High-resolution observations of cambial phenology and intra-annual growth dynamics are useful approaches for understanding the response of tree growth to climate and environmental change. During the past two decades, rapid socioeconomic development has increased the demand for water resources in the oases of the middle reaches of the Heihe River in northwestern China, and the lower reaches of the Heihe River have changed from a perennial river to an ephemeral stream with a decreased and degraded riparian zone. Tamarisk（Tamarix ramosissima） is the dominant shrub species of the desert riparian forest. In this study, the daily and seasonal patterns of tamarisk stem diameter growth, including the main period of tree ring formation, were examined. Observations concerning the driving forces of growth changes, along with implications for the ecology of the dendrohydrological area and management of desert riparian forests in similar arid regions, are also presented. The diurnal-seasonal activity of stem diameter and the dynamics of growth ring formation were studied using a point dendrometer and micro-coring methods during the 2012 growing season in shrub tamarisk in a desert riparian forest stand in the lower reaches of the Heihe River in Ejin Banner, Inner Mongolia of northwestern China. Generally, the variation in diurnal diameter of tamarisk was characterized by an unstable multi-peak pattern, with the cumulative stem diameter growth over the growing season following an S-shaped curve. The period from late May to early August was the main period of stem diameter growth and growth-ring formation. Among all of the hydroclimatic factors considered in this study, only groundwater depth was significantly correlated with stem diameter increment during this period. Therefore, for the dendrochronological study, the annual rings of the tamarisk can be used to reconstruct processes that determine the regional water regime, such as river runoff and fluctuations in groundwater depth. For the management of desert riparian for
Seasonal stem radial growth and wood formation of trees have become research hotspots because of their significance for dendroclimatological and dendroecological studies. However, until recently, these studies concentrated on coniferous tree species in high-altitude and high-latitude regions,while detailed information on arid-zone riparian forests is scarce. The main focus of this study is to monitor the intra-annual dynamics of radial growth and tree ring formation in a deciduous species, Populus euphratica. In 2013, we combined the dendrometer and microcoring methods to study this species in the riparian forest of the Ejina Oasis, in arid northwestern China. Vessel enlargement began in early May, and the maximum rate of cell production occurred in early June. The cell division then ceased from early to mid-July. The dendrometer method failed to reliably detect the date of growth initiation and cessation, but succeeded to detect the time of maximum growth rate just like the microcoring method did. We found that weekly stem radial increment data described xylem growth more accurately than daily datasets. Based on correlation analysis among climatic and hydrologic variables, and weekly stem radial increment, weekly ring width increase dataset, the depth to groundwater was the main factor that limited tree ring growth. From a practical perspective, such studies of intra-annual wood formation can provide empirical guidance for seasonal water allocations within a river basin.
