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Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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On the radial-growth variations of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) on the northernmost part of Honshu Island, Japan

Abstract

We developed ring-width chronologies for living trees of Japanese beech at two forest sites on the northern-most part of Honshu Island, Japan. A statistical threshold (running expressed population signal) yielded these site chronologies spanning 1853–1994 (142 years) and 1867–1994 (128 years). We examined two factors, climate and masting, that could affect the variations of radial growth. The response function analysis revealed that the ring width correlated positively with July and August temperatures of the previous growth year. The optimal radial growth of Japanese beech may largely depend on a warm previous summer with above-average temperatures. The years of good masting coincided mostly with those showing abrupt growth depression, although only the short-term records of masting were available.

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Correspondence to Yasuharu Hoshino.

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Part of this work was presented at the 6th Pacific Regional Wood Anatomy Conference, Kyoto, December 2005, and the 7th International Conference on Dendrochronology, Beijing, June 2006

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Hoshino, Y., Yonenobu, H., Yasue, K. et al. On the radial-growth variations of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) on the northernmost part of Honshu Island, Japan. J Wood Sci 54, 183–188 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-007-0935-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-007-0935-3

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