Current issue: 58(5)
Different approaches to the study of the annual rhythm of forest trees are described and compared by analysing the concepts and theories presented in the literature. The seasonality varying morphological and physiological state of forest trees is referred to as the annual rhythm s. lat., from which the annual ontogenetic rhythm is separated as a distinct type. The dormancy phenomena of the trees are grouped into four categories. Theories concerning the regulation of the annual rhythm are divided into two main types, the most common examples of which are the photoperiod theory and the temperature sum theory. Recent efforts towards a synthetic theory are described.
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Methods involving the use of moving averages, trend surfaces and their combination are compared in deriving local values of monthly mean temperatures and precipitation sums from the observations made by the Finnish Meteorological Office. Correlation between meteorological variables and sea index, lake index and height above sea level were used in the trend surface method and in the combined method. Combined method, with a trend surface calculated from means of a long time period, was the most reliable method to estimate long local time series.
A method to calculate unbiased estimates of effective temperature sums from monthly mean temperatures is presented.
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Climatological factors determining the natural northern boundary in Europe of oak (Quercus robur L.) were investigated. The natural northern boundary of oak corresponds in detail to the curve at which the growing season, beginning at +5°C in spring and ending at +10°C in autumn, is of a certain constant length. The northern boundaries for more oceanic plants can be explained by prolonged autumn activity. This is obviously the general explanation or the concept of oceanity. Oak spread markedly in Finland in the summers during 1961–1975, which on an average were as warm but much dried than those during 1931–1960. The importance of humidity for oak was discussed.
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