Effect of contrasting water supply on the diameter growth of Norway spruce and aspen in mixed stands: a case study from the southern Russian taiga

• Main Authors: Tatarinov, F., Bochkarev, Y., Oltchev, A., Nadezhdina, N., Cermak, Jan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Norway; taiga
• Online Access: https://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gro-2/49399; https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2005086

Stem radial growth of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), aspen (Populus tremula L.), birch (Betula alba L.), alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench) and mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia L.) was measured in an unmanaged mixed uneven-aged tree stand in the southern taiga of European Russia by band dendrometers during the growing seasons of 2000 - 2001. In addition woody cores were taken from sample spruce and aspen trees using increment borers for dendrochronological analysis. Analysis of the tree rings was made for period from 1999 to 2002, the period while daily meteorological data were available. Spruce and aspen represented 40 and 44% of the entire stand basal area, respectively. However, basal area has grown over 60% of the total in spruce and less than 15% in aspen for each year during the period of 1999 - 2002. These results indicate the transformation processes of secondary aspen-spruce stands of the Southern European Taiga into a mixed spruce-aspen-birch stands. The most intensive radial growth of the spruce trees was observed in 2000 with high over-watering conditions in summer, whereas the highest radial growth in aspen was observed during the extremely dry growing season of 2002. The basal area growth for entire forest stand ranged from 5.3 m(2) ha(-1) in 1999 to 11.4 m(2) ha(-1) in 2000. Annual increments of radial growth measured by dendrometers and by microscopic evaluation of woody cores were quite similar in spruce. In contrast, this comparison was poor for aspen trees because zero growth in some of aspen trees (measured by dendrometers) was occurred.