Response of Tree-Ring Density to Climate in Maine, U.S.A.

• Main Author: Conkey, Laura E.
• Other Authors: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona
• Language: en_US
• Published: Tree-Ring Society 1979
• Subjects: Dendrochronology; Tree Rings; Dendroclimatology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/260434

Cores of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) from three upper-elevation sites in Maine, U.S.A., were X-rayed, and minimum and maximum wood densities as well as ring widths were mechanically recorded. The 200- to 300-year series of maximum densities at the three sites show remarkable inter-site similarity. Maximum density and total ring-width series from one site, Elephant Mt., were standardized. Response functions, which measure tree-growth response to climatic variables, were calculated for each of these two series. The ring-width response function explained 66% total variance, of which 34% was explained by climate. The maximum density response function explained 70% total variance, 67% of which was explained by the same climatic variables. Thus, the climate signal from maximum densities is stronger, and perhaps more season-specific, than that of ring widths.