A 548-year long tree-ring chronology of oak (Quercus spp.) for SE Slovenia and its significance as dating tool and climate archive

Katarina Čufar and Martin de Luis and Martin Zupančič and Dieter Eckstein (2008) A 548-year long tree-ring chronology of oak (Quercus spp.) for SE Slovenia and its significance as dating tool and climate archive. Tree-Ring Research, 64 (1). pp. 3-15. ISSN 1536-1098

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Abstract

Tree-ring series of oak, from both living trees (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) and historic timbers in SE Slovenia were assembled into a 548-year long regional chronology spanning the period A.D. 1456-2003. It is currently the longest and the most replicated oak chronology in this part of Europe at the transition between Mediterranean, Alpine and continental climatic effects. The chronology correlated significantly with regional and local chronologies up to 700 km apart in Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Czech Republic and South Germany. It also showed a good heteroconnection - i.e. agreement with chronologies of beech (Fagus sylvatica), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and silver fir (Abies alba) in Slovenia. A preliminary dendroclimatic analysis showed that precipitation and temperature in June accounted for a high amount of variance (r2=0.51) in the tree-ring widths. The chronology thus contains considerable potential as a climate archive. We also present its use as a tool for the dating of wooden objects of the cultural heritage. Moreover, the chronology can be a point of reference for building tree-ring chronologies in neighboring regions.

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