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Fingerprints of extreme climate events in Pinus sylvestris tree rings from Bulgaria

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Abstract

Tree-ring studies may help better understand climate variability and extreme climate event frequency and are especially useful in regions where detailed meteorological records lack. We studied the effect of droughts and unusually cold periods on Pinus sylvestris tree-ring width and wood anatomy. Study sites were selected along an altitudinal gradient on Vitosha Mountain, Bulgaria. Drought conditions caused the formation of narrow tree rings or light rings if the drought occurred in July–August at the lower altitude sites. In years with droughts in June and the first half of July, followed by precipitation in the middle of July, intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) were formed. Trees in the zone with optimal growth conditions produced fewer light rings and narrow rings in years with either strongest droughts or unusually cold summers. At the timberline zone, low summer temperature triggered narrow tree rings and light rings. Frost rings were formed when there was a drop in temperatures below the freezing point in the second half of May or at the beginning of June. Our findings show that studies of tree-ring anatomy may contribute to obtain further knowledge about extreme climatic events in the Balkan Peninsula and in other regions where meteorological data lack.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by project 124/07.04.2005 of the University of Forestry in Sofia and project DTK 02/2/2010 of the National Science Fund of Bulgaria. We would like to thank Peter Bebi from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF for comments and suggestions. Silvia Dingwall and Valerie Trouet assisted us with language and style improvement. We are also grateful to Mrs. Pravda Dimitrova and Mrs. Irina Ivanova from the National Meteorological Institute in Sofia for assistance in obtaining climate data records and Hristo Berov from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” for useful comments on socio-economic effects of climate extremes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dendrology Department, University of Forestry, Kliment Ohridski 10 Blvd, 1756, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Momchil Panayotov Panayotov

  2. WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Davos, Switzerland

    Momchil Panayotov Panayotov

  3. Department of Plant Pathology and Chemistry, University of Forestry, Kliment Ohridski 10 Blvd, 1756, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Nikolay Zafirov

  4. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Paolo Cherubini

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  1. Momchil Panayotov Panayotov
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  3. Paolo Cherubini
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Correspondence to Momchil Panayotov Panayotov.

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Communicated by A. Braeuning.

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Panayotov, M.P., Zafirov, N. & Cherubini, P. Fingerprints of extreme climate events in Pinus sylvestris tree rings from Bulgaria. Trees 27, 211–227 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-012-0789-1

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