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Abstract: The effects on tree growth of both climatic and non-climatic variables were investigated in relation to dune dynamics at three sites on the Czolpinska dune in the Slowinski National Park, Poland where aeolian sediments are invading a forest of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). We found that where dune advance was relatively rapid, tree vitality declined after stem burial was over 1.9m, but where advance was under 1m/yr survival was remarkably increased, one tree survived, albeit with thinning needles, after an estimated 11.4m burial. Below sand-surface stem discs, cut 0.5m apart, from a heavily suppressed tree revealed a difference in narrow-ring reactions of up to 2years over a 2m burial distance; the discs also showed a time lag of 4years before compression wood formation. Consequently, when estimating sand-movement rates we discounted compression wood reactions; we also excluded climatic events and pest infestations. The remaining data supplied a sand-advance rate at Site 1 from 2.4 to 3.5m/yr. At Site 2, rates were from 1.2 to 2.5m/yr, with a direct measurement of 0.3m/yr between 2006 and 2007. At Site 3 rates were from 0.3 to 1.2m/yr, with dune migration here virtually at a standstill over the last seven years. Direct measurement of sand movement (3.03m/yr) at Site 1 was slower than the lowest rate (3.5m/yr) previously recorded by Borówka (1980) for the larger dune system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research Highlights: This study used a 99-year time-series of daily climatic data to determine the climate-growth relationship for Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing in Northern Poland. The use of daily climatic data improved the calculated climatic response of the trees. Background and Objectives: It was hypothesised that daily temperature and precipitation data would more precisely identify climate–growth relationships than monthly data. We compared our results to a previous study conducted in the 1990s that utilised monthly precipitation and temperature data. Materials and Methods: The chronology construction and data analyses were performed using CooRecorder, CDendro and R packages (dplR, treeclim, dendrotools). Forty-nine cores from 31 trees were included in the final chronology. Results: The precipitation and temperature of March had the strongest influence upon ring-widths. Despite a statistically significant correlation between monthly temperature and ring-widths, reduction of error (RE) and coefficient of efficiency (CE) statistics confirmed that daily data better describe the effect of climate on tree rings width than monthly data. Conclusions: At this site, the growing season of Scots pine has changed with the observed association with precipitation now starting as early as February–March and extending to June–July. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]