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Climatically induced light rings of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) in Lithuania

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Abstract

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Unfavourable climatic conditions trigger the formation of the light rings of European larch in Lithuania.

Abstract

The spatiotemporal analysis of European larch light rings in Lithuania was investigated to discover the spatial variability of light-ring formation and determine the climatic factors that trigger their formation. For this purpose, a case study in 24 research plots of larch was conducted. European larch light rings in Lithuania are associated with narrower rings than their adjacent rings and a decreased latewood proportion in the tree ring. The study has shown that cold winters do not have a significant negative influence on radial growth of larch in Lithuania. Long-lasting droughts in spring and summer and excessive wet periods in summer, especially in August, are the main climatic drivers inducing the light rings of larch. However, not all light rings could be explained with climatic extremes, suggesting that there are also non-climatic triggers of the light rings in larch.

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Acknowledgements

The author expresses kindest respect to late Dr. Kęstutis Žeimavičius (1955–2011) who allowed to use his own data and participated during the fieldwork.

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No funding was received.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Environmental Research, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, Ž.E. Žilibero 6, 46324, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Adomas Vitas

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  1. Adomas Vitas
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Correspondence to Adomas Vitas.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data archiving statement

Tree-ring chronologies are available at the repository of ITRDB, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data/datasets/tree-ring.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Leavitt.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 128 KB)

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Vitas, A. Climatically induced light rings of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) in Lithuania. Trees 32, 791–800 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-018-1672-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-018-1672-5

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