Dendrochronological Investigations of Valonia Oak Trees in Western Greece

Background and purpose: Valonia oak (Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Kotschy) Hedge & Yalt.) is an east Mediterranean endemic, xerothermic and deciduous tree of particular interest in forestry. There has been a growing demand lately to include the species in reforestations in Greece which also increased the interest to investigate its response to climate change. The main purpose of this research is to study valonia oak from a dendrochronological – dendroclimatological point of view within its Mediterranean distribution range. Materials and Methods: Sampling took place in characteristic valonia oak stands where cross sections or treecores were taken from 40 trees. The cross sections and the tree-cores were prepared and cross-dated using standard dendrochronological methods and tree-ring widths were measured to the nearest 0.001 mm using the Windendro software program. The ARSTAN program was used to standardize the tree-ring data and to calculate dendrochronological statistical parameters. The inter-annual variability of tree-ring width and the radial growth trend were examined. Finally, tree-ring widths to climate relationships were calculated by orthogonal regression in combination with the bootstrap procedure using master residual chronology and monthly precipitation, temperature data and scPDSI drought index, from October of the n-1 year up to November of the n year. results: The master chronology of valonia oak trees in Western Greece reaches 365 years, with an average ring width of 0.89 mm and with mean sensitivity being 0.21. The variation of the tree-ring widths indicates the influence of climate and human intervention in the past. Tree-ring to climate relationships show that valonia oak growth is positively affected by precipitations in January and March and by drought reduction during June and July. conclusions: Valonia oak in Western Greece is a species of great interest for dendrochronological and dendroclimatological studies due to the old age of the trees and the species response to climate variation. The climate factors that mostly affect its growth are winter and spring precipitation and summer drought.