Temperature variability inferred from tree-ring widths in the Dabie Mountains of subtropical central China

A tree-ring width chronology was developed using the tree-ring cores of Huangshan pine (Pinus taiwanensis Hayata) from the Dabie Mountains, central China. Descriptive statistics of the chronology indicated that Huangshan pine showed a common signal likely associated to climate. A correlation analysis was conducted between the chronology and climate variables, and the results demonstrated that the radial growth was positively correlated to the February–July mean temperature. The February–July mean temperature was reconstructed from AD 1869 to 2008 for the Dabie Mountains. The reconstruction can explain 49.8 % of the variance for the calibration period (1959–2008). On the decadal timescale, for the reconstructed temperature during the reliable period 1889–2008, above-mean temperature periods occurred in AD 1889–1898, 1903–1908, 1922–1933, 1945–1950, 1955–1958, and 1994–2008, whereas below-mean temperature periods occurred in AD 1899–1902, 1909–1921, 1934–1944, 1951–1954, and 1961–1993. The reconstruction indicates that the early years of the twenty-first century represent the warmest period and that the period of 1910–1919 is the coldest decade over the last 120 years. The reconstructed temperature corresponds well with the observed temperature in Wuhan, Hubei Province, suggesting that the reconstruction can represent the local climatic signals and may also reflect the regional climatic signals.