About the Authors

Cindy Q. Tang

cindyqtang@aol.com (CQT); ycyang@cqu.edu.cn (YY)

Affiliation Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China

Yongchuan Yang

cindyqtang@aol.com (CQT); ycyang@cqu.edu.cn (YY)

Affiliations Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China, National Centre for International Research of Low-carbon and Green Buildings, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China

Masahiko Ohsawa

Affiliation Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China

Arata Momohara

Affiliation Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, 648 Matsudo, Chiba 271–8510, Japan

Si-Rong Yi

Affiliation Institute of Medicinal Plant Cultivation of Chongqing, Nanchuan 408435, China

Kevin Robertson

Affiliation Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32312 United States of America

Kun Song

Affiliation Department of Environmental Science, East China Normal University, No. 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai 200062, China

Shi-Qiang Zhang

Affiliation Dabashan National Nature Reserve, Chengkou 405900, China

Long-Yuan He

Affiliation Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Analyzed the data: CQT. Wrote the paper: CQT. Conceived and designed this study: CQT YY. Arranged and conducted field work: YY. Contributed discussion to improve the manuscript: YY AM KR. Conducted field work: CQT MO AM. Contributed ideas and discussion to improve the manuscript: MO. Collected literature on Thuja fossil records: AM. Identified plant species in the field: SRY. Helped literature collection: KR. Helped in editing the manuscript: KR. Conducted tree ring analysis for Thuja specimens: KS. Assisted in field work: SZ. Created the maps of the study sites: LYH.