Research advances in the relationship between alpine timberline and climate change

There is little doubt that the global climate is experiencing exceptional changes.The rate of warming during the 20 th century was the greatest in the last 1000 years,with the 1990s being the warmest decade.As the boundary zones between major ecosystems,ecotones are important sites for monitoring the effects of global change.The forest-tundra ecotone,formed by alpine timberline,may be especially sensitive to climate change.Research advances in the relationship between alpine timberline and climate change were briefly summarized from the relationship between single tree and weather conditions,the regeneration of trees under climate change,the pattern of alpine timberline,and the methods adopted in the research on the relationship between alpine timberline and climate change.At last,the problem in the research on alpine timberline was listed,and the research trends in the future were also prospected.