Reconstruction of Precipitation by Radial Growth of Scots Pine in the Southern Urals

Abstract

This work presents the results of analysis of the correlation between radial growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and the amount of spring–summer precipitation on the Zilair Plateau (Southern Urals). The amount of precipitation from 1776 to 2015 is reconstructed on the basis of the close correlation (r = 0.78) between the growth of late pine wood and the amount of May–June precipitation. The entire interpreted time range includes periods with amounts of precipitation less than average (1888–1893, 1906–1912, 1952–1959, 2008–2012) and wet periods (1779–1783, 1827–1831, 1834–1838, 1878–1883). The longest wet periods are typical of the first half of the time range interpreted (the end of the 18th century and the 19th century), whereas the driest periods are characteristic of the second half (the end of the 19th century, the beginning of the 20th century, the 1950s, and the beginning of the 21st century).