Please wait a minute...
Journal of Arid Land  2018, Vol. 10 Issue (2): 264-276    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-018-0001-6     CSTR: 32276.14.s40333-018-0001-6
Orginal Article     
Variations of the thermal growing season during the period 1961-2015 in northern China
Linli CUI1,2,*(), Jun SHI2,3, Yue MA3, Xiaochen LIU2,3
1 Shanghai Institute of Meteorological Science, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, Shanghai 200030, China
2 Shanghai Key Laboratory of Meteorology and Health, Shanghai 200030, China
3 Shanghai Climate Center, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, Shanghai 200030, China
Download: HTML     PDF(511KB)
Export: BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      

Abstract  

Researching into changes in thermal growing season has been one of the most important scientific issues in studies of the impact of global climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. However, few studies investigated the differences under various definitions of thermal growing season and compared the trends of thermal growing season in different parts of China. Based on the daily mean air temperatures collected from 877 meteorological stations over northern China from 1961 to 2015, we investigated the variations of the thermal growing season parameters including the onset, ending and duration of the growing season using the methods of differential analysis, trend analysis, comparative analysis, and Kriging interpolation technique. Results indicate that the differences of the maximum values of those indices for the thermal growing season were significant, while they were insignificant for the mean values. For indices with the same length of the spells exceeding 5°C, frost criterion had a significant effect on the differences of the maximum values. The differences of the mean values between frost and non-frost indices were also slight, even smaller than those from the different lengths of the spells. Temporally, the starting date of the thermal growing season advanced by 10.0-11.0 days, while the ending dates delayed by 5.0-6.0 days during the period 1961-2015. Consequently, the duration of the thermal growing season was prolonged 15.0-16.0 days. Spatially, the advanced onset of the thermal growing season occurred in the southwestern, eastern, and northeastern parts of northern China, whereas the delayed ending of the thermal growing season appeared in the western part, and the length of the thermal growing season was prolonged significantly in the vast majority of northern China. The trend values of the thermal growing season were affected by altitude. The magnitude of the earlier onset of the thermal growing season decreased, and that of the later ending increased rapidly as the altitude increased, causing the magnitude of the prolonged growing season increased correspondingly. Comparing the applicability of selected indices and considering the impacts of frost on the definitions are important and necessary for determining the timing and length of the thermal growing season in northern China.



Key wordsdaily mean air temperatures      length of the growing season      starting date of the thermal growing season      ending date of the thermal growing season      trend      northern China     
Received: 20 February 2017      Published: 10 April 2018
Corresponding Authors:
About author:

The first and fourth authors contributed equally to this work.

Cite this article:

Linli CUI, Jun SHI, Yue MA, Xiaochen LIU. Variations of the thermal growing season during the period 1961-2015 in northern China. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(2): 264-276.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-018-0001-6     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2018/V10/I2/264

[1] Barichivich J, Briffa K R, Osborn T J, et al.2012. Thermal growing season and timing of biospheric carbon uptake across the northern Hemisphere. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 26(4): GB4015.
[2] Brown P J, Bradley R S, Keimig F T.2010. Changes in extreme climate indices for the northeastern United States, 1870-2005. Journal of Climate, 23(24): 6555-6572.
[3] Burrows M T, Schoeman D S, Buckley L B, et al.2011. The pace of shifting climate in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Science, 334(6056): 652-655.
[4] Carter T R.1998. Changes in the thermal growing season in Nordic countries during the past century and prospects for the future. Agricultural and Food Science in Finland, 7(2): 161-179.
[5] Chi D K, Wang H, Li X B, et al.2016. The variability of growing season of different vegetation types in Xilingol League. Pratacultural Science, 33(9): 1825-1834. (in Chinese)
[6] Dong M Y, Jiang Y, Zheng C T, et al.2012. Trends in the thermal growing season throughout the Tibetan Plateau during 1960-2009. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 166-167: 201-206.
[7] Frich P, Alexander L V, Della-Marta P, et al.2002. Observed coherent changes in climatic extremes during the second half of the twentieth century. Climate Research, 19(3): 193-212.
[8] Guo L H, Wu S H, Zhao D S, et al.2013. Change trends of growing season over Inner Mongolia in the past 50 years. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 33(4): 505-512. (in Chinese)
[9] Guo L H, Wu S H, Zhao D S, et al.2014. Variations and trends of climatic growing season in different vegetation zones, Inner Mongolia over the past 50 years. Arid Land Geography, 37(3): 532-538. (in Chinese)
[10] Guo Y Y, Jiang Y, Dong M Y, et al.2016. Trends in the tree growing season throughout the Hebei and Shanxi mountainous region and Loess Plateau of North China from 1961 to 2013. Resources Science, 38(4): 758-767. (in Chinese)
[11] Hao H F, Gu Y Q, Hao H L.2017. The spring phenological change characteristics of ligneous plants and their response to climate warming in Kashgar prefecture. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 31(5): 153-157. (in Chinese)
[12] H?gda K A, T?mmervik H, Karlsen S R.2013. Trends in the start of the growing season in Fennoscandia 1982-2011. Remote Sensing, 5(9): 4304-4318.
[13] IPCC. 2013. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1-95.
[14] Jones P D, Briffa K R, Osborn T J, et al.2002. Relationships between circulation strength and the variability of growing-season and cold-season climate in northern and central Europe. The Holocene, 12(6): 643-656.
[15] Linderholm H W.2006. Growing season changes in the last century. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 137(1-2): 1-14.
[16] Mozafari G, Torki M.2015. A study of initial, final and growing season length in west of Iran. International Journal of Advanced Biological & Biomedical Research, 3(1): 65-69.
[17] Nagai S, Saitoh T M, Nasahara K N, et al.2015. Spatio-temporal distribution of the timing of start and end of growing season along vertical and horizontal gradients in Japan. International Journal of Biometeorology, 59(1): 47-54.
[18] Piao S L, Friedlingstein P, Ciais P, et al.2007. Growing season extension and its impact on terrestrial carbon cycle in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 2 decades. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 21(3): GB3018.
[19] Shen M G, Tang Y H, Chen J, et al.2012. Specification of thermal growing season in temperate China from 1960 to 2009. Climatic Change, 114(3-4): 783-798.
[20] Song Y L, Linderholm H W, Chen D L, et al.2010. Trends of the thermal growing season in China, 1951-2007. International Journal of Climatology, 30(1): 33-43.
[21] Sun Y L, Yang Y L, Zhang Y, et al.2015. Assessing vegetation dynamics and their relationships with climatic variability in northern China. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 87-88: 79-86.
[22] Walther A, Linderholm H W.2006. A comparison of growing season indices for the Greater Baltic Area. International Journal of Biometeorology, 51(2): 107-118.
[23] Wang H, Liu G H, Li Z S, et al.2016. Driving force and changing trends of vegetation phenology in the Loess Plateau of China from 2000 to 2010. Journal of Mountain Science, 13(5): 844-856.
[24] White M A, Hoffman F, Hargrove W, et al.2005. A global framework for monitoring phenological responses to climate change. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(4): L04705, doi: 10.1029/2004GL021961.
[25] Xu C Y, Liu H Y, Williams A P, et al.2016. Trends toward an earlier peak of the growing season in northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Global Change Biology, 22(8): 2852-2860.
[26] Yang L P, Qin Y, Zhang C H, et al.2016. Influence of climate change on the phenophase of Larix gmelinii in the Greater Khingan Mountains. Arid Zone Research, 33(3): 577-583. (in Chinese)
[27] Yang X C, Tian Z, Chen B D.2013. Thermal growing season trends in east China, with emphasis on urbanization effects. International Journal of Climatology, 33(10): 2402-2412.
[28] Zheng J Y, Ge Q S, Hao Z X.2002. Impacts of climate warming on plants phenophases in China for the last 40 years. Chinese Science Bulletin, 47(21): 1826-1831.
[1] Xijiri, ZHOU Ruiping, BAO Baorong, Burenjirigala . Spatiotemporal patterns and drivers of cultivated land conversion in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(9): 1197-1213.
[2] LU Qing, KANG Haili, ZHANG Fuqing, XIA Yuanping, YAN Bing. Impact of climate and human activity on NDVI of various vegetation types in the Three-River Source Region, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(8): 1080-1097.
[3] YANG Jianhua, LI Yaqian, ZHOU Lei, ZHANG Zhenqing, ZHOU Hongkui, WU Jianjun. Effects of temperature and precipitation on drought trends in Xinjiang, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(8): 1098-1117.
[4] WANG Min, CHEN Xi, CAO Liangzhong, KURBAN Alishir, SHI Haiyang, WU Nannan, EZIZ Anwar, YUAN Xiuliang, Philippe DE MAEYER. Correlation analysis between the Aral Sea shrinkage and the Amu Darya River[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(7): 757-778.
[5] JIN Junfang, YIN Shuyan, YIN Hanmin. Impact of land use/land cover types on surface humidity in northern China in the early 21st century[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2022, 14(7): 705-718.
[6] WANG Shiqing, TAO Zefu, SUN Piling, CHEN Sijia, SUN Huiying, LI Nan. Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2022, 14(1): 1-13.
[7] Brian COLLINS, Hadi RAMEZANI ETEDALI, Ameneh TAVAKOL, Abbas KAVIANI. Spatiotemporal variations of evapotranspiration and reference crop water requirement over 1957-2016 in Iran based on CRU TS gridded dataset[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(8): 858-878.
[8] CAO Huicong, YAN Dandan, JU Yuelin. Drought and flood characteristics in the farming- pastoral ecotone of northern China based on the Standardized Precipitation Index[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(12): 1244-1259.
[9] Sanim BISSENBAYEVA, Jilili ABUDUWAILI, Assel SAPAROVA, Toqeer AHMED. Long-term variations in runoff of the Syr Darya River Basin under climate change and human activities[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(1): 56-70.
[10] Mahsa MIRDASHTVAN, Mohsen MOHSENI SARAVI. Influence of non-stationarity and auto-correlation of climatic records on spatio-temporal trend and seasonality analysis in a region with prevailing arid and semi-arid climate, Iran[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(6): 964-983.
[11] WANG Yudan, KONG Yunfeng, CHEN Hao, DING Yongjian. Spatial-temporal characteristics of drought detected from meteorological data with high resolution in Shaanxi Province, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(4): 561-579.
[12] XU Lili, YU Guangming, ZHANG Wenjie, TU Zhenfa, TAN Wenxia. Change features of time-series climate variables from 1962 to 2016 in Inner Mongolia, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(1): 58-72.
[13] Yinge LIU, Ninglian WANG, Junhui ZHANG, Lingang WANG. Climate change and its impacts on mountain glaciers during 1960-2017 in western China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2019, 11(4): 537-550.
[14] Long MA, Hongyu LI, Tingxi LIU, Longteng LIANG. Abrupt temperature change and a warming hiatus from 1951 to 2014 in Inner Mongolia, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2019, 11(2): 192-207.
[15] LI Jinchang, LIU Haixia, SU Zhizhu, FAN Xiaohui. Changes in wind activity from 1957 to 2011 and their possible influence on aeolian desertification in northern China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2015, 7(6): 755-764.