DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-07-09DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126385
Darren Davies , Neil J. Loader , Danny McCarroll , Dan Miles , Christopher Bronk Ramsey
{"title":"ISODATE – Software for stable isotope dendrochronology","authors":"Darren Davies , Neil J. Loader , Danny McCarroll , Dan Miles , Christopher Bronk Ramsey","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>ISODATE is a complete dating package for stable oxygen isotope dendrochronology that offers a user-friendly workspace for processing, crossmatching and precisely dating stable isotope chronologies. ISODATE provides the first standardisation of approach for isotope laboratories and the heritage sector for dating and the reporting of dates. The software produces downloadable figures and CSV files containing series alignments and statistical results. The application is freely and publicly available online (isodate.swansea.ac.uk). A manual and guided example accompanies the software. It is hoped that community-led refinements and additional reference chronologies will be added to ISODATE as the technique develops and is adopted more widely.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 126385"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144680083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-07-07DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126384
Balázs Garamszegi , Michael Grabner , Elisabeth Wächter , Josef Gadermaier , Klaus Katzensteiner
{"title":"Site and environmental legacies shape the growth–climate response of silver fir along a climatic and elevational gradient in Austria","authors":"Balázs Garamszegi , Michael Grabner , Elisabeth Wächter , Josef Gadermaier , Klaus Katzensteiner","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Silver fir (<em>Abies alba</em> Mill.) is a key forest tree species in Central Europe growing commonly in mixtures with beech and spruce. In forest sciences, the species has received wide attention due to the complex forest decline phase peaking in the late 1970s and the early 1980s in Central Europe, highlighting the negative effects of air pollution of that time. In the era of accelerating climate change with its adverse effects becoming apparent, the species is gaining renewed interest, especially for its further admixing potential to more resilient forest stands. In our study, we investigate the low-frequency radial growth patterns and changes, as well as the interannual variations and the corresponding climatic signal manifested in the tree-ring width chronologies of seven monospecific stands of silver fir. The study sites represent a broad climatic and elevational gradient along the distribution of the species. We compared the identified changes to recent climatic trends with more frequent dry periods since the 1980s, with specific attention to the timescale of the preceding forest decline phenomena. Following decades of radial growth decrease, culminating in severe decline at some sites, a quick recovery and increasing growth marked a period after the early 1980s, regardless of tree age and most pronounced at lower-elevation sites. The period of growth depression and recovery was accompanied by weakened or altered interannual climatic signals. During the recent decades, mean growth has been decreasing again at lower-elevation sites coinciding with drier conditions and shows signs of similar tendencies at some of the humid sites. A recent strengthening of the hydroclimatic signal, however, was not uniform in its timing among the sites. The interpretation of the results can help to further assess the resilience of silver fir to environmental stress, at the crossroads of past legacies, current and predicted challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 126384"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144653361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-07-03DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126383
Mengdan Jing , Changfeng Sun , Yu Liu , Huiming Song , Xuan Wu , Qiufang Cai , Meng Ren , Zhuoying Li , Yongyong Ma , Qiang Li
{"title":"Tree rings reveal spatial differences in temperature changes between the Altai and Tianshan Mountains over the past 289 years","authors":"Mengdan Jing , Changfeng Sun , Yu Liu , Huiming Song , Xuan Wu , Qiufang Cai , Meng Ren , Zhuoying Li , Yongyong Ma , Qiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Altai and Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, located in northwest China, are considered important natural boundaries in Asia. However, the scarcity of long-term meteorological data in these regions has hindered a comprehensive understanding of historical climate variations and their influences on ecology. This study constructed a new tree-ring width chronology of <em>Larix sibirica</em> in the Altai Mountains. Correlation analysis results showed that the average minimum temperature from June to July (Tmin<sub>67</sub>) was significantly positively correlated with the tree-ring width chronology and was the primary limiting factor for tree radial growth Based on these findings, the Tmin<sub>67</sub> for the Altai Mountains from 1730 to 2018 was reconstructed and the warmest and coldest years occurred in 2012 and 1743, respectively. In the past decade, the Tmin<sub>67</sub> in the Altai Mountains has risen by 0.86 °C compared to pre-industrial levels. The summer North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) was found to have an inverse effect on temperature variations in the Altai Mountains. This is the first reconstruction of summer minimum temperatures in the Altai Mountains of central Asia based on a standardized tree-ring width chronology of <em>L. sibirica</em>. Additionally, the combined influences of geographical features and environmental factors contribute to substantial differences in temperature changes between the Altai and Tianshan Mountains. These not only enhance our understanding of past temperature fluctuations but also for projecting future temperature changes through climate modeling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 126383"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144580018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-07-03DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126382
Alberto Arzac , Alexander V. Kirdyanov , Viktoria V. Agapova , Alina A. Kirdyanova , Daniel Diaz de Quijano , Nikolay I. Bykov , Ulf Büntgen
{"title":"Tree-ring width and blue intensity chronologies of three co-existing conifer species from the Russian Altai mountains reveal different climate signals","authors":"Alberto Arzac , Alexander V. Kirdyanov , Viktoria V. Agapova , Alina A. Kirdyanova , Daniel Diaz de Quijano , Nikolay I. Bykov , Ulf Büntgen","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Altai in southern Siberia is one of the few mid-latitude mountain ranges where summer temperatures have been reconstructed over the past 2000 years. While tree-ring width (TRW) measurements have traditionally been used, the paleoclimatic potential of more advanced wood density parameters from different tree species remains largely unexplored in this region. Here, we examine the climatic response of three co-existing conifer species (<em>Larix sibirica</em> Ledeb., <em>Pinus sibirica</em> Du Tour and <em>Picea obovata</em> Ledeb.) from the Russian Altai at ∼1600 m a.s.l. We develop TRW, latewood blue intensity (LWBI), and delta blue intensity (DBI) chronologies, and compare them against monthly temperature means and precipitation totals over the 1951–2021 period. Our results show that all three species respond positively to summer temperatures. The LWBI and DBI chronologies exhibit stronger and more consistent summer temperature signals than TRW, with the highest correlations found in <em>P. obovata</em> (r = 0.7) and <em>P. sibirica</em> (r = 0.5). Despite species-specific differences in temperature sensitivity, our findings demonstrate the potential of LWBI and DBI for robust summer temperature reconstructions in inner Eurasia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 126382"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining post-drought recovery in three sub-Mediterranean species: Some trees not affected while some never recover","authors":"Luka Krajnc , Polona Hafner , Jernej Jevšenak , Şule Ceyda Izmir , Mitja Ferlan , Jožica Gričar","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study aimed to evaluate and compare growth resilience to hotter droughts of three common sub-Mediterranean species: black pine (<em>Pinus nigra</em> Arnold), manna ash (<em>Fraxinus ornus</em> L.) and pubescent oak (<em>Quercus pubescens</em> Willd). Over 200 trees were sampled across eight different sites in two countries, Slovenia and Italy. Our primary objective was to evaluate and compare diversity in response to drought within individual species. Increment cores were extracted from trees from each site, which were then processed and their tree-ring width measured. Potential droughts were identified using a Summer-Heat moisture index in the following years 1983, 1985, 1992, 2000 and 2003. Radial growth resilience was analyzed using two indices, post-drought recovery period and average relative growth reduction. Climate-growth relationships were also examined. The individual droughts affected the majority of studied trees. Of the three examined species, <em>F. ornus</em> appears to be the least sensitive to drought stress. Across sites, species or individual droughts, a small proportion of trees always remained unaffected by the droughts. Some of the affected trees never recovered their radial growth within the studied period, indicating that their recovery period exceeded 20 years after individual drought events. The proportion of both varied between species, site and drought. These facts would indicate that more emphasis should be given in the future to studying “winner” trees, since they may hold the answer to species’ better adaptability to the occurrence of hotter droughts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 126378"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144580019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-06-24DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126381
Silvia Passardi , Paolo Cherubini , Brendan M. Buckley , Nam Le Cahn , Holger Gärtner
{"title":"Monsoon climatic signal is stronger in wood anatomical traits than in ring widths of Fokienia hodginsii in central Vietnam","authors":"Silvia Passardi , Paolo Cherubini , Brendan M. Buckley , Nam Le Cahn , Holger Gärtner","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dendrochronological studies conducted in tropical regions in recent decades revealed that some species exhibit annual rings. In Southeast Asia, several ring-width chronologies of <em>Fokienia hodginsii</em> (Dunn) A. Henry & H H.Thomas were established to reconstruct past climatic conditions.</div><div>Nevertheless, despite the strong correlations with meteorological data, the climate signal in the ring-width chronologies is robust for the shoulder season of the monsoon. For those interested in intra-annual climate signals, other parameters might prove useful. Information on intra-annual variability is crucial for understanding tree growth processes and climate dynamics in tropical regions. In this study, we explore the potential of wood anatomical parameters for climate reconstruction and for gaining a better understanding of the current climate of Southeast Asia. Microslides from cores of <em>F. hodginsii</em> in central Vietnam were analyzed. Notably, average lumen perimeter and lumen length demonstrated the most robust climate signals. They exhibit stronger correlations than ring width with maximum temperature, precipitation, and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index. The highest correlation (r = 0.5) was observed between lumen area and October-November-December precipitation. Furthermore, earlywood parameters show higher correlations with precipitation than whole ring parameters. The growth of earlywood in <em>F. hodginsii</em> appears to be influenced by climatic conditions during September-October-November of the previous year and April of the current year. Thus, earlywood is generally produced around April, whereas latewood grows during or after April-May-June. This study is the first attempt to use anatomical parameters to reconstruct climate in Southeast Asia and provides valuable insights into the intra-annual growth dynamics of tropical tree rings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 126381"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144518541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-06-24DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126380
Daigard Ricardo Ortega-Rodriguez , Andrea Hevia , Gabriela Morais Olmedo , Bruna Hornink , Fidel A. Roig , Mario Tomazello-Filho , Raúl Sánchez-Salguero , Luiz Santini , Laura Yáñez-Espinosa
{"title":"Wood formation mechanisms of Cedrela fissilis Vell. in extreme years: Climatic, anatomical and chemical predictors","authors":"Daigard Ricardo Ortega-Rodriguez , Andrea Hevia , Gabriela Morais Olmedo , Bruna Hornink , Fidel A. Roig , Mario Tomazello-Filho , Raúl Sánchez-Salguero , Luiz Santini , Laura Yáñez-Espinosa","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126380","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126380","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extreme climatic events in the Amazon region open questions about how the interactions between exogenous and endogenous variables occur in the wood formation of widely distributed tree species such as <em>Cedrela fissilis</em> Vell. In this study, eleven mature-phase trees from a <em>C. fissilis</em> population growing on a non-flooded forest in the southern Amazon basin were selected to determine the interaction between climatic (precipitation, temperature, and moisture indicators: precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration - P-PET and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index - SPEI), chemical (xylem concentrations of Al, P, S, Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Sr and their meaningful molar ratios) and anatomical (proportion of vessels – PV, fibres – PF, and parenchyma – PP) predictors to explain the variability of ring width (RW) and wood densities (average – RD, minimum – MND, and maximum – MXD). Decision tree regression was applied for understand this interaction in three datasets, values of narrow or less dense, complacent, and wide or dense rings. Narrow or wider rings vary manly associated to hydraulic tissues (PV) and SPEI. Less dense and complacent (in density values) rings vary manly associated to structural tissues (PF) and elements involved in soil-root interactions (Al) and resistance to water stress (Ca/Mn). Less dense MND vary associated to storage and transportation tissues (PP) and elements involved in soil-root interactions (Al and Mn), whereas dense MXD vary associated to structural (PF) and hydraulic (PV) tissues, precipitation and elements related to cambial activity (Ca and K/Ca). In the context of an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts in the region, the formation of narrower and less dense rings in <em>C. fissilis</em> is expected. In this sense, our results suggest that higher values, which ensure the functionality of these variables under these extreme conditions, are associated with a higher proportion of structural tissues to the detriment of hydraulic ones, in addition to higher K, Mn, and Al storage in the xylem, which mediate cambial activity based on cell expansion, reduced vulnerability to water stress, and healthier root system conditions, respectively. Altogether, this study offers clues to understand variables combination associated with wood formation in the face of extreme water-availability stress that can lead hydraulic failure, carbon starvation, increasing vulnerability, and even specie´s dieback.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 126380"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144563699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-06-18DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126379
Ireneusz Malik , Michael Maerker , Małgorzata Wistuba , Elżbieta Gorczyca , Patrizio Torrese , Manuel La Licata , Yang Yu , Beata Woskowicz-Ślęzak , Anna Bieniasz
{"title":"Tree rings indicate hazards related to a waterside landslide in the Northern Apennines, Italy – A preliminary step towards forecasting landslides and related tsunami","authors":"Ireneusz Malik , Michael Maerker , Małgorzata Wistuba , Elżbieta Gorczyca , Patrizio Torrese , Manuel La Licata , Yang Yu , Beata Woskowicz-Ślęzak , Anna Bieniasz","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We analysed landslide activity on a slope above the Lago di Trebecco reservoir (Northern Apennines, Italy) and indicated a hazard of future destructive landslide reactivation. We used dendrochronology in a variant of eccentric growth analysis to indicate the hazard of sudden slope failure, which could reach the water reservoir and form a tsunami. We use the previous pattern of eccentric growth of trees, found in the case of two landslides reactivated in a landslide catastrophe in Poland in 2010. Before the disaster, trees formed a specific eccentric growth pattern which preceded and can predict landslide catastrophe (sudden slope failure). This pattern was compared to trees growing on the Lago di Trebecco landslide to estimate the hazard of future destructive landslide occurrence. Trees sampled on the landslide above the Lago di Trebecco have recorded a gradual increase in activity over the last few decades. This means the landslide has become increasingly active. On the other hand, in the last two years, a significant decrease in landslide activity has been recorded on the Lago di Trebecco landslide; activity of landslides located in Poland increased significantly two years before the landslide catastrophe in 2010. This means no dendrochronological records indicate that the Lago di Trebecco landslide will be triggered in a short time, but the landslide should be monitored because of the increasing activity over the past decades. Dendrochronology can be a useful indicator for the hazard of a landslide catastrophe (sudden slope failure), which can enter lakes and induce tsunamis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 126379"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144479959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-06-12DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126377
José Roberto Vieira Aragão , Peter Groenendijk
{"title":"Tree-ring based growth modelling to aid timber management of congeneric Aspidosperma and Handroanthus species along a seasonal tropical forest gradient","authors":"José Roberto Vieira Aragão , Peter Groenendijk","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tropical dry forests (TDF) are vital carbon sinks, yet they are increasingly threatened by the effects of climate and land-use activities. In Brazil, law-based management practices in these forests do not ensure the sustainable use of these ecosystems, leaving them highly vulnerable. Here we use tree-ring widths to calculate cumulative diameter growth and estimate the ages at which trees congeneric species of <em>Aspidosperma</em> and <em>Handroanthus</em> reach the minimum logging diameter (MLD) across a gradient TDF types in northeastern Brazil (evergreen forest, savanna, and dry forests). Using the Growth-Oriented Logging (GOL) approach, we estimated the optimized MLD and logging-cycle length for each species from the current and mean annual increment curves for each species. Finally, we modeled tree-growth trajectories of each species and simulated timber yields at the next logging cycle under different scenarios (by law, by GOL, and in more stringent scenarios). Our results demonstrate that species from dry forests exhibit the slowest growth rates and the longest recovery times compared to species in other forest types. Only <em>Aspidosperma castroanum</em> from the evergreen forest approached sustainable yield levels under our simulations (∼80 %), while yields for the other species were much lower (10–30 %). These findings emphasize the need for forest management practices that account for tree growth variations between species and forest types. The prospects for sustainably extracting timber in the dry forests are bleak and a combination of increased logging cycle lengths and lower logging intensities are needed to ensure that timber stocks in these forests are not overexploited.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 126377"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144312776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DendrochronologiaPub Date : 2025-06-11DOI: 10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126376
Cosmin Ilie Cuciurean, Cristian Gheorghe Sidor, Mihai Lupescu
{"title":"Effects of historical industrial air pollution on European beech trees in Transylvania, Romania","authors":"Cosmin Ilie Cuciurean, Cristian Gheorghe Sidor, Mihai Lupescu","doi":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Air pollution significantly endangers forest ecosystems, particularly in cities. As urbanization and industrial activities continue to expand, air quality has decline because of the release of various pollutants from sources like burning fossil fuels, non-ferrous metal processing, mining activities, and increasing road traffic. Our study sites were located in the Copșa Mică area, which was once one of the most heavily industrialized and polluted cities in Europe. We employed a dendrochronological approach to evaluate the effects of pollution on trees, as tree rings can preserve long-term records of environmental changes, including both climate variability and pollution. This information is reflected in the width and chemical composition of the tree rings. This study aims to assess and quantify the negative spatial and temporal effects of local industrial pollution on European beech (<em>Fagus sylvatica</em> L.) trees. The study quantifies the effects of pollution by measuring radial growth losses in trees affected. Additionally, it examines how local industrial pollution influences the relationship between climatic factors and tree growth, depending on the extent of pollution damage. The period between 1955 and 1990, during which European beech trees were exposed to high levels of air pollution, coincides with the operation of polluting industrial units in the region. During this time, trees in the intensively polluted area experienced growth losses of 31.7 % compared to those in unpolluted area, measured by both tree ring width and basal area increment. Radial growth rates around 1990 reveal that trees in the intensively polluted area had a significant increase in growth compared to trees located in moderate and unpolluted areas. This radial growth spurt is attributed to the substantial reduction in pollution levels after 1990. Additionally, the negative effects of air pollution on the dendroclimatic response of trees were evident. In the period 1955–2000 trees in the intensively polluted area exhibited a distinct dendroclimatic response compared to those located in unpolluted areas. In particular, trees in the polluted area showed a negative response to variations in both precipitation and monthly temperature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50595,"journal":{"name":"Dendrochronologia","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 126376"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144307371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}