Climatic Response of Scots Pine and Siberian Spruce Radial Growth in Mixed Forests of the Udmurt Republic

This study analyzes for the first time the climate signal in the radial growth of Scots pine and Siberian spruce growing in the territory of the Udmurt Republic. In some years, synchronous, sharp changes in radial growth were observed in the studied chronologies. This applies to both minimum and maximum values. An assessment of the influence of average monthly air temperatures and precipitation amounts for the current and previous years revealed differences in the response of pine and spruce radial growth to climate. Spruce radial growth is most influenced by the previous years growth, as well as hydrothermal conditions at the beginning of the growing season. Pine radial growth is largely influenced by the temperature regime in the spring months preceding the onset of the growing season. Observed climate change has led to a weakening of the correlation between the growth of both species and both temperatures and precipitation amounts in the summer months in recent decades. This indicates that conditions have become more favorable for tree growth. Conversely, the correlation with climatic conditions in the pre-vegetation period has increased. Thus, continued increases in winter and spring temperatures and precipitation are expected to promote radial growth in both species.