Influence of climate on radial growth of Sequoiadendron giganteum and Picea abies
2 Institut für Botanik, Universität Hohenheim, Ökologisch-Botanischer Garten, Universität Bayreuth
P 4.1 in Climate change research
For understanding short-term reactions of trees (e.g. radial stem growth) to changing climate continuous recording of stem changes is important. Dendrometers are instruments to measure radial changes of stems with high resolution. From June 2008 to June 2009 radial growth of Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Sequoia) and Picea abies (Norway Spruce) was analysed in the Ecological-Botanical Gardens of Bayreuth. It was to investigate differences between both species as well as meteorological influence on radial growth. High resolution point dendrometers were applied to record continuous radius changes of the stems of fife S. giganteum (age about 30 years) and six P. abies (age about 30 years). In the course of the year both species quickly reached different level of radial growth whereas relative growth was very similar. The daily radial growth of S. giganteum was less influenced by rain and water loss through transpiration as of P. abies. At high soil water content S. giganteum performed significantly higher increments within a few days. S. giganteum performs a much higher radial growth than P. abies. The water supply is important for radial growth of both species but S. giganteum is less sensitive to drought than P. abies.