To investigate the response of Cunninghamia lanceolata radial growth to climate change and provide scientific basis for the management of Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations.

The study was conducted on Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations in four locations (Chengbu County, Hunan Province; Liping County, Guizhou Province; Maguan County, Yunnan Province; and Nandan County, Guangxi Province). Tree trunk analysis was used to obtain data from breast height disks. A tree-ring width standard chronology was established, and its correlation with climatic factors was analyzed. The Mann-Kendall test was used to detect climate abrupt changes. The relationship between radial growth and temperature and precipitation before and after the temperature abrupt changes was analyzed and verified.

1) The statistical parameters of the tree-ring width standard chronologies of Cunninghamia lanceolata from the four study locations contained rich environmental information, making them suitable for climate correlation analysis; 2) The radial growth of Cunninghamia lanceolata in all four study locations was closely related to the hydrothermal conditions during the growing season (March to October), but exhibited a significant “lag effect”; 3) Temperature abrupt changes were observed in all four study locations. Before the temperature abrupt changes, the chronologies of all study locations showed a significant positive correlation with temperature, indicating that temperature promoted the radial growth of Cunninghamia lanceolata. Summer precipitation was positively correlated with the chronologies, whereas winter precipitation was negatively correlated. After the temperature abrupt changes, Cunninghamia lanceolata growth was limited by temperature, with the temperature's influence shifting from a positive to a negative correlation over several months, and the response to precipitation also changed to a significant positive correlation.

The radial growth of Cunninghamia lanceolata is influenced by both temperature and precipitation. With the intensification of global climate warming in the future, the limitation of temperature on the radial growth of Cunninghamia lanceolata will further increase, thereby affecting the productivity and carbon sequestration capacity of Cunninghamia lanceolata forests.