The Impact of Climate Change and Strong Anthropopressure on the Annual Growth of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Wood Growing in Eastern Poland

Abstract

Changes in annual tree ring width (TRW) and its size depends not only on the changing climate and natural stress factors such as extreme air temperatures, shortages in rainfall and excess rainfall during the growing season, but also on anthropogenic stress, including chemical compounds emitted to the atmosphere or lowering of the groundwater table caused by the operations of plants with high environmental impact. The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of meteorological conditions and anthropogenic factors on the size of annual growth of Scots pine tree-stands in the conditions of the climate of central-eastern Poland. On the basis of five created site chronologies in the vicinity of Zakłady Azotowe Puławy (nitrogen factories in Puławy) and using the moving correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, a significant influence of temperature and precipitation conditions on the TRW size is proved. A significant, positive influence of air temperature on TRW was proved for the majority of chronologies created in the period of January–March, as well as in June, while it remained negative in May. The wide rings of Scots pines were formed when the precipitation of October and January (prior to the resumption of cambium activity) was lower than the average, and higher in April and in June–August. After including the anthropopressure factors in the regression equations, the description of the variability of the annual tree ring width was corrected. The coefficient of determination ranged from approx. 29% to even above 45% and was higher, on average by 10%, for all studied chronologies of Scots pine compared to the one calculated for constructed equations considering only meteorological conditions. The strength and direction of the impact of the independent variables (SO2, NH3, NOx) analysed on TRW mainly depended on the distance from the plants, as well as on the direction of inflow of industrial pollution to the stands examined. In light of the proven climate changes in central and eastern Poland, the growth conditions of pine stands will most likely deteriorate.

The Impact of Air Pollution on the Growth of Scots Pine Stands in Poland on the Basis of Dendrochronological Analyses

“…Droughts in that period were a strong inhibitor of growth. The dominant role of late-winter and early-spring temperatures in the development of annual rings in pine has also been noted by other authors [34,49,[62][63][64]67,68]. The existing body of research confirms the existence of a common climate signal for Central Europe that differentiates the growth rhythm of this species [67].…”

“…A more detailed description of the damage is provided in the further sections of this paper. The degradation of the environment caused by the operation of the nitrogen fertiliser factory in Puławy has been described in many publications, e.g., [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. However, the ecological interaction between air pollution and the resistance of forests to the abiotic stress that comes with climate change, especially drought, has not been examined.…”

Radial Growth Response of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) after Increasing the Availability of Water Resources

“…Wood cores drillings were taken at a height of 130 cm from the root collar to avoid possible anomalies caused by root inflow [52][53][54]. Then, the wood samples were placed in insulation boards with 1 × 1 cm sectors, assigned a number and a note was made describing the drilling site and its distance from the edge of a water reservoir or drainage ditch, measured with a Nikon Forestry Pro laser rangefinder.…”

Reduction determinants of Scots pine tree-ring width in the vicinity of Puławy industrial plants (central-eastern Poland)

“…This study used annual air pollution emission data for 1970-2015 regarding pollutants such as SO₂, NH₃ and NOx that were emitted from Zakłady Azotowe Puławy, as well as data concerning the amount of surface and underground water withdrawals from company intakes in the years 1985-2015. Data regarding both air pollutant emissions and water withdrawals were shared by Zakłady Azotowe Puławy, and their variation over time was described in a previous study (Kalbarczyk et al 2018).…”