Climate and volume growth of young yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) at three sites in the sugar maple–yellow birch forest region of Québec

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted on three sites (Stoke, Duchesnay, and Harrington) predominantly forested with yellow birch in order to evaluate the relationship between annual volume growth of young yellow birch and climate factors between 1978 and 1997. According to annual volume growth, the most productive site is Harrington and the least productive is Stoke. There are strong contemporaneous and positive cross-correlations between the three residual series from 1989 to 1997 only. In the three sites studied, yellow birch is sensitive to the previous year’s temperatures, particularly at the Duchesnay and Stoke sites, and also to precipitation at the Harrington site. Yellow birch shows more sensitivity to the negative effects of the previous year’s climate than to the positive effects of the current growing season’s climate factors. It also shows age-dependent responses to climate. Mean temperatures in December that were higher than normal over previous years, and which are closely linked to the absence of snow cover, could induce physiological stresses to the yellow birch root system and consequently affect annual volume growth and promote dieback.