Dendrochronological analysis of the influence of climate on autochthonous and introduced coniferous tree species in the city park “Prostor”, Kardzhali

Abstract

The study focuses on the response to climate change of indigenous and introduced coniferous tree species – Austrian black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) and Colorado spruce (Picea pungens Engelm.) situated in the urban city park “Prostor” in the town of Kardzhali. A multifactor regression analysis was used in the frame of the dendrochronological studies to establish the functional dependence “climate – radial growth”. The model was tested in a climate window with a segment of 16 years – from 2005 to 2020. The data for air temperature and monthly precipitation amounts for Hydro-meteorological station (HMS) Kardzhali were used as predictors for the radial growth. = Both species’s indifference to the temperatures and rainfalls during the months August and September, crucial for the ring formation, leads to the absence of significant growth depressions in tree-rings chronologies and justifies the good condition of the studied trees.