Climatic factors affecting radial growth of Betula ermanii and Betula platypylla in Kamchatka

Radial growth responses to climate were studied in two species of birch broadly distributed across Kamchatka Peninsula Wood cores were obtained in different locations and environments, from upper to lower treelines, and from wet maritime sites at the Pacific to the subcontinental interior of the pen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Main Authors: Doležal, J. (Jiří), Ishii, H., Kyncl, T. (Tomáš), Takahashi, K., Vetrova, V. P., Homma, K., Sumida, A., Hara, T.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2010
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1139/X09-179
http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0188145
Description
Summary:Radial growth responses to climate were studied in two species of birch broadly distributed across Kamchatka Peninsula Wood cores were obtained in different locations and environments, from upper to lower treelines, and from wet maritime sites at the Pacific to the subcontinental interior of the peninsula. Response functions were calculated using the four longest meteorological records (1920s-2000) in Kamchatka. In Betula ermanu Cham, the dominant species in mountains and maritime woodlands, ring width in high-elevation (500-600 m) trees increased with warm and less rainy June and July and decreased with rainy/snowy cool weather during the prior September and October Radial growth in B ermanii low-elevation trees increased with higher winter precipitation, suggesting that water from inching snow prevents water stress and possibly desiccation in low-elevation trees In Benda platyphylla Sukaczev, a common taiga species in interior Kamchatka, low summer temperatures limited growth at its