Abstract
Summary We report the first dendrochronological assessment on the effects of the Epinotia subsequana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) needleminer on Abies alba forests in the Aragon Pyrenees (northeastern Spain), near the southwestern distribution limit of A. alba. We built local residual ring-width chronologies, in fifteen A. alba stands, using dendrochronological techniques. We found a strong decrease in radial growth in the 20th century, during the 1996–98 period, only at the sites AS (Paco Asieso, 42°39' N, 00°17' W) and DI (Diazas, 42°38' N, 00°06' W). There were previous surveys of E. subsequana outbreaks and fir defoliation, in the studied sites area, in 1995–96. They showed that the radial-growth suppression was caused by E. subsequana. We compared radial growth in the non-defoliated stands with mean regional chronology. The greatest decline in radial growth was in 1996–97. Thus, there was a 1–2 year lag in radial growth suppression following the defoliation. The recovery of radial growth occurred in 1998–99.
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