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Acidic Deposition and Tree Growth: II. Assessing the Role of Climate in Recent Growth Declines
Author(s) -
LeBlanc David C.,
Raynal Dudley J.,
White Edwin H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1987.00472425001600040008x
Subject(s) - monoculture , dendrochronology , deposition (geology) , scots pine , ecology , environmental science , climate change , acid deposition , biology , soil water , atmospheric sciences , botany , geology , pinus <genus> , paleontology , sediment
Detailed stem analysis was used to measure historical growth of three coniferous tree species assumed to represent a wide range of susceptibility to potential acidic deposition effects on cation leaching. Sample trees were growing on an outwash plain in even‐aged monoculture plantations with similar stand histories and soils. Stepwise multiple regression was used to assess relationships between observed variations in growth and climatic variables. The ring‐number sequence, a relative measure of historical tree growth that did not require standardization, was particularly useful in analyses of growth‐environment relationships for young trees that exhibit consistent apical growth. Species/site groups assumed to be more susceptible to acidic deposition effects exhibited significant decreases in growth after 1960, but these decreases were correlated with climatic variables. Growth‐climate relationships derived for the pre‐1960s period did not predict decreases in tree growth observed during the mid‐1960s and late‐1970s, indicating a lack of time stability in growth‐climate relationships. This may be due to many factors, including maturation, climatic anamolies, and/or acidic deposition effects. This correlational study can not establish cause‐and‐effect relationships between tree growth and climate or acidic deposition. Independent confirmation and studies of the physiological mechanisms involved are needed to substantiate these results.