Geographic variability of the climate response of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) radial growth in the Middle Urals

Abstract

This research examines the impact of climate on the radial growth of Scots pine trees across 20 locations spanning a 500 km transect of the Middle Urals, Russia. The study utilized 430 individual tree-ring chronologies to construct three generalized chronologies, ranging from 76 to 292 years in duration. The individual chronologies were aggregated by groups using cluster analysis. The results indicate that precipitation in May-June has a positive impact, while temperature during the same period negatively affects pine radial growth in the South-East part of the region. For the South-West part of the gradient, temperature conditions become uninfluential. But there is a positive effect of summer precipitation on growth. This suggests that Scots pine growth in the southern regions of the Middle Urals is constrained by moisture availability. The northernmost chronology exhibited no significant correlations between radial growth and precipitation conditions, while the influence of summer temperatures (July) becomes positive. These observations imply that Scots pine trees north of 58° N may experience improved growth due to the observed warming trend, whereas those in southern areas might see reduced radial growth because of increasing moisture deficiency.