Contrasting impacts of climate warming on Himalayan Hemlock growth: Seasonal and elevational variations

Ongoing climate change can have varying impacts on tree growth within the growing season and across their elevation ranges, with important implications for forest ecosystem functions and services. However, our knowledge of these effects on climate-sensitive Himalayan forests is still limited. Here, we explore the elevational changes in climatic factors driving long-term changes in the radial growth of Himalayan Hemlock (Tsuga dumosa), including recent responses to unprecedented climate warming in the central Himalayas. We evaluated several growth parameters, including total ring width, earlywood width, adjusted latewood width, and maximum latewood density, in unique > 400-year-old forests along an elevational gradient of 2500–3100 m on the southern slopes of Dhaulagiri, Nepal. Our findings show that changing climatic conditions, characterized by increasing temperatures and variable precipitation patterns, had a more detrimental effect on Tsuga growth at the edge of its elevation range compared to the optimal mid-elevation zone. Specifically, at lower elevations, the combination of spring and preceding autumn warming restricted earlywood growth, while warmer temperatures in late summer stimulated growth at the mid-elevation site by alleviating the cool growth-limiting conditions caused by high monsoonal precipitation. Furthermore, increased spring temperatures enhance latewood density, while summer warming promotes latewood growth at higher elevations. Additionally, we observed that the recent rise in autumn temperatures has begun to impede Tsuga growth across all elevations. In conclusion, our study reveals that the growth of Tsuga trees is influenced by multiple climatic factors that vary within the growing season and across different parts of its elevation range. Recent spring warming has constrained growth in lower elevations, while higher previous autumn temperatures have reduced growth at both higher and lower boundaries of the species' range. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationship between climate change and tree growth dynamics, particularly in vulnerable Himalayan forests.