Spatial patterns of Smith fir alpine treelines on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau support that contingent local conditions drive recent treeline patterns

Abstract

Background: Recent work has shown little change in the position of the Smith fir treeline on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau in response to global warming. However, the relationship between tree distribution patterns within the treeline ecotone and low responsiveness is unknown, and additional constraints than climate might be major drivers of these patterns (e.g. microsite availability for regeneration).

Aims: To characterise the spatial patterns of Smith fir alpine treelines and to infer the underlying processes driving their dynamics.

Methods: We investigated spatial patterns of Smith fir trees across two treeline ecotones in the Sygera Mountains, south-eastern Tibetan Plateau. The O(r)-ring statistic was used to analyse the univariate and bivariate spatial point patterns of three size classes (adults, juveniles and seedlings).

Results: Mature trees presented random spatial patterns. Clusters of juveniles and seedlings colonised areas not occupied by mature trees. Seedlings were clustered and established preferentially near juvenile firs, Rhododendron mats and over moss–lichen and organic matter substrates, indicating the importance of microsite availability for successful Smith fir recruitment.

Conclusions: Local factors such as microsite availability may play a major role in driving recent Smith fir treeline patterns and determine the lack of significant warming-induced upward shifts of these ecotones.

Keywords:

• Abies georgei var. smithii
• microsite availability
• O-ring statistic
• recruitment
• south-eastern Tibetan Plateau
• spatial pattern
• stand structure
• treeline

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB951301), the State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change (LVEC2011-KF06), and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Science (KZCX2-Y W-QN 111). J.J.C. acknowledges the ARAID Foundation for funding. We thank Dr. Thorsten Wiegand (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany) for helpful introduction and suggestions on the Programita software, Dr. Xugao Wang (Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) for useful comments on an early version of the manuscript, as well as three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.