Precipitation Effects on the Growth of Boreal Forest Stands in the Volga Region

G. M. Chernogaeva, V. V. Kuznetsova, and A. E. Kukhta

The effects of long-period climate change and fluctuations of climate factors in the recent decades on the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) growing in the Kerzshenskii state nature biosphere reserve (the Nizhny Novgorod region) are considered. It is found that the amount of precipitation forming phytocenoses water availability is the most important climatic factor limiting the pine growth and deve- lopment. A competition between the linear and radial pine increments for the water resource, which directly depends on the amount of precipitation, is identified. The direct response of the radial to linear increment is found, because these are the height tree growth and the crown development that induce the successful stem diameter formation. It is noted that due to the widespread occurrence and variety of environmental impact signals, Pinus sylvestris is an optimum object for the environmental monitoring of forest ecosystems, which makes its further investigation in a changing climate essential.