Long-term monitoring on shoot growth of alpine dwarf pine Pinus pumila in relation to climate change

I evaluated the effects of snowmelt timing and climate change on annual shoot growth of alpine dwarf pine Pinus pumila growing in Tateyama mountains, Toyama prefecture, which is distributed widely on the ridge and the upper slope above the timberline. Annual shoot elongation terminated in late July, showing little yearly variation. Annual shoot elongation was affected by climatic condition of the previous summer through the bud formation after complication of the current shoot elongation. Interannual variation in litterfall was also explained by temporal variation in shoot elongation.