Seasonal radial growth dynamics of Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) in Voronezh region (Russia)

Abstract One of the insufficiently studied areas in dendroclimatology is the seasonal dynamics of the radial growth of trees in regions with different climatic conditions. The urgency of this problem has increased due to the observed climate changes. This paper presents the results of a three-year experimental study (2016-2018) on the seasonal growth dynamics of Scots pine in the Voronezh region, as well as the weather conditions during these growing seasons. It has been established that the Scots pine ecotype under the conditions of the forest-steppe zone demonstrates a multi-peaked cyclical dynamics of cell growth rate within the growing season. At the same time, the culmination of growth differs significantly in different calendar years. Annual averages for the following growth traits were registered for the Voronezh region: the duration of the formation of the annual ring (4 months), the onset (25.04-03.05) and the end (29.08) of annual-ring formation, the end of earlywood formation and the onset of the formation of the transition zone from earlywood to latewood (01.07) and the onset of latewood formation (01.08).