Relationship between Radial Growth of Pinus koraiensis and Larix gmelinii and NDVI and Environmental Factors

doi:10.7525/j.issn.1673-5102.2026.03.016

Abstract

Abstract:

The temporal dynamics of forest growth processes have become a critical component in evaluating terrestrial carbon cycle feedbacks. However， a systematic understanding of the coupling-decoupling patterns between intra-annual normalized difference vegetation index（NDVI） and radial growth phenology， as well as their response mechanisms to environmental factors， remains lacking. To address this， the present study focused on Pinus koraiensis plantations and Larix gmelinii plantations in Northeast China， employing continuous stem radial growth（SRG） monitoring， UAV-derived NDVI data， and meteorological observations to analyze the phenological characteristics and differential environmental responses of the two species during 2023—2024. The results demonstrated that L. gmelinii exhibited an “acquisitive” growth strategy， with SRG onset occurring 13-37 days earlier than that of P. koraiensis， and peak growth rates （22.40-32.34 μm⋅d^-1） consistently exceeding those of P. koraiensis （18.06-25.40 μm⋅d^-1）. In contrast， P. koraiensis displayed a “conservative” strategy characterized by a relatively concentrated growth period. SRG and NDVI phenology were highly synchronized in P. koraiensis， with a time lag of only 6-7 days between their onsets. Conversely， a pronounced decoupling was observed in L. gmelinii， where SRG initiated substantially earlier than NDVI but also ceased considerably sooner. Furthermore，the environmental response patterns of SRG and NDVI in P. koraiensis were highly consistent， both showing significant correlations with soil moisture and temperature， air temperature， and atmospheric humidity（r≥0.4， P<0.01）. In L. gmelinii， however， the responses diverged： NDVI was predominantly driven by air temperature（r≥0.4， P<0.01）， while SRG was jointly constrained by soil moisture， soil temperature， and atmospheric humidity（r≥0.4， P<0.01）. Collectively， this study reveals functional divergence between evergreenand deciduous conifer species in the coupling mechanisms between growth rhythms and NDVI dynamics， as well as in their sensitivity to environmental drivers， indicating that the coupling between canopy phenology and structural growth is species-specific.

Key words: stem radial growth, NDVI, Pinus koraiensis, Larix gmelinii, climatic factors

CLC Number:

S791.2

Haoxiang GUO, Binhui LIU. Relationship between Radial Growth of Pinus koraiensis and Larix gmelinii and NDVI and Environmental Factors[J]. Bulletin of Botanical Research, 2026, 46(3): 570-578.

Figures/Tables 5

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