Paper 2: Regional variability 1 PINE GROWTH AND CLIMATE AD 1800-1992 ALONG A

• Main Author: Andreas J. Kirchhefer
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Tree rings; Pinus sylvestris L; climate; dendroclimatology; Norway; Finnmarksvidda; Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.605.9424; http://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/2412/paper_2.pdf;jsessionid=F6F0F184D352DB2B407E2416396FF2C1?sequence=2

Abstract: A total of eight ring-width chronologies of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L., was constructed in northern Norway 69°N along a west-east transect from the Atlantic coast across the Scandes. During AD 1800-1992, the first principal component (PC 1) reflected about 70 % variability in common for the chronologies, while about 10 % of the variability was related to the west-east gradient (PC 2). July temperature explained about 56 % of the variability in PC 1. Growth of Scots pine at the coast was determined by July-August temperatures (R2adj = 45%), while inland growth was mainly limited by July temperatures alone (R2adj = 48%). In the inner Scandes, pine experienced a growth reduction during the temperature optimum of the 20th century in the 1930s, while the growth maximum was delayed until about 1950. Possible causes might relate to a high year-to-year variability of summer temperature and allocation of assimilates for reproduction, to mid-winter climate, late winter precipitation, or a combination of these factors. Regional variations of pine growth during the 20th century thermal optimum suggests a division of the study area into three dendroecological regions: 1) a coastal region, 2) the inner Scandes, and 3) the Finnmarksvidda, east of the Scandes.