Dendrochronology

Tree ring research on conifers in the Alps
Dendroecology, dendroclimatology and climatic studies

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Rolland C. (1996). Croissance du Pin à crochets (Pinus uncinata Mill. ex Mirb.) dans la Réserve Naturelle des Hauts-Plateaux du Vercors. Revue Forestière Française, XLVIII, 2, 144-151.
  • TITLE Mountain pine growth (Pinus uncinata Mill. ex Mirb.) in the Réserve Naturelle des Hauts-Plateaux du Vercors (France).
  • LANGUAGE French
  • SUBJECT Ecology, Radial and height tree growth
  • KEY WORDS
  • SPECIES Pinus uncinata Mill. ex Mirb.
  • SITES Hauts-Plateaux du Vercors, South-East of France, Alps.
  • ABSTRACT

  • The growth of the mountain pine (Pinus uncinata Mill. ex Mirb.) is studied in the Vercors mountains (France), between 1570 and 1700 meters on an Eastern slope, on calcareous soil (dry lapiaz). 200 cores were taken on 100 dominant trees and 12 874 ring-widths were analysed. The mean tree height is 8.8 meters (10.3 m at 100 years), the average trunk diameter is 24.7 cm and the mean sensitivity reaches MS=0.275. The average ring-width measures 2.66 mm (with a mean tree age of 69 years). Results have shown that the mean area of sapwood represents 69 % of the whole basal area, and the heartwood formation begins near 20 years for this species. Radial growth curves as a function of tree age were calculated in 10 sites after measuring all the ring-widths. It reveals that the mean ring-width decreases rapidly with the age, since it measures 2.68, 1.81, 1.34 and 0.94 mm at respectively 25, 50, 75 and 100 years.
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