Spatiotemporal Influences of Climate on Altitudinal Treeline in Northern Patagonia

Tree radial growth and seedling establishment of Nothofagus pumilio at alpine treeline near 40° S latitude in Chile and Argentina show time- and site-dependent relationships to interannual-and decadal-scale climate variation. Six treelines were sampled at two spatial scales corresponding to regional and local climates. A shift in climate from cool–wet to warm–dry conditions facilitated comparison of climate–vegetation relationships during two distinct periods: 1957–1976 and 1977–1996. For each treeline, tree radial growth and seedling establishment were correlated against monthly and seasonal temperature, precipitation, moisture availability, and two indices of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO): southern oscillation index (SOI) and sea surface temperature (SST). Four key aspects of climatic influences on N. pumilio radial growth and seedling establishment were as follows. (1) The relationship between krummholz radial growth and temperature variation was nonlinear. (2) Moisture availability was the dominant climatic factor influencing seedling establishment, although temperature–precipitation interactions resulted in variability among study areas. (3) Climate conditions that facilitated Nothofagus pumilio seedling establishment were distinct, and often opposite, from those that enhanced radial growth. (4) The relationships of radial growth and seedling demography with climate and ENSO differed among study areas and have been unstable over the past 40 years. Observed spatial and temporal instabilities in vegetation–climate relationships demonstrate the complexity of treeline dynamics in northern Patagonia under a changing climate. We conclude that a directional increase in temperature, as predicted by current global climate scenarios, will not necessarily result in an upslope expansion of the N. pumilio forests growing at altitudinal treeline in northern Patagonia.