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Acidic Deposition and Tree Growth: II. Assessing the Role of Climate in Recent Growth Declines¹

ABSTRACT

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.

Key Words: Dendroclimatology • Growth-climate model • Ring-number sequence • Verification

¹ Contribution of the State Univ. of New York College of Environ. Sci. and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210. This project was supported by fund from the USDA McIntire-Stennis Program, the New York State Energy Res. and Development Authority, and the Empire State Electric Energy Res. Corporation.

² Research scientist, Holcomb Res. Inst., Butler Univ., Indianapolis, IN 46208; professor and professor of forest soils, SUNY Coll. Environ. Sci. and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210.

Received for publication October 28, 1986.