Dendroclimatic signals in Scots pine tree-ring chronologies in southwest Finland

Abstract

Tree rings provide palaeoclimatologists with well-dated, high-resolution proxy archive for reconstructing past climate variability. New tree-ring data were developed from Scots pine trees from archipelagic, intermediate, and mainland sites in the Turku region, southwest Finland. The dominant climatic variable affecting the growth of Scots pine trees was late-spring/summer precipitation. Tree growth responses to other variables representing climatic conditions outside the growing season were found to be more variable between the sites. Chronology variance and correlation between tree-ring series were the highest and correlation with the growing season precipitation was the strongest at the archipelagic site. Regression models were developed to evaluate the palaeoclimatic potential of dendrochronologic archives from the Turku region. These models explained ~ 30% of the variance in instrumentally observed precipitation. Climatic correlations and verification statistics showed a reasonable reconstruction skill and suggest a potential for new tree-ring reconstructions of the past precipitation variability and hydroclimatic events in southwest Finland.