Site-specific growth responses to climate drivers of Pinus pinea L. tree rings in Italian coastal stands

International audience& Context Six Pinus pinea stands growing under the Mediter-ranean type climate in Italy along the Tyrrhenian and Sardin-ian coasts. & Aims To identify the main climatic factors driving variability in growth responses to contrasting climate conditions at local and regional scales using tree-ring analysis. & Methods Common growth patterns in tree rings were ex-plored with clustering techniques. Local and regional growth responses to climate were examined using a dendroclimatic analysis. To remove the age-dependent trend we decomposed the tree ring width data into age-bands, thereafter standardised and recombined into a single mean site chronology. & Results The main grouping of tree ring series reflected climate-driven growth patterns, with a clear separation be-tween stands from wetter and drier sites. The most interesting results were found at a seasonal scale and showed i) a shift of the main precipitation inputs from previous autumn-winter to current early-spring period, and ii) a bimodal pattern of sen-sitivity to water availability, when increasing drought conditions. & Conclusion Our findings suggest that water deficit limits P. pinea growth also during late summer months in drier sites. In view of the projected increases in the frequency and dura-tion of summer droughts in the Mediterranean basin, detecting differences in growth responses to site-specific climate patterns may allow selection of more appropriate miti-gation and conservation strategies across most of its present range