Characteristics of the dendroclimatic response of Jezo spruce Picea ajanensis Fisch. ex Carriere on south-facing slopes in the southern Sikhote-Alin
Omelko A.M. 1 , Ukhvatkina O.N. 1 , Zhmerenetsky A.A. 1
Year: 2026, Number: 3, Pages: 41-58
Jezo spruce (Picea ajanensis Fisch. ex Carriere) is one of the main forest-forming species and forms extensive dark-coniferous forests in the southern part of the Russian Far East; however, the climatic regulation of its radial growth in the southern Sikhote-Alin remains insufficiently studied. The aim of this study was to obtain the first characterization of the dendroclimatic response of Jezo spruce on south-facing slopes in the middle-mountain belt of the southern Sikhote-Alin, where this species occurs relatively rarely and does not form spruce-dominated stands, and to compare the resulting chronology with previously identified patterns for north-facing and near-north-facing slopes. The study was conducted at the Verkhneussuriysky Research Station of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A tree-ring chronology was developed from 28 cores of Jezo spruce collected in an old-growth Korean pine–broadleaved forest on a southeast-facing slope. The relationship between the chronology and climatic variables was assessed using correlation analysis, and its position within the system of previously identified topographic relationships was analyzed by comparison with a published set of chronologies. The new chronology generally confirmed the previously identified set of main climatic signals: the strongest relationships were primarily associated with maximum temperatures, summer precipitation, and the SPEI index. The strongest negative correlations were found with maximum temperature in July–August of the previous year, maximum temperature in April of the current year, July precipitation and total precipitation in July–August of the current year, as well as July SPEI. In terms of pairwise correlation structure, the new chronology was more similar to chronologies from the lower and middle parts of the elevational gradient than to chronologies from higher-elevation sites. Within the system of previously identified gradient relationships between climatic response and elevation, slope steepness, and topographic position, the new point generally agreed with the established trends. However, for maximum temperature in July–August of the previous year, it deviated noticeably from the expected position, indicating a possible role of aspect as an independent factor. At the same time, analysis of individual series did not reveal a pronounced monotonic decline in growth in recent decades. This suggests that, at this site, current climatic conditions have not yet caused clear suppression of radial growth in adult spruce trees, while the relative rarity of the species on south-facing slopes may be associated not so much with the growth of adult trees as with limitations on successful regeneration.
DOI: 10.25221/2782-1978_2026_3_4
Keywords: Dendrochronology, tree ring, tree-ring chronology, Jezo spruce, Picea ajanensis, topographic gradient,
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