Tree-ring chronology of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) for Lithuania

Abstract

The long-term Scots pine tree-ring chronology developed from historical timber and living trees from Lithuania is presented. The chronology involves dated 65 tree-ring width series (33 timber samples and 32 living trees) and runs for 516 years between 1487 and 2002. Constructed chronology shows strong trans-regional signal – high similarity to centennial pine chronologies developed for Poland, Latvia and Estonia. Pointer year analysis has revealed that colds in winter-spring and droughts in summer are the main causes for the sharp decrease of the radial growth. Five negative pointer years cannot be linked to climate events because of the lack of historical records in the pre-meteorological period.