Liang et al. (2025) May Relative Humidity Reconstruction Based on Populus cathayana Ring-Width Chronology on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

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Identification

• Journal: Forests
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-30
• Authors: Zhongwei Liang, Jinbao Li, Tsun Fung Au, Teng Li
• DOI: 10.3390/f16111659

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study reconstructed May relative humidity for the eastern Tibetan Plateau over the past 146 years using tree-ring width, revealing multi-decadal variability and its links to ENSO and the East Asian Summer Monsoon.

Objective

• To reconstruct long-term May relative humidity variations on the eastern Tibetan Plateau using tree-ring chronologies to better understand regional climate dynamics and provide a valuable proxy record.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Eastern Tibetan Plateau.
• Temporal Scale: 160-year tree-ring chronology developed; 146-year reconstruction of May relative humidity (1874–2011).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Climate-tree growth relationship (statistical model for reconstruction), Spectral analysis.
• Data sources: Tree-ring width chronology from Populus cathayana (proxy data), instrumental May relative humidity (for calibration), other nearby tree-ring records (for validation), EI Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index, East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) index.

Main Results

• A 160-year tree-ring width chronology from Populus cathayana was developed.
• May relative humidity for the eastern Tibetan Plateau was reconstructed for the past 146 years.
• The reconstruction identified three drought periods (1874–1901, 1921–1932, and 2001–2011) and two wet periods (1902–1920 and 1955–2000).
• The reconstructed relative humidity shows high consistency with other regional tree-ring-based temperature and moisture records.
• Spectral analysis detected 2–5 year cycles in relative humidity variability, likely related to ENSO.
• The reconstruction correlates significantly with the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) index, indicating EASM's influence on regional moisture transport.
• The findings highlight the role of ocean–atmosphere coupling in driving humidity variability on the eastern Tibetan Plateau.

Contributions

• Provides the first 146-year May relative humidity reconstruction for the eastern Tibetan Plateau, extending the limited instrumental records.
• Advances understanding of long-term regional climate dynamics and moisture variability.
• Offers a valuable proxy record for future climate change assessments and paleoclimate studies.
• Identifies teleconnections between regional humidity and large-scale climate phenomena (ENSO, EASM).

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Liang2025May,
  author = {Liang, Zhongwei and Li, Jinbao and Au, Tsun Fung and Li, Teng},
  title = {May Relative Humidity Reconstruction Based on Populus cathayana Ring-Width Chronology on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China},
  journal = {Forests},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/f16111659},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/f16111659}
}