The δ13C series of different components from Masson pine

This study addresses the effects of climatic drivers on the tree ring
width parameters (total ring width, earlywood width, and latewood width)
and the total ring δ13C series of different wood components (whole wood,
α-cellulose, and holocelluose) from Masson pine in subtropical China.
Pairwise correlation is significant between three ring width parameters.
Earlywood and latewood width did not reveal much stronger climatic
sensitivity rather than total ring width. This indicates that the use of
intra-annual ring width have little benefit in extracting more climate
information. The mean δ13C series of the three components of the total
ring had the strongest climatic response to the July–September relative
humidity (r= -0.792 (whole wood, WW), -0.758 (holocellulose, HC) and
-0.769 (α-cellulose, AC)). Through both stationary temporal and
spatial-statistical perspectives, the moisture drivers (summer/autumn) had
a significant impact on three ring width parameters and three components
of Masson pine. Overall, the tree ring width parameters and the δ13C
series showed a different response pattern to the same climate drivers
during the same period. Moreover, the R-squared values of the strongest
climate-proxy correlation coefficients are smaller than 50% for tree ring
width. The δ13C series may be a more representative climate proxy than
tree-ring width parameters for the dendroclimatology in subtropical China.