Ecological and climatological signals in tree-ring width and density chronologies along a latitudinal boreal transect

Shifts in the climate sensitivity of trees throughout the twentieth century might indicate climate change effects in the boreal forest ecosystem. We here evaluated such potential changes by analyzing six tree-ring width (TRW) and maximum latewood density (MXD) chronologies from northern, central and southern boreal forests in Finland (60 degrees N-69 degrees N). Besides latitudinal effects, differing micro-sites (lakeshore and inland) were considered to evaluate the influence of ground water access on twentieth-century tree-ring formation and climate sensitivity. Overall, the boreal MXD chronologies appeared less affected by micro-site conditions compared to the TRW chronologies. Along the boreal transect, mean growth rates decrease with increasing latitude, but the ratio of earlywood-to-latewood (approximate to 70%/approximate to 30%) remains stable. However, latewood is slightly denser at the dry inland micro-sites. The correlations with climate data showed that TRW and MXD at all sites are positively related with summer temperature. The MXD chronologies are also negatively correlated with precipitation, a feature that is largely missing in TRW. A recent trend toward wetter and cloudier conditions in the study region coincides with a shift of the MXD signal from a distinct temperature limitation toward an additional sensitivity to precipitation, which in turn stimulated the trees' competition for sunlight.