Annual growth stages for height and diameter in Pinus radiata.

An asynchronism is evident in Pinus radiata D. Don between the seasonal discontinuities for height and stem diameter growth respectively. For stem diameter growth, a clear discontinuity which consistently arises in midwinter is visible in the outer boundary of latewood in a growth ring. For height growth, however, the discontinuity is often less clear, but where it is externally visible it typically arises in summer. Where substantial "autumn " height growth occurs, the asynchronism can generate a major discordance between annual growth stages for height and diameter growth; this can cause confusion in stem analysis and potentially biases estimates of stem volume increments. The extent of the discordance can be influenced by moisture regime, soil fertility, temperature, latitude, genotype, ontogenetic stage, shoot vigour, and tree size.