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Shifts in timing of local growing season in China during 1961–2012

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Abstract

The warming rates in China determined by daily minimum temperature (Tmin) are considerably large than those based on daily mean temperature (Tmean); therefore, the thermal growing season indices defined from Tmin are expected to show more pronounced changes than those from Tmean. In this study, we investigate changing rates in the local growing season (LGS) defined using the climatological annual mean Tmin and Tmean as temperature thresholds throughout China for the period 1961–2012. Changes in the thermal growing season indices based on fixed-temperature thresholds such as 0 °C, 5 °C, and 10 °C are analyzed for comparison. Results show that the Tmin-based LGS-lengthening rate (3.0 days per decade) is at least 1.2 times that of the Tmean-based result (2.5 days per decade). It is also suggested that the growing season defined via a fixed-temperature threshold should only be applicable when determining the validity of a particular station in relation to its location. For example, the 0 °C-, 5 °C-, and 10 °C-based growing season definitions are applicable in regions to the north of 36° N, 32° N, and 26° N, respectively, based on Tmean in eastern China and to the north of 33° N, 27° N, and 24° N, respectively, based on Tmin. To the north of 35° N in China, the average Tmin-based growing season lengthening rates are about 1.3, 1.4, and 1.7 times of those Tmean-based rates in case of using the fixed-temperature thresholds of 0 °C, 5 °C, and 10 °C, respectively. Therefore, the changes of the growth of some plant species that are more directly correlated with changes in Tmin should be much more pronounced than those of other species.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFA0602503).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Regional Climate-Environment for Temperate East Asia, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jiangjiang Xia, Zhongwei Yan, Zhe Xiong & Ziyan Zheng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jiangjiang Xia & Zhongwei Yan

  3. Department of Geography, Ocean College, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, 350108, China

    Shaofei Jin

  4. Hydrology and Water Resources Information Center, Hydrology Bureau, Yellow River Conservancy Commission, MWR, Zhengzhou, 450004, China

    Zuoqiang Han

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  1. Jiangjiang Xia
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  2. Shaofei Jin
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  3. Zhongwei Yan
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  4. Zhe Xiong
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  5. Ziyan Zheng
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Correspondence to Jiangjiang Xia.

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Xia, J., Jin, S., Yan, Z. et al. Shifts in timing of local growing season in China during 1961–2012. Theor Appl Climatol 137, 1637–1642 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2698-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2698-8

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