The reconstruction of Lymantria dispar outbreaks by dendrochronological methods in the South Urals

Abstract

Interest in investigating the influence of extreme ecological factors on the radial growth of oak (Quercus robur L.) is bound up with oak dieback in the South Urals during the last decade. Factors contributing to this problem in the study area are hard winter frosts, late spring frosts, and Lymantria dispar L. outbreaks. To distinguish the influence of these factors on radial growth, I used a methodological approach involving the analysis of radial increment, anatomical structure of xylem, histograms of ring indexes, and comparative analysis of radial growth in different plots (Kucherov 1987, 1988). By means of dendrochronological analysis, I was able to determine which specific features of radial increment were influenced by different factors (Kucherov 1988).

Parent Publication

• Forest Insect Guilds: Patterns of Interaction with Host Trees

Citation

Kucherov, Sergei. 1991. The reconstruction of Lymantria dispar outbreaks by dendrochronological methods in the South Urals. In: Baranchikov, Yuri N.; Mattson, William J.; Hain, Fred P.; Payne, Thomas L., eds. Forest Insect Guilds: Patterns of Interaction with Host Trees; 1989 August 13-17; Abakan, Siberia, U.S.S.R. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-153. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station: 205-206.