Volume 7
Issue 2
Forestry
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume7/issue2/forestry/abs-01.html
DIVERSIFICATION OF CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS OF NORWAY SPRUCE (PICEA ABIES (L.) KARST.) IN THE UPPER FOREST ZONE
Sławomir Wilczyński, Edward Feliksik, Bogdan Wertz
ABSTRACT
The study examined relationships between air temperature, insolation, precipitation and the amount of annual radial increment of spruce in the years 1924-1994. For this analysis five spruce stands were selected from the upper forest zone from within the altitudes of 1150 and 1350 m above the sea level. It was determined that the similarity of ring-width chronology of spruce declined with the increase in altitude difference between the trees. Temperature exerted the greatest influence on the variability of their radial increment. Additionally, the role of temperature increased with the altitude above the sea level. The influence of precipitation and insolation on the variability of ring-width chronology was similar. The factors determining the similarity of radial increment rhythm at various altitudes of the upper forest zone included air temperature and insolation in spring and early summer (April-June). The factors diversifying the rhythm of spruce increment were summer air temperature (Ju
Key words: Picea abies, dendroclimatology, upper forest zone, the Babia Góra Mountain.