Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen. (Dahurian larch) is an important arctic tree-line species in the northern boreal forests of Eurasia. The region’s climate is predicted to change dramatically over the next century, yet little is known about how this species will respond to secular changes in temperature and precipitation. To this end, a ring-width chronology from 25 cores from a stand of seven Dahurian larch trees growing in the Secrest Arboretum, northeastern Ohio, was developed to test the climatic sensitivity of the species in a more temperate climate. The chronology extends from 1931 to 2005 and correlation analysis with monthly precipitation and temperature records shows growth was most strongly limited by summer precipitation until recent decades when sensitivity has shifted to late spring precipitation. The results from this study serve as a contemporary analog to the future growth response of Dahurian larch under warmer and wetter growing conditions in the boreal and arctic regions of Eurasia.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1996. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-123). Also available on the World Wide Web.