1997) A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 78:1069–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mekis É, Hogg WD (1999) Rehabilitation and analysis of Canadian daily precipitation time series. Atmos Ocean 37:53–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Minobe S (2000) Spatio-temporal structure of the pentadecadal variability over the North Pacific. Prog Oceanogr 47:381–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill GA, Hamann A, Wang T (2008) Accounting for population variation improves estimates of the impact of climate change on species’ growth and distribution. J Appl Ecol 45:1040–1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parmesan C (2006) Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 37:637–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pederson N, Cook ER, Jacoby GC, Peteet DM, Griffin KL (2004) The influence of winter temperatures on the annual radial growth of six northern range margin tree species. Dendrochronologia 22:7–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike RG, Spittlehouse DL, Bennett KE, Egginton VN, Tschaplinski PJ, Murdock TQ, Werner AT (2008) Climate change and watershed hydrology: part i–recent and projected changes in British Columbia. Streamline Watershed Manage Bull 11:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Régent Instruments Inc (2005) WinDENDROTM. An image analysis system for tree-rings analysis Régent Instruments Inc, Quebec, QC

    Google Scholar 

  • Rehfeldt J (1991) The genetic resource of Douglas-fir in the interior northwest. In: Baumgartner DM (ed) Interior Douglas-fir: the species and its management symposium proceedings. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, pp 53–62

  • Rogers BJ (2006) An investigation of Douglas-fir leave-tree mortality in the sub-boreal spruce zone: a temporal and spatial assessment of water relations under pre and post harvest conditions. M.Sc. thesis, University of Northern British Columbia

  • Stahl K, Moore RD, McKendry IG (2006) The role of synoptic-scale circulation in the linkage between large-scale ocean-atmosphere indices and winter surface climate in British Columbia, Canada. Int J Climatol 26:541–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • St. Clair JB, Mandel NL, Vance-Borland K (2005) Genecology of douglas fir in Western Oregon and Washington. Ann Bot 96:1199–1214

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton A, Staniforth RJ, Tardif J (2002) Reproductive ecology and allometry of red pine (Pinus resinosa) at the northwestern limit of its distribution range in Manitoba. Canada 80:482–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS (2001) Using multivariate statistics, 4th edn. Allyn and Bacon, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Tardif JC, Conciatori F, Nantel P, Gagnon D (2006) Radial growth and climate responses of white oak (Quercus alba) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra) at the northern distribution limit of white oak in Quebec, Canada. J Biogeogr 33:1657–1669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Mathworks Inc (2007) Matlab 2007 The Mathworks Inc. Available from http://www.mathworks.com. Accessed January 5, 2008

  • Vaganov EA, Hughes MK, Kirdyanov AV, Schweingruber FH, Silkin PP (1999) Influence of snowfall and melt timing on tree growth in subarctic Eurasia. Nature 400:149–151

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent LA, Gullett DW (1999) Canadian historical and homogenous temperature datasets for climate change analyses. Int J Climatol 19:1375–1388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincent LA, Zhang X, Bonsal BR, Hogg WD (2002) Homogenization of daily temperatures over Canada. J Clim 15:1322–1334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walther GR (2003) Plants in a warmer world. Persp Plant Ecol Evol Syst 6:169–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walther GR, Post E, Convey P, Menzei A, Parmesan C, Beebee TJC, Fromentin JM, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Bairlein F (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416:389–395

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watson E, Luckman BH (2002) The dendroclimatic signal in Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine tree-ring chronologies from the southern Canadian Cordillera. Can J For Res 32:1858–1874

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson E, Luckman B (2004) Tree-ring based reconstructions of precipitation for the Southern Canadian Cordillera. Clim Change 65:209–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wigley TML, Jones PD, Briffa KR (1984) On the average value of correlated time series, with applications in dendroclimatology and hydrometeorology. J Clim Appl Meteorol 23:201–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilmking M, Juday GP, Barber VA, Zald HSJ (2004) Recent climate warming forces contrasting growth responses of white spruce at treeline in Alaska through temperature thresholds. Global Change Biol 10:1724–1736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson R, Elling W (2004) Temporal instability in tree growth/climate response in the Lower Bavarian Forest region: implications for dendroclimatic reconstruction. Trees 18:19–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson RJS, Luckman BH (2002) Tree-ring reconstruction of maximum and minimum temperatures and the diurnal temperature range in British Columbia, Canada. Dendrochronologia 20:257–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang QB, Hebda RJ (2004) Variation in radial growth patterns of Pseudotsuga menziesii on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada. Can J For Res 34:1946–1954

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Kasia Caputa, Yumiko Miyamoto, Emily Müller, and Kara Przeczek for their assistance in the field and laboratory. We also thank Dr. Stephen Déry and Dr. Greg O’Neill for advice and constructive comments through all components of this study, and Bruce Rogers and Gretchen Prystawik for review of this manuscript. This work was funded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the British Columbia Forest Science Program, and the Province of British Columbia.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hardy P. Griesbauer

    Present address: Ministry of Forests and Range, 1011-4th Avenue, 5th Floor, Prince George, BC, V2L 3H9, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Canada

    Hardy P. Griesbauer & D. Scott Green

Authors
  1. Hardy P. Griesbauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Scott Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hardy P. Griesbauer.

Additional information

Communicated by R. Guy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Griesbauer, H.P., Scott Green, D. Assessing the climatic sensitivity of Douglas-fir at its northern range margins in British Columbia, Canada. Trees 24, 375–389 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0407-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0407-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation