Kaennel Dobbertin, M., & Bräker, O. U. (Eds.). (2001). Tree rings and people. International conference on the future of dendrochronology. Davos: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.

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Tree ings and ople

International Conference on the Future of Dendrochronology

Davos, 22-26 September 2001

Abstracts

Edited by Michele Kaennel Dobbertin and Otto Ueli Braker

Published by the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL

CH-8903 Birmensdorf. 2001

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Recommended form of citation:

Kaennel Dobbertin, M.; Braker, O.U. (eds) 2001:

Tree Rings and People. International Conference on the Future of Dendrochronology. Davos, 22-26 September 2001. Abstracts.

Birmensdorf, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL. 278 pp.

ISBN 3-905620-96-0

Available from Library WSL

ZOrcherstrasse 111 CH-8903 Birmensdorf E-mail: bibliothek@wsl.ch

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Session 1: Wood structure and function

The increment puncher: A tool for extracting small cores of wood and bark from living trees Theodor Forster, Fritz Hans Schweingruber, Bernhard Denneler

Using three different methods for measuring tree rings: comparison of results Ignacio Garcfa Gonzalez, Lorena Garcfa Rodrfguez, Elvira Dfaz Vizcafno A computer-assisted dendrochronology workstation: progress report

Martin A.R. Munro, Malcolm K. Hughes, Robert Schowengerdt, W. Steven Conner, James B. Engle, Giribalan Gopalan, James M. Burns

Analysis of tree-ring growth and cell structure on free-hand sections by confocal microscopy

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Peter Kitin, Ryo Funada

Microphotometry and tomography as tools for the study of internal wood structures Vladimir Bahyl, J. Dursk, M. Gajtanska, Pham Van Tinh, Th. Seifert, A. Zbonak1

Image analysis of ring anatomy: interpretation of intra-ring microvariations in wood density

*

Valerie Decoux, Emmanuel Defays, Charles De Canniere Modelling of cambial activity

Alexander V. Shashkin, Harold C. Fritts, Debbie Hemming Dendrochronology of roots: applications and potential Cornelia Krause

Why is there so much air in sapwood?

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Barbara L. Gartner, John A. Moore, Barry A. Gardiner Cell-wall masses of conifer tree ring

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Pavel P. Silkin

Mediterranean tree rings: difficulties encountered during the dating

Paolo Cherubini, Barbara Gartner, Roberto Tognetti, Otto U. Braker, John L. Innes

Age determination of two evergreen woody species (Pistacia lentiscus and Phillyrea latifolia) of Mediterranean macchia vegetation

Riccardo Gucci, Otto U. Braker, Werner Schoch, Paolo Cherubini

Do ring-shaken chestnut trees display larger earlywood vessels and/or less radial rays than unshaken ones?

Patrick Fonti

A reassessment of carbon content in wood: Variation within and between 40 North American species Sabah Lamlom, Rodney Savidge

Tree rings and sex: A case study from high-altitude Austrocedrus chilensis forests from southern Argentina and Chile

Fidel Roig, Carlos Le-Quesne, Jose A. Boninsegna, Mariano Morales

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Preliminary results on the dendrochronology of Wollemi Pine ( Wollemia nobilis), a new conifer genus from NSW, Australia

John C.G. Banks

The variation of the annual rings in Iranian beech (Fagus orientalis L) Davoud ParsaPajouh

The formation of new vessel elements in the ring-porous hardwoods in springtime in relation to water transport

Ryo Funada, Tomoko lwatate-Suzuki, Yasuhiro Utsumi, Toshihiro Suzuki, Peter Kitin, Yuzou Sano Mechanism leading to intra-ring radial cracks in young spruce trees *

Michael Grabner, Burgi Gierlinger, Rupert Wimmer

Variation in wood anatomy of some Maloideae species in relation to climate

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Vera E. Benkova

The effects of climate on variations in early- and latewood width of Japanese ash in northern Hokkaido, Japan

Koh Yasue, Ryo Funada

Salt stress signal in the annual rings of poplars exposed to coastal storms Thorbergur Hjalti Jonsson, Baldur J6n Vigfusson, 61afur Eggertsson

Ash pollarding in SWitzerland in the last 6000 years: the wood-anatomical evidence Jean Nicolas Haas, Heiner Albrecht

Spruce budworm defoliation and its impact on the tree-ring formation of Balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.)

Young-In Park, Hubert Morin

Frost rings in conifers and broadleaved trees - seasonal differentiation and ecological evaluation Hannes Hubert Leuschner, Fritz Hans Schweingruber

Frost-induced shrinkage in stem and root of Jug/ans regia trees Sergio Mapelli, Alcide Bertani

Rhythmic patterns of stable isotopes in tropical wood

Gerhard Helle, Gerhard Hans Schleser, Martin Worbes, Dieter Anhuf Long.term climate controls on vessel diameter and density in tropical trees Fidel Roig, David Stahle, Silvia Delgado, Susana Monge

Possible growth rings in the mangrove Rhizophora mucronata Lamk in Kenya Anouk Verheyden, Hans Beeckman, Jurgen Tack, Nico Koedam

Dendroclimatology of the Australian red cedar in Eastern Australian rainforests lngo Heinrich, John C.G. Banks

Dendroecological studies on Swietenia macrophyl/a King and Cedre/a odorata L. from the Central Amazon Oliver Dunisch, Josef Bauch, Valdinez R. Mont6ia

Phenology and stem-growth periodicity of tree species in Amazonian floodplain forests Jochen Schongart, Martin Worbes

Wood anatomical characteristics for tree-ring and growth periodicity analysis of semideciduous forests in Brazil

Mario Tomazello Fo., Viviam Correia Baptista, Ligia Ferreira, Paulo Cesar Botosso Tree rings of teak as dendrochronological tools: Some anatomical evidences Kanthila Mahabala Bhat

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Session 2: Archaeology

Dendrochronology: doing the splits between archaeology and natural sciences Andre Billamboz, Wilhelm Tegel

Tree-ring Research and archaeological heritage in the Netherlands

Esther Jansma, Elsemieke Hanraets, Ute Sass-Klaassen, Tamara Vemimmen Dendrochronological evidence of timber trade

Tomasz Wazny

A dendrochronological study of violins by Antonio Stradivari John Topham

A new oak chronology for early medieval Venice Nicoletta Martinelli

Dendrochronological analysis of the library (Sala Vaccarini) and sacristy of the San Nicolo !'Arena Monastery, Catania, Italy *

Mauro Bernabei, R. Castorina, Angela Lo Monaco

Lavagnone, Italy: a four-phase tree-ring chronology from the Early Bronze Age Carol B. Griggs, Peter I. Kuniholm, Maryanne W. Newton

Eastern Turkey: archaeology, history and tree-ring research at Urartian Ayanis Maryanne W. Newton, Peter I. Kuniholm, Carol B. Griggs

Xylological aspects of charcoals from the archaeological city of Ferento (Xllth century, Viterbo, Italy) * Mauro Bernabei, Manuela Romagnoli

Notes on ancient woodland exploitation from the dendrochronological study on the bronze pile-dwelling of Frassino I (Northern Italy)

Nicoletta Martinelli, Olivia Pignatelli

Dendrochronological investigations in prehistoric pile dwellings in the Ljubljana Moor, Slovenia Katarian Cufar, Anton Veluscek, Tom Levanic, Bernd Kromer

Dendrochronological study of archaeological lake sites. From datation to forest exploitation Jean-Pierre Hurni, Christian Orcel, Jean Tercier

The history of the prehistoric mire woodland in Ypenburg, the Netherlands

Ute Sass-Klaassen, Laura Kooistra, Sjoerd van Daalen, Elsemieke Hanraets, Esther Jansma, Pauline van Rijn Recent dendroarchaeological investigations in north-eastern France

Wilhelm Tegel

Session 3: Air pollution and environmental chemistry

Chemical elements in tree-ring patterns as related to soil chemical status in the Southern Black Forest, Germany*

Jurgen Schaffer, Klaus von Wilpert

Emission of power plants and growth of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) * Wolfram Elling

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Relationships between radial increment and lignification of conifers in alkalised industrial areas of Estonia Malle Mandre, Henn Parn

Air pollution effects on wood decay of windthrown trees in the southern taiga of the Urals E.L. Vorobeichik, Marina R. Trubina, Alexandr Yu. Surkov

Elements, PAH and isotopes of S and Pb in tree bark for biomonitoring of air quality and fingerprinting of pollution sources

Frieder Hofmann, Werner Wosniok, Guido Bracke, Annette Giesemann, Ulrike Siemers

The effects of drought, insects and pollution on the radial increment of Scots pine on sandy soil in western Rnland

Kristian Karlsson

Estimation of fluctuations in forest stand productivity with help of ring-width analysis Irene Dashkovskaya, Alexey Buzikin, Vladislav Soukhovolsky

Growth response of tamarack and black spruce populations to wastewater filtered through a boreal bog Thomas W. Doyle, Glenn R. Guntenspergen

Trace element determination by PIXE in tree rings and soil of the Mexican Basin German Galva-Vasquez, J. Miranda, L. Huerta-Arcos, C. Solis, V. Cetina

Global radiation disasters and tree rings

Valery Kozlov, Gennadiy Kozubov, Margarita Kisternaya Metal deposition in baldcypress tree rings

Margaret S. Devall, Shane D. Latimer, Leonard B. Thien, Erik G. Ellgaard t, Charles E. Thomas, Satish D. Kumar

Temporal trend in heavy metals concentrations and lignin structure in some conifers in Aosta Valley (western Italian Alps)

Marco Orlandi, Manuela Pelfini, Manuela Pavan

Woodtrax: a new instrument for x-ray and trace element analysis Hakan Grudd

Session 4: Climatology

Tree-ring width wavelet analysis of solar variability and climatic effects on a Chilean cypress during the last two and a half millenia

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Daniel J. R. Nordemann, N. R. Rigozo, E. Echer, L. E. A. Vieira, A. Zanandrea Dendrochronological evidence of long-term variations in solar activity and climate

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O.M. Raspopov, V.A. Dergachev,0.1. Shumilov, T. Kolstrom, M. Lindholm, J. Merilainen, 6. Eggertsson, S.S. Vasiliev, A.V. Kuzmin, I.Yu Kirtsidely, E.A. Kasatkina

Interpretation of solar cycle length connection to global surface temperatures using tree-ring data Oleg I. Shumilov, Oleg M. Raspopov, Elena A. Kasatkina, Gordon Jacoby, V.A. Dergachev

Atmospheric and oceanic indices since AD 1000 reconstructed from tree rings in the American Southwest Fenbiao Ni, Malcolm K. Hughes, Gary Funkhouser

Regional features of climate variability and solar forcing on tree-ring data

Elena A. Kasatkina, Oleg I. Shumilov, Gordon Jacoby, Oleg M. Raspopov, Andrey G. Struev 6

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To what extent can oxygen isotopes in tree rings be used to reconstruct past atmospheric temperature?

An analysis of Abies alba in SWitzerland

Martine Rebetez, Matthias Saurer, Paolo Cherubini

Tree-ring stable carbon isotopes of Siberian larch as indicators of changing atmospheric CO₂and humidity

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Victor I. Voronin1, Gerhard Hans Schleser, Gerhard Helle

Extreme climatic phenomena and tree-ring growth anomalies in the 16th-19th centuries in the north of the Russian plain

Margarita M. Chernavskaya, N.B. Chernykh, Andrei V. Pushin

A dendroclimatological network analysis of Central European chronologies Burkhard Neuwirth

Dendroclimatic potential of Juniperus sibirica

Ljudmila A. Gorlanova, Stepan G. Shiyatov, Rashit M. Hantemirov

Spatio-temporal dynamics of forest-tundra ecosystems under climate change in the Polar Ural Mountains Stepan Shiyatov, Oleg Tchekhlov

Was there a Little Ice Age in Scandinavia?

Hakan Grudd, Bjorn E. Gunnarson, Maarit Kalela-Brundin, Hans W. Linderholm

Isotope proxies in tree rings as climatic indicators - investigations at timberline sites in the Karakorum mountains (Northern Pakistan)

KerstinTreydte, Jan Esper, Gerhard Helle, Gerhard Hans Schleser, Christian Welscher, Matthias Winiger Temperature regime of warm seasons in Siberian Arctic since 1642 A.D. reconstructed from cell dimension of larch tree rings

Irina P. Panyushkina, Malcolm K. Hughes, Evginei A. Vaganov, Martin A.R. Munro Climate reconstruction from tree-ring records in northern China for the last 250 years

Yu Liu, Umin Ma, Malcolm K. Hughes, Gregg M. Garfin-Woll, Qiufang Cai, Zhisheng An, Steven W. Leavitt Establishing a multi-millenial Pinus cembra chronology for the central Eastern Alps

Kurt Nicolussi, Peter Schiessling

lnterannual and decade scale changes in northern Fennoscandian midsummer temperatures since 5500 B.C. extracted from the supra-long ring.width chronology of Scots pine

Markus Lindholm, Matti Eronen, Mauri Timonen Response of pines to climate factors in Estonia Alar Laanelaid

Frost rings in coniferous trees of the West-Siberian Subarctic Marina Gurskaya

Millennium length tree-ring reconstruction of extreme climatic events in the Polar Urals Rashit M. Hantemirov, Ljudmila A. Gorlanova, Stepan G. Shiyatov

Dendrochronological evidence in beech (Fagus sy/vatica L.) of May late frosts in the Polish Tatra National Park

Zdzislaw Bednarz

Dendroclimatological analysis of climate features in Northern and Central Yakutia Anatoliy Nikolaev

Dendroclimatic reconstruction of growth-season temperatures in eastern Hokkaido, Japan Osamu Kobayashi, Koh Yasue

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Preliminary reconstructions from 1750-1991 for May-August maximum and minimum temperatures and the diurnal temperature range for Interior British Columbia

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Rob J.S. Wilson, Brian H. Luckman

A 700-year reconstruction of winter/spring precipitation for south-central Oregon from western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) tree rings

Henri D. Grissino-Mayer, Peter T. Soule, Paul A. Knapp

Dendroclimatological spring rainfall reconstruction within an inner alpine dry valley * Walter Oberhuber, Werner Kofler

Changing relationship between spruce and fir over the last 500 years: Implications for climatic reconstruction in the Lower Bavarian Forest, Germany

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Rob J.S. Wilson

A paleoclimatic record for the Late Holocene in the Central Sahara: tree rings of Cupressus dupreziana from the Wadi Tanezzuft area (SW Fezzan, Libya)

Mauro Cremaschi, Manuela Pelfini, Luca Arzuffi, Vincenzo Di Mauro, Maurizio Santilli, Andrea Zerboni Dendroclimatology of miornbo woodland species in southern and eastern Africa

Valerie Trouet, Kristof Haneca, Pol Coppin, Hans Beeckman

The dendrochronological potential of three South African Widdringtonia species Edmund C. February, Mary Gagin

Dendroecological analysis of selected tree species from South Brazil Peter Spathelf, Leif Nutto, L.F. Watzlawick

Tree-ring analysis of Tectona grandis (Teak) from central India

Hemant P. Borgaonkar, Kolli Rupa Kumar, Amar B. Sikder, Somaru Ram, Govind Ballabh Pant Tree-ring studies in India

Hemant P. Borgaonkar, Amalava Bhattacharyya, K. Rupa Kumar, G. B. Pant, V. Chaudhary Climate variation since 300 BP in the eastern part of Qilian Mountain, China

Xiaohua Gou, Fahu Chen, Yajun Wang, Xuemei Shao

A 2'500-year long temperature-sensitive tree-ring record in far north-eastern Eurasia

Malcom K. Hughes, Evgenij A. Vaganov, Stepan G. Shiyatov, Ramzi Touchan, Muchtar M. Naurzbaev, Gary Funkhouser

Tree rings and climate in the Near East

Ramzi Touchan, Malcom K. Hughes, Nesat Erkan

Carbon and oxygen isotope trends along the northern tree-line in Eurasia

Matthias Saurer, Fritz H. Schweingruber, Evgenij A. Vaganov, Stepan G. Shiyatov, Rolf Siegwolf Decadal-scale climatic variability in the South American sector of the Southern Ocean: Evidence from tree-ring records during the past four centuries

Ricardo Villalba, Jose A. Boninsegna, Antonio Lara, Silvia Delgado

On the use of high elevation tree-ring records in Northern Patagonia for assessing information about climate variability

Andrea Schmelter

Influence of climate on tree rings of Common beech (Fagus sy/vatica L.) Christoph Dittmar

Comparison of dendroclimatological variability of Scots pine along an east-west transect in northern Europe Hans Linderholm, Markus Lindholm, Bard Solberg

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Comparative analysis of growth responses to climatic changes in several conifer species in the Middle Taiga region (Central Siberia) *

Alexander Kirdyanov

Influence of climate changes on radial increment and age structure of subalpine larch forests of Kuznetski Alatau (Russia) over the last 330 years

Pavel Moiseev

Climatic response of larch trees growing at the upper timber line and above flood-plain terrace of lower stream lndigirka River

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Olga V. Sidorova

Age-dependent tree-ring growth response to climate of Larix decidua Mill. and Pinus cembra L. at timberline Marco Carrer, Carlo Urbinati

Dendroclimatic comparison of invasive Pinus strobus and native Pinus sylvestris along two ecological and geographical gradients in the Czech republic *

Tomas Tichy, Marcela Macova

Dendroclimatological investigation of Juniper (Juniperus po/ycarpos) in Elburz Mountains of Iran in comparison with neighboring high mountain areas

Kambiz Pourtahmasi, Davoud ParsaPajouh

Spatial analysis of earlywood vs. latewood chronologies of oak in the Iberian Northwest Ignacio Garcfa Gonzalez, Elvira Dfaz Vizcafno, Antonio Martfnez Cortizas

Yearly maps of different seasonal climate parameters for eastern Tibet under special consideration of mountain topography using GIS

Achim Brauning

Influence of thermic and pluvial conditions on the radial increments of Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco from Western Pomerania

Anna Cedro

Three millennia of climate, hydrology, and cliff ecology of the Great Lakes Basin of North America:

long tree-ring records from cliff-dwelling trees

Brendan M. Buckley, Peter E. Kelly, Douglas W. Larson, Edward R. Cook, Robert J. Wilson

Comparison of height increment and radial growth to needle proxies on young Scots pine as climate predictors based on the Needle Trace Method, NTM

Risto Jalkanen, Tarmo Aalto

The verification of pointer years in dendroclimatology Fabian Meyer

The International Tree-Ring Data Bank Connie A. Woodhouse

Tree ring web and alternative chronologies Dirk Schmatz, Sucharita Ghosh, Iris Heller

Evaluating the time-dependent behavior of ecological models based on dendrochronological data or.

What if we know climate but not its large-scale ecological response?

Harald Bugmann, T. Kittel, D. Schimel, Connie Woodhouse, Christof Bigler

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Session 5: Forest ecology and management

Tree rings as control and data source in disturbance history studies Mats Niklasson

Growth-dependent tree mortality processes in conifers Christof Bigler, Harald Bugmann, Fritz H. Schweingruber

Composition, age-structure, and disturbance dynamics of a rare dwarf Pinus rigida community on Mt. Everett, Massachusetts

David A. Orwig, Glenn Motzkin, David R. Foster

From past to future: long-term investigations in a strict forest reserve in the Eastern Italian Alps using dendroecology and a Geographic Information System

Renzo Motta, Paola Nola, Pietro Piussi

A multifactorial approach of sensitivity/ complacency

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Christian Wuthrich

The influence of winter conditions on the radial increment of Norway spruce in the coastal areas of western Finland

Kristian Karlsson

Using dendroecology for autecology studies: Examples with old-growth Pinus strobus Marc D. Abrams

Pointer years of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) tree rings on dry forest sites in Lithuania Adomas Vitas

Mapping avalanche risk using GIS and dendrochronological techniques Giovanni Comunello, Marco Ciolli, Paolo Cherubini

Growth reactions of sub-alpine spruces at Davos "Lusiwald" after one-sided light exposure by a "slot technique" for forest regeneration

Otto U. Braker, Ernst Baumann

Using soil water availability estimates for the interpretation of tree-ring series in northwestern Spain Ignacio Garcfa Gonzalez, Elvira Dfaz Vizcafno, Antonio Martfnez Cortizas

Relation among annual growth of conifer species, bushes and mosses in Northern Taiga region

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Anastasiya A. Knorre

Condition of live fire-scarred ponderosa pine trees, six years after removing partial cross sections Emily K. Heyerdahl, Steven J. McKay

Dendrochronological reconstruction of fire frequency in Prosopis ca/denia woodland of central Argentina Andrea A. Medina, Esteban G. Dussart, Hector D. Estelrich, Ernesto A. Morici

Reconstruction of fire regime in boreal forests of Siberia Galina A. lvanova

Linking fire activity and weather in Ural pine forests during the last 600 years Igor Drobyshev, Per Angelstam, Mats Niklasson

The use of paleoecology for fire history reconstruction and long-term effect of fire on ecosystem dynamics

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Isabelle Larocque

Disturbance interactions and post-fire development in a Rocky Mountain forest landscape Peter Bebi, Dominik Kulakowski, Thomas T. Veblen

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Patchiness and spatial synchrony of two-year cycle budworm outbreaks in central British Columbia, Canada Qi-Bin Zhang, Rene I. Alfaro, Angus Shand

Application of dendroecological analytical techniques in assessing growth responses to external influences:

impact of eastern spruce budworm defoliation on black spruce growth Peter F. Newton

Diffusion patterns of the eastern spruce budworm outbreaks, Quebec, Canada Yves Jardon, Hubert Morin, Pierre Dutilleul

Implication of roots in tree survival after spruce budworm defoliation Cornelia Krause, Hubert Morin

Response of Pinus sylvestris L. trees to defoliation caused by Bupa/us piniarius L.

Irina Viktorovna Svidesrakaia, Elena Nikolaevna Palnikova

The impact of two fungal root pathogens on tree-ring growth of Pinus mugo in the Swiss National Park (Engadine, Switzerland)

Giovanni Fontana, Daniel Rigling, Matthias Dobbertin, Peter Brang, John L. Innes, Paolo Cherubini Competition dynamics of important woody plants of the hardwood floodplain forest

along the middle reaches of Elbe river, Germany*

Stephan Bonn, Andreas Roloff

Long-term climate change and vegetation dynamics in bogs * Rutile Pukiene, Theodoras Bitvinskas

Detecting disturbance history of Barrier Island forests of Gulf Islands National Seashore, USA Thomas W. Doyle, Jeff Balmat

Increment of aboveground wood biomass and dynamics of whitewater inundation forests of the Central Amazonia

Jochen Schongart, Martin Worbes

Forest impact and recovery of a longleaf pine ecosystem along the south Atlantic coast, USA following Hurricane Hugo

Thomas W. Doyle

Is the risk of uprooting or stem breakage associated with wood properties? A post-Lothar analysis Fabian Meyer, Jens Paulsen, Christian Korner

The role of high-frequency tree-ring growth synchronization of forest stands in biological diversity and stability of forest ecosystems *

Alexey Buzikin, Irene Dashkovskaya, Vladislav Soukhovolsky

Missing rings in suppressed saplings of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) in old-growth stands, Quebec, Canada and their implication in the interpretation of forest dynamics

Sylvain Parent, Hubert Morin

The dating of old grown trees in the La Selva low land rain forest in Costa Rica Esther Naumer, Martin Worbes

Differences in tree-ring parameters of Scots pine provenances in response to annual weather conditions at a central Siberian location

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Yu.V. Sawa, Fritz H. Schweingruber, Evgenij A. Vaganov

Increase in radial DBH increment of Silver fir stands in Poland and its differentiation

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Jerzy Zawada

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The limiting factors at the upper and lower forest limits in the mountain-woodland steppe of Northwest Mongolia*

Joachim Block, Uwe Treter

Tree-ring chronology of Picea abies (L.) Karsten forests in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria Ivan Raev

Recent dynamics of treeline ecotones in the Pyrenees: patterns and paces of treeline response to climate Jesus Julio Camarero, Emilia Gutierrez

Ecology and dendroclimatology of Pi/gerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin in the southernmost Andes (53° S) - a pilot study in its southernmost distribution area

Johannes Koch, Rolf Kilian

Tree-ring growth patterns of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) along the Italian Alps, from the French to the Slovenian border

Marco Carrer, Ruggero Dal Gin, Roberta Janna, Renzo Motta3, Paola Nola, Carlo Urbinati Dendroecological analysis of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in the Aosta Valley Paola Nola, Renzo Motta

A 3474-year alpine tree-ring record from the Dachstein, Austria * Michael Grabner, Rupert Wimmer, Wolfgang Gindi, Kurt Nicolussi

Tree-ring growth dynamics of Picea abies L. Karst along elevation gradients in Italian and Austrian Alps Benedetta Bortoluzzi

Dependence of Douglas-fir height increment on geographic characteristics of provenance in central Serbia Vera Lavadinovic, Milo Koprivica,Vasilije lsajev

Radial growth as a tool to differentiate Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) from provenance trials in the Krasnoyarsk forest steppe *

Valentina V. Tarasova, A.V. Benkov, L.I. Milyutin, Alex B. Shashkin, Vera Benkova, Fritz H. Schweingruber Dendroecological analysis of silver fir (Abies alba) in stands under different silvicultural systems

Maria Chiara Manetti, Andrea Cutini

Long.term tree ring growth patterns of individual old Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesil) in western Oregon, USA: Silvicultural implications for developing old-growth characteristics in young managed forests Nathan Jeremy Poage, J.C. Tappeiner II, S. Andrews

A simulation model of tree growth based on tree-ring analysis as a part of integrated forest management Karel Drapela, Jaroslav Simon

Dynamics of coniferous radial increment and recreational use of northern taiga forests Pavel A. Feklistov, V.N. Evdokimov, E.V. Prigov

Ecological basis for the management of a subalpine balsam fir forest in Quebec (Canada) Sophie Dallaire, Stephane Dery, Louis Belanger

Wood mass and density - a still unused dendro-resource for the carbon cycle discussion * Otto

u.

Braker

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Session 6: Landscape ecology and management

Picea abies as indicator for geomorphodynamic activity in St. Antonien (Switzerland)

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Astrid Ropke

Dendrogeomorphology, climate and geomorphic responses in the northern Tien Shan mountains, Kazakhstan

Vanessa Winchester, Stephan Harrison, Alaric Rae, David G. Passmore, Igor V. Severskiy Dendrogeomorphological analysis of Cereniste landslide (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic) Rosanna Fantucci, Vitek Vilimek

Dating the thermokarst processes in West Siberia with dendrogeomorphological methods Leonid I. Agafonov, Thomas 0. Nuber, Horst Strunk

Anatomical features of exposed roots - A new methodology in dating erosion events Holger Gartner

Spatio-temporal analysis of mass movements by means of dendrochronology (preliminary results) Maria Cleofe Stefanini, Alessandro Chelli

Debris flow in the Central Italian Alps: an example of a dendrogeomorphological study to date recent events Maurizio Santilli, Manuela Pelfini

Reconstruction of debris flow frequency by analysis of deposits on a forested cone Michael Grichting, Delphine Conus, Thierry Falco, Igor Lievre, Gilles MaTtre

Dendroglaciologal evidence of Little Ice Age glacier fluctuations at the Gran Campo Nevado, southernmost Chile

Johannes Koch, Rolf Kilian

Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Swiss Alps Hanspeter Holzhauser

Bioindication of rock glacier generations in the Turtmanntal (Valais, Switzerland) Isabelle Roer, Holger Gartner, Richard Dikau

Dendrogeomorphological reconstruction of glacier variations in northern Patagonia during the past 1000 years

Mariano Masiokas, Ricardo Villalba, Dario Trombotto, Silvia Delgado, Brian Luckman, Alberto Ripalta, Jose Hernandez

Tree rings as tools to reconstruct past avalanches

Marco Bezzi, Marco Ciolli, Maria Giulia Cantiani, Paolo Cherubini

Microscopic analysis of growth reactions caused by rock fall and snow avalanches Markus Stoffel

Dendrogeomorphic investigations of snow avalanche tracks in the Canadian Rockies Brian H. Luckman, Gordon W. Frazer

Paleoflood records for the Red River basin, Canada derived from anatomical signatures in Quercus macrocarpa

Scott St. George, Erik Nielsen

Dendrochronological analysis of Scots pine and common alder in the vicinity of small water reservoir Marcin Fortunski

Tree growth to reconstruct irrigation effects in time and space Andreas Rigling, Harald Bruhlhart, Otto Ulrich Braker

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A 280-year reconstruction of Baikal Lake water level from tree rings Valery N. Magda, Anastasiya V. Zelenova, Serguei G. Andreev

A dendrohydrological method for reconstruction of river flow in the Swedish boreal zone Karin Jonsson

Input processes and decomposition rates of large woody debris in a boreal forest stream Niklas Dahlstrom, Karin Jonsson

Dendrohydrology in Colorado, USA Connie A. Woodhouse

Tree-ring analysis for the assessment of the effects of coastal erosion on Pinus pinea growth Sabrina Raddi, Paolo Cherubini, Otto U. Braker, F. Magnani

Trees of the sea: "Clam"-ring chronologies Bernd R. Schone, David L. Dettman

Spatio-temporal rhythms in landscape processes: application of dendrochronological methods Andrei I. Beliakov

Dendrochronological studies of natural reforestation and landscape development processes (Ramosch, Lower Engadine, Switzerland)

Bernd R. Schone, Fritz H. Schweingruber

Dendrochronological dating of charcoal kilns: a new method for dating historical land use at the upper timberline

*

Christa E. Backmeroff, Gaetano Di Pasquale

Historical land-use and upper timberline dynamics determined by a thousand-year larch chronology made up of charcoal fragments from kilns and ancient trees *

Christa E. Backmeroff

The Tunguska event in 1908: Evidence from tree-ring anatomy Pavel P. Silkin, V.D. Nesvetailo, Evgenij A. Vaganov, Malcom K. Hughes Dendroecological analysis of vegetation dynamics in Mediterranean macchia

Sandro Strumia, Assunta Esposito, Gaetano Di Pasquale, Antonino de Natale, Stefano Mazzoleni The application of dendroecological methods in urban areas - Examples from Berlin

Angela von Luhrte

Extended abstracts Authors

Geographical index Plant species Keywords

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Wood structure and function

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The increment puncher: A tool for extracting small cores of wood and bark from living trees

Theodor Forster 1, Fritz Hans Schweingruber 1, Bernhard Denneler 1, 2 theodor .forster@wsl.ch

1: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

2: Universite du Quebec

a

Montreal, Groupe de recherche en ecologie forestiere interuniversitaire, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

A newly designed and easy-to-use increment puncher (in French: minisonde de prelevement, in German: Zuwachsstecher, in Italian: puntura incrementale) allows the extraction of wood and bark cores from living tree stems to study radial increment, cell-wall growth, lignification and wound reactions. The size of the wood samples are maximal 10 mm in length and 2.5 mm in diameter. The main parts of the puncher are: The punchertube, the guide, the fixing panel with fastening belt and finally the clearing rod with guiding tool.

Punching procedure:

1. Attach the fixing panel on the stem and secure it by means of the belt.

2. Ram the puncher into the trunk, using the flat of the hand, brake off the core and pull the puncher out of the trunk.

3. Push the punched core out of the puncher tube. To protect the cells adjacent to the cambial zone, use the guiding tool for the clearing rod.

The simplest method to prepare these very small samples is to glue them on a wooden support with waterproof adhesive. For taking photographs, cores must be grinded or microsections cut with a microtome.

Editorial Keywords

increment cores, puncher, sampling

http://www.wsl.ch/forest/dendro2001/abstracts/abs56.ehtml Abstract number 56

In: Kaennel Dobbertin M., Braker O.U. (editors), 2001. International Conference Tree Rings and People.

Davos, 22-26 September 2001, Abstracts. Birmensdorf, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL. 17

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Using three different methods for measuring tree rings:

comparison of results

Ignacio Garcfa Gonzalez, Lorena Garcfa Rodrfguez, Elvira Dfaz Vizcafno bvluigg@Jugo.usc.es Univ. Santiago de Compostela, Esco/a Politecnica Superior, Departamento de Bioloxfa Vexetal, Lugo, Spain

Tree rings were measured using three different methods: a usual tree-ring measuring device (measuring table), a flatbed scanner and a binocular microscope attached to a video camera. Trees (15 oaks, Quercus robur, and 15 birches, Betu/a alba) were sampled near Lugo (Northwestern Spain) and their measurements were later used for chronology building.

The time needed for measurement was recorded for comparison. This result, together with the accuracy of the measurements and the difficulties that were observed with each method are discussed.

All three methods were very suitable for ring-porous trees. Diffuse-porous woods showed several difficulties when using scanned or captured images, as contrast was not always enough for recognition, and wood surface required very high quality.

Although the use of a typical tree-ring measuring device resulted to be the most adequate method, a high-resolution flatbed scanner seems to be a good solution for professionals that occasionally need to measure tree-rings, as both time consumption and precision are very similar, together with a relatively low cost.

tree-ring measuring, time consumption, cost, accuracy, Quercus robur, Betula alba, Northwestern Spain, Lugo

http://www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs115.ehtm1 Abstract number 115

Davos, 22-26 September 2001, Abstracts. Birmensdorf, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.

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A computer-assisted dendrochronology workstation: progress report

Martin A.R. Munro 1, Malcolm K. Hughes 1, Robert Schowengerdt 2, W. Steven Conner 2, James B. Engle 2, Giribalan Gopalan 2, James M. Bums 1

mmunro@ltrr.arizona.edu

1: University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, Arizona, USA

2: University of Arizona, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tucson, Arizona, USA

The workstation is designed to retain the best characteristics of present methods of tree-ring dating and data capture, but uses modern image-capture and processing techniques to remove much of the drudgery from the dating process, and renders the separate measuring phase unnecessary. It does not offer complete automation, but assists the dendrochronologists, who can override its decisions at all phases of the process. A microscope and video camera provide the dendrochronologists with both a conventional optical and a real-time video image of the wood surface, allowing their experience in microscope technique to help resolve dating problems and identify any anatomical peculiarities within the rings. The computer shares control of the three-axis stage that moves the wood and captures the live video images. It suggests positions of ring boundaries, measures the ring widths, and develops a 'skeleton plot' (a graphical summary of the patterns of between-ring variation evident on the wood surface), or a time-series plot.

Dendrochronologists are not only free to correct misidentified rings, but also to customize the conventions used on the plots to suit their preferences; they can then compare plots on the screen to cross-date the ring patterns against known chronologies and each other, aided by software that suggests possible matching positions and identifies inconsistencies possibly caused by absent or false rings.

We are currently working on making this system available for use on easily accessible, economical hardware.

tree-ring dating, tree-ring measuring, false rings, image analysis, dendrochronology workstation

http://www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs133.ehtml Abstract number 133

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2C

Microphotometry and tomography as tools for the study of internal wood structures

Vladimir Bahyl 1, J. Dursk 1, M. Gajtanska 1, Pham Van Tinh 1, Th. Seifert 2, A. Zbonak1 bahyl@vsld.tuzvo.sk 1: Technical University, Zvo/en, Skovakia 2: Technische Universitat Munchen, Germany

This poster describes our design of a fully automated microdensitometer for the measurement of tree-ring structures. It presents the whole system, from the cutting of samples through the X-ray imaging and microdensitometry to the data processing system.

It also describes the software and hardware of our new transportable tomograph, based on fan beam geometry. This system produces images of internal structures of living trees.

wood anatomy, wood structure, microdendrometers http://www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs244.ehtml Abstract number 244

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Modelling of cambial activity

Alexander V. Shashkin 1, Harold C. Fritts 2, Debbie Hemming 2 shashkin@forest.akadem.ru

1: V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

2: University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Tucson, Arizona., USA

TreeRing is a process model of tree growth, designed to examine the specifics of tree ring development. Daily meteorological variables are used to predict various tree growth processes including photosynthesis, transpiration, leaf resistance, carbon allocation and water balance. A cambial sub model utilizes these predictions to estimate tracheid cell division, enlargement and maturation during a growth season. Although it is well known that cambial activity, tracheid size and cell-wall thickness respond to phonological and environmental changes during the growing season, the physiological mechanisms controlling these responses are not clear.

We present a novel model to explain cambial function, and we outline how this model relates cell growth and structure with environment and phenology.

cambial activity, physiological processes, TreeRing model, tracheids size, cell-wall thickness http://www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/

Abstract number 62

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Dendrochronology of roots: applications and potential

Cornelia Krause ckrause@uqac.uquebec.ca Sciences fondamentales, Universite du Quebec

a

Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada

The functions of the root system are mainly water and nutrient absorption, stocking reserves, transport and fixation. The latter imply the mandatory formation of woody roots with secondary growth. Despite an eccentric growth in the root parts close to the stump, valuable information can be extracted by analysing them. Root cross- dating allows the precise identification of the year of installation in each part of the underground system. Moreover, the presence of adventitious enables its reconstruction in time (Marin and Fillion 1992, Strunk 1995). Root analysis can be used for geomorphic applications and dendrohydrology such as in the dating of floods or changes in groundwater level (Alestalo 1971, La Marche 1966, Bayard and Schweingruber 1991, Begin et al. 1996). Root growth can also be used for dendroclimatological analysis (Schulman 1936, Krause and Eckstein 1993).

Defoliation periods in the stems are followed by a radial growth decrease in the roots which often results in elongation in the root system (Krause 1997, 1999).

Stress factors such as drought periods or acid rain will be recorded more intensively in the roots than in the stem. Dating of root injuries also gives other information about events during the lifespan of the tree. Root system analysis offers a wide range of information from tree health to forest decline.

root analysis, dendrohydrology, dendrochronological potential http://www.wsl.ch/forest/dendro2001/abstracts/abs6.ehtm1 Abstract number 6

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Mediterranean tree rings: difficulties encountered during the dating

Paolo Cherubini 1, Barbara Gartner 2, Roberto Tognetti 3, Otto U. Braker 1, John L. Innes 4

cherubini@wsl.ch

2: Department of Forest Products, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA 3: Universita deg/i Studi def Mo/ise, Dipartimento di Scienze Animali, Vegetali e dell'Ambiente (SAVA), Campobasso, Italy

4: University of British Columbia, Forest Sciences Centre, Department of Forest Resources Management, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Tree rings have been used extensively in temperate regions to reconstruct responses of forests to past environmental changes. In mediterranean regions, although such information would be very useful to understand and predict the effects of global change on important ecological processes such as desertification, studies of tree rings are scarce. Studies of tree rings are scarce in mediterranean regions as the great spatio-temporal variability of mediterranean environmental conditions means that tree rings are sometimes not formed. Often, clear seasonality is lacking, and vegetation activity is not always associated with regular dormancy periods. We present examples of tree-ring morphology of five species (Arbutus unedo, Fraxinus ornus, Quercus cerris, Q. ilex, Q. pubescens) sampled in Tuscany (Italy), focusing on the difficulties we encountered during the dating. We present an interpretation of anomalies found in the wood structure and, more generally, of cambial activity in such environments. Furthermore, we propose a classification of tree-ring formation in mediterranean environments. Mediterranean tree rings can be dated and used for dendrochronological purposes, but great care should be taken in selecting sampling sites, species and sample trees.

wood anatomy, wood structure, cambial activity, site selection, Arbutus unedo, Fraxinus omus, Quercus cerris, Quercus ilex, Quercus pubescens, Tuscany, Italy

http:/ /www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs200.ehtml Abstract number 200

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Age determination of two evergreen woody species (Pistacia lentiscus and Phi/Jyrea Jatifolia) of Mediterranean macchia vegetation

Riccardo Gucci 1, Otto U. Braker 2, Werner Schoch 2, Paolo Cherubini 2 braeker@wsl.ch 1: University of Pisa, Dept. Coltivazione Difesa Specie Legnose, Pisa, Italy

Determining growth rates and age of woody species is critical to estimate biomass productivity of ecosystems, and for modelling vegetation dynamics. Tree rings provide useful information on growth rates of woodlands, but there is a lack of knowledge on the dendrochronology of evergreen woody species in the Mediterranean. One of the problems is the difficulty of distinguishing actual yearly- formed tree rings from growth layers formed during multiple periods of vegetative growth within the year.

We investigated two key evergreen species of Mediterranean macchia, Pistacia /entiscus and Phil/yrea /atifo/ia, at two sites with different soil physical properties, at the "Parco Naturale della Maremma" in Southern Tuscany (Italy).

Cross-dating for age determination was very difficult due to the presence of many unclear rings and double rings. We were able to identify false rings, which are caused by seasonal variability in air temperature and soil moisture.

We describe the anatomical features of the wood, the identified false rings, other anomalies found in the wood structure, and the relationships between tree-ring growth and climatic conditions.

dendrochronological dating, false rings, macchia, Pistacia lentiscus, Phillyrea latifolia, Parco Naturale della Maremma, Tuscany, Italy

http://www.wsl.ch/forest/dendro2001/abstracts/abs215.ehtml Abstract number 215

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Do ring-shaken chestnut trees display larger earlywood vessels and/or less radial rays than unshaken ones?

Patrick Fanti patrick. fonti@wsl.ch

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Southern Branch, Bellinzona-Ravecchia, Switzerland

In chestnut wood ( Castanea sativa Mill.), cracks mostly appear in the longitudinal- tangential plane along the annual ring. This defect, called ring shake, mainly develops across the lumen of the earlywood vessels, which are positioned in rows along the ring boundary. From a mechanical point of view, the earlywood zone, which is characterised by a large number of cavities (vessels), represents a weak plane. In addition, the radial bonding sticks (radial wood rays) are thin and monoseriate and offer only a weak resistance to cracks developing along the earlywood plane. Although these characteristics make chestnut wood prone to ring shake, not all chestnut trees are ring shaken.

Quantitatively anatomical analysis of earlywood vessels and radial rays were performed in order to verify whether among these characteristics is it possible to differentiate between ring shaken and not ring shaken trees.

earlywood, ring shake, vessels, Castanea sativa, Ticino, Switzerland http:/ /www.wsl.ch/forest; dendro2001/abstracts/abs217 .ehtml

Abstract number 217

In. Kaennel Dobbertin M., Braker O.U. (editors), 2001. International Conference Tree Rings and People.

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A reassessment of carbon content in wood: Variation within and between 40 North American species

Sabah Lamlom, Rodney Savidge savidge@unb.ca University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

At present, 50% (w/w) carbon is widely promulgated as a generic value for wood;

however, the literature yields few data and indicates that very little research has actually been done. C contents in forty softwood and hardwood North American species were determined. C in hardwood species ranged from 46.32 to 49.97%

(w/w), in conifers from 47.21 to 55.2%. The higher C contents in conifers agree with their higher lignin content (-30 %, versus 20% for hardwoods). Wood meal samples drilled from discrete earlywood and latewood zones of seven of the forty species were also investigated. C contents of earlywoods were invariably higher than those in corresponding latewoods, in agreement with earlywood having higher lignin content. Further investigation was done into some species to determine how much volatile C (e.g., terpenes, isoprenes) exists in freshly harvested wood, comparing oven-dried wood meal with wood meal dried at ambient temperature over a dessicant. C contents of oven-dried woods were significantly lower than those of desiccated woods, indicating that all past data on C content in oven-or kiln-dried woods are inaccurate in relation to the true C content of forests. We conclude that C content varies substantially among species as well as within individual trees.

Clearly, a 50% generic value is an oversimplification of limited application in relation to global warming.

carbon sequestration, earlywood, latewood, elemental analysis, carbon content, North America

http://www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs218.ehtm1 Abstract number 218

Davos, 22-26 September 2001, Abstracts. Binnensdorf, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL.

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Tree rings and sex: A case study from high-altitude

Austrocedrus chilensis forests from southern Argentina and Chile

Fidel Roig 1, Carlos Le-Quesne 2, Jose A. Boninsegna 1, Mariano Morales 1 froig@lab.cricyt.edu.ar

1: Laboratorio de Dendrocronologfa, IANIGLA-CRICYT, Mendoza, Argentina 2: lnstituto de Silvicultura, Universidad Austral de Valdivia, Valdivia, Chile

Sex ratio in vascular plants assumes that female function is more costly than male function. These hypothetical differential costs between male and female individuals are interpreted in terms of different resource investment related to reproduction activities. The higher energy cost for females may cause reductions in vegetative growth that can be reflected in changes of the annual tree-ring widths.

Austrocedrus chilensis is a dioecious conifer tree from the xeric-mesic habitats of southern Argentina and Chile. Populations of Austrocedrus chi!ensis growing on both sides of the northern Patagonian Andes were considered in this study to elucidate possible sex-related differences in the annual growth patterns of trees. To assess any differences in ring-width series related to sex expressions, the intercorrelation among each individual sample at each site and among chronologies was analyzed using principal component analysis through the 1890-1990 common interval.

The arrangement of male and female Austrocedrus series with respect to the first three eigenvector axes reflects differential patterns according to sex. Each sex ex- pression is clearly grouped in any population analyzed. This suggests that male and female trees separate owing to particular characteristics of growth, probably associated with differential reproductive costs. However, the assumption that female trees could pay a higher cost in terms of wood production is somewhat contro- versial since not all sites show higher growth rates for male trees. According to the large percentage of the common variance accounted for by the first eigenvector, tree-ring variations at the different sites appears to largely reflect macroclimatic signals. Eigenvectors of order two and three could reflect smaller-scale variations that likely represent secondary growth-related features associated to sex.

When comparing chronologies developed by sex, the third principal component appears to reflect differences between groups located at both sides of the Andes.

This study points out the importance to extend our results to other populations on both faces of the Andes in order to validate our provisional estimations about differences in growth pattern related to sex and registered at both, local and regional scales.

The work discusses differences in female/male growth rate characteristics, growth cycles contained in chronologies developed by sex as well as implications of the use of these chronologies in climatic reconstructions.

vascular plants, sex, annual increment, principal component analysis, Austrocedrus chilensis, Argentina, Chile, Patagonia

http://www.wsl.ch/forest;dendro2001/abstracts/abs189.ehtm1 Abstract number 189

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Preliminary results on the dendrochronology of Wollemi Pine ( Wo/lemia nobilis), a new conifer genus from NSW, Australia

John C.G. Banks John. Banks@anu.edu.au Australian National University, Forestry Department, Canberra, Australia

Wollemi Pine was discovered in 1994 lying in a deep sandstone gorge in the Wollemi National Park about 200 km west of Sydney. The species is restricted to 40 trees in three isolated stands. Trees grow in clonal clumps to 40 m. To date one sample has been taken from a dead tree to ascertain its usefulness for tree-ring analysis. Distinct annual rings have been identified and this tree age was possibly -300 years old given that only 245 rings were recorded and an estimated 2-4 cm of the outer wood had decayed. Tree-ring width pattern through time displays a tendency for cyclic growth pulses somewhat on -35 year cycle which may indicate an El Nino effect. In addition over the last 100 years growth has accelerated indicating a change in the status of the tree in the stand or more likely the crown reaching more sunlight as tree height increased, the gorge being 100 m deep.

Investigations are continuing to learn more about the ecology of the stand in particular the annual height increment of these trees. It is hoped that the species will be sensitive to the regional climate as it is the only species on the central tablelands of NSW to produce long chronologies.

forest ecology, annual increment, Wollemia nobilis, Wollemi National Park, Australia http:/ /www.wsl.ch/forestjdendro2001/abstracts/abs118.ehtml

Abstract number 118

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The variation of the annual rings in Iranian beech (Fagus orientalis L)

Davoud ParsaPajouh parsa@nrf.ut.ac.ir

University of Tehran, Faculty of Natural Resources, Karaj, Iran

The variations of annual ring width, density and their relative factors were studied for Fagus orientalis at three altitudes (750, 1000, and 1250 m) in the western part of the Caspian forests (Iran). At each altitude, randomized samples were taken with a 5-mm increment borer from 30 trees with 45-65 cm diameter.

The radiodensitometric method was used for measuring the ring width, the average, maximum, minimum and range of the density (di, dmax, dmin, dmax-dmin) and the percentage of wood above 600 gr/dm³density (texture%) in each ring. According to the statistical results, we found that each factor decreases with altitude: ring width decreases from 2.18 to 1.14 mm, dmax from 820 to 681 gr/dm³, dmin from 541 to 477 gr/dm³, the range dmax-dmin heterogeneity from 879 to 204 and the texture % from 62.6 to 29.8%. The maximum-variability between trees was found for the parameters (dmax) and (dmax-dmin), and the minimum for (di) and (dmin).

Duncan test shows that the site at 750 m a.s.l. is different from the other two sites. But the sites at 1000 and 1250 m.a.s.l. are similar at the error level of 1%.

ring width, wood density, altitudinal gradient, Fagus orientalis, Caspian Forests, Iran http://www.wsl.ch/forest/dendro2001/abstracts/abs126.ehtml

Abstract number 126