Dendrochronological investigation on castanea sativa mill. In belasitza mountain and western balkans (berkovitza mountain)

Abstract

Chestnut blight, or chestnut bark disease, is caused by an introduced fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica (Murrill) Barr, (formerly Endothia parasitica [Murrill] Anderson & Anderson). The fungus have been suggested in several studies to be a main factor to the problem of chestnut decline in Europe. Nevertheless, it is interesting to make a more detailed analysis of the factors which can influence chestnut health. Dendrochronology is the science of extracting ecological information from dated tree rings. Information about environmental occurrences or changes is documented in a tree in various ways. To further the understanding of the dendrochronological characteristics that are important for dating purposes this poster discusses an investigation based on dendrochronological assessment of living chestnut trees. The analysis was performed by the crossdating of chestnut chronologies of different provenances (Belasitza mountain and Western Balkans-Berkovitza mountain), and the interspecific synchronization with oak stands. © 2009 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.