Recent growth coherence in long-term oak (Quercus spp.) ring width chronologies in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Oak ring width measurements compiled from 44 sampling sites throughout the territory of the Czech Republic are analysed for the 1655-2013 period. Measurements taken at all these sites are sorted into 10 sub-chronologies on the basis of 5 environmental factors: soil moisture (dry/wet), elevation (low/high), age (young/old), species (Quercus robur or Q. petraea), and geographical position (east/west). Several statistical tests are applied to investigate existing significant differences between chronologies during 1920-2013. Further, the sensitivities of individual sub-chronologies to precipitation are compared. Three tests indicate 5 pairs of very similar sub-chronologies. Moreover, the growth-response to May-July precipitation totals is very much the same in these sub-chronologies. This analysis demonstrates that, even in the absence of certainty about age structure, species composition and some environmental factors in the earlier parts of oak ring width chronologies, the internal homogeneity of the chronology remains essentially unaffected, and the lack of such information does not preclude their use in dendro climatology.