Dendroclimatological analysis and tree-ring growth prediction of Quercus mongolica

Abstract

Tree-ring growth of forest trees is closely related to climate and environment changes during growth period, thus it is able to provide precise information on climate changes. Therefore, the current study is intended to estimate growth changes and to develop an estimating formula for ring-growth based on climate factors for Quercus mongolica. The tree-ring data used are from the 5th national forest inventory conducted nationwide, with climate data in a raster format from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Using dendroclimatological method, summary statistics were obtained through cross-dating and standardization, and tree-ring chronology was written. The findings indicate that the variation and fluctuation in the tree-ring growth index are the outcome of complicated effects of diverse climate factors including temperature and precipitation. Also, significant annual variance for Q. mongolica has been observed, with the decreasing temperature efficiency index for it, so that the temperature condition for its growth is getting worse. The statistical analysis to estimate the relationship between tree-ring growth and climate factors is expected to contribute to evaluating changes in productivity which will be affected by climate change in the future.