Spatial Variation of Pine Tree-Ring Growth in the Solovetsky Islands

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an analysis of the spatial variability of pine tree-ring growth in the Solovetsky Islands. As a result of the field work, tree-ring network containing 14 dendrochronological pine sites in various habitats were developed. For each site, a local tree-ring width pine chronology (from 472 to 271 years) is obtained, representing pine growth features in different habitat conditions. A comparison between chronologies revealed synchronious growth of pine in various habitats in the late 17^th, in the first half of the 18th and the beginning of the 19^th centuries. The use of cluster analysis allowed to identify several groups of chronologies with similar characteristics. So, trees growing on swamps, on a sandy substrate and in a green-moss pine forest or in a mixed forest are allocated in separate clusters. This clustering is also confirmed by the results of a dendroclimatic analysis of local chronologies. It turned out that the increase in the pine’s growth in the mixed forest and in the green-moss pine forest depends on the July air temperature variation. Inside this group, samples from pine forests have a common feature — a positive relationship of growth with the precipitation of September. The only site located on the sands showed a different climatic signal than the other chronologies, namely, the dependence on the temperature of August.