%0 Research article
%T Climate effect on radial growth of Pinus sylvestris at its southern and western distribution limits
%A Bogino, Stella
%A Fernández Nieto, María José
%A Bravo, Felipe
%D 2009
%J Silva Fennica
%V 43
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.183
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/183
%X The associations between tree-ring width and climatic variables, the  tree age effect on climate-growth relationship and the drought index  impact on radial growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were studied  in Mediterranean environments in the Iberian Peninsula.  Dendrochronological techniques were applied to construct six tree-ring  width chronologies for P. sylvestris. The association between tree  growth and climate was analysed with correlation coefficients and  bootstrapped response functions. Drought index (DRI) was used to detect  the effects of aridity. Tree-ring width was positively correlated with  rainfall in the growing season but this association stated earlier at  the lowest altitudinal sites. The effects of temperature varied  according to the site. The response to climatic variables depended on  the age of the trees: more of the variability was explained by climatic  variables in young stands than in old stands. The significant  association between radial growth and DRI suggests that drought is a  determining factor in the radial growth of P. sylvestris. Climate  forecast scenarios show an increase in rainfall irregularity in the  Mediterranean region so the differential tree response to rainfall at  different elevations can be used to predict tree growth for determining  silvicultural treatments.