Abstract
Global climate change has had a profound impact on the ecological environment and economic and social development. Therefore, research revealing the pattern of climate change over a long historical period is urgently needed. This paper analyses and studies the characteristics of climate change in the typical area of the eastern Qilian Mountains (Xinglongshan area) over more than two centuries using the chronological data of the maximum latewood density of Picea wilsonii in this area. Correlation analysis of the modern hydroclimatic data revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between the chronology and the mean annual temperature (r = 0.77, P < 0.001). Based on these data, we reconstructed the mean annual temperature of the study area for the period of 1801–2020. Characteristic analysis revealed that the reconstruction results of the mean annual minimum temperature are reliable. The study area has experienced 3 warm periods and 3 cold periods in the past 220 years, during which the cold period in the 19th century and the warm period in the 20th century were both consistent with recorded historical data. The cycle analysis results showed that the reconstructed mean annual temperature series exhibited cycle distribution characteristics of 11 ~ 16a, 36 ~ 45a, and 65 ~ 70a. In addition, large-scale spatial correlation analysis revealed that the reconstructed series could also reveal the climate change characteristics of the area around Xinglong Mountain. The mean annual temperature series for typical areas in the eastern section of the Qilian Mountains reconstructed in this paper reveal the climate change characteristics of this area during the historical period and provide references for global climate change studies.