Climatic control of intra- and inter-annual wood-formation dynamics of Scots pine in northern Finland

Boreal forests are highly sensitive to climate and human impacts and therefore suitable as biological indicator for environmental changes. In this context, our study was aimed at getting deeper insight into the climate-dependence of the onset, intensity and end of wood formation of Scots pine during the growing season.We monitored the intra-annual growth dynamics of, on average, 42-year-old Scots pine trees over five consecutive years, 2000-2004, at two sites located 80 and 300 km south of the tree line in northern Finland. For that purpose, the cambium of the trees was weekly wounded with a pin and the resulting wound tissue, microscopically detectable in transverse thin-sections through the newly built wood, was taken as a time marker. During this 5-year study period, the intra-annual wood formation at the southern site was mainly positively associated with summer temperature. However, at the northern site such an association was either entirely missing or negative. At both sites, two thirds of the radial growth was produced within only 4 weeks from mid-June to mid-July, independent of whether the growing season started earlier or later.Moreover, we measured the widths of all tree rings from bark to pith (inter-annual growth) of the same study trees and assembled them to 51-year long tree-ring site chronologies. Since 1999, these two site chronologies - after having run fairly parallel over the preceding decades - were running in divergent directions thus corroborating our results derived from the intra-annual climate/growth analysis. Whereas the chronology of the southern site follows the average temperature of May and July very closely from 1961 up to 2004, the chronology of the northern site follows the July temperature, but only up to 1998, and from 1999 to 2004 is running just opposite to the distinctly rising July temperature. During the same period, there was - unlike in the years before - nearly no snow cover in May at the northern site, whereas at the southern site there was no change of the normally existing slight snow cover in May. This deviating weather situation may have led to a temperature-induced, temporary drought stress for the Scots pines at the northern site.     

Effect of temperature and precipitation on the annual diameter growth of Scots pine on drained peatlands and adjacent mineral soil sites in Finland

The climate conditions of the current and previous growing seasons have been shown to influence growth of coniferous trees in mineral soils sites. These dependencies may be different in peatlands where growth is generally more dependent on variations in soil water conditions. In the Nordic and Baltic countries, millions of hectares of peatlands and wetlands have been drained in order to enhance forest production. These drainage networks do not guarantee stable soil water conditions for the whole stand rotation. It is thus likely that precipitation in particular may have a different influence on annual growth in peatland to that in mineral soil sites. We studied the effect of precipitation and temperature on the inter-annual diameter growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Finland in drained peatland forests. The diameter growth data were limited to periods when growth response to drainage had levelled out. For comparison, growth data were also collected from adjacent mineral soil trees. The climate variables were monthly mean temperature and precipitation in a given location estimated from observations at the nearest weather stations by means of spatial smoothing. We used mixed linear models in describing the annual diameter growth of individual trees as a function of tree size and stand properties and expressed the residual variation as a function of climate parameters. The peatland and mineral soil growth variations showed different dependence on climate parameters. Peatland trees within 5 m of a ditch showed different climate responses compared to those located further away. Precipitation in July was negatively correlated with the diameter growth of peatland trees but there was no correlation with temperature. Growth of trees in mineral soils was positively correlated with March and April mean temperatures and May and June mean precipitation. The residual growth indices showed largely similar patterns in peatlands and mineral soil sites.     

Drought alters timing, quantity, and quality of wood formation in Scots pine

Drought has been frequently discussed as a trigger for forest decline. Today, large-scale Scots pine decline is observed in many dry inner-Alpine valleys, with drought discussed as the main causative factor. This study aimed to analyse the impact of drought on wood formation and wood structure. To study tree growth under contrasting water supply, an irrigation experiment was installed in a mature Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest at a xeric site in a dry inner-Alpine valley. Inter- and intra-annual radial increments as well as intra-annual variations in wood structure of pine trees were studied. It was found that non-irrigated trees had a noticeably shorter period of wood formation and showed a significantly lower increment. The water conduction cells were significantly enlarged and had significantly thinner cell walls compared with irrigated trees. It is concluded that pine trees under drought stress build a more effective water-conducting system (larger tracheids) at the cost of a probably higher vulnerability to cavitation (larger tracheids with thinner cell walls) but without losing their capability to recover. The significant shortening of the growth period in control trees indicated that the period where wood formation actually takes place can be much shorter under drought than the 'potential' period, meaning the phenological growth period.     

Subfossil bog-pine horizons document climate and ecosystem changes during the Mid-Holocene

Extended dendrochronological investigations were performed on subfossil pine entombed in peat layers of former raised bogs in Lower Saxony (NW Germany). The aim was to study of dynamics in bog development in response to local environmental conditions and regional changes in climate throughout the Holocene. To date, 1702 samples have been collected from 36 locations. Crossdating with the Lower Saxony Bog Oak Chronology (LSBOC) resulted in five absolutely dated pine chronologies covering large parts of the period from 5600 BC to 2200 BC. Radiocarbon dating of eight additional chronologies extends this time-span from 7000 BC to 1500 BC. By combining dendrochronology with information on stratigraphic position as well as stem and root morphology we found that major changes in site hydrology cause changes in growth pattern and population dynamics of subfossil pine whereas storm and fire were of minor importance. The fact that shifts in growth patterns and population dynamics occurred simultaneously in trees from different sites indicates regional climate changes as main drivers of pines forest development in peatland ecosystems.     

Frost and drought: Effects of extreme weather events on stem carbon dynamics in a Mediterranean beech forest

The effects of short-term extreme events on tree functioning and physiology are still rather elusive. European beech is one of the most sensitive species to late frost and water shortage. We investigated the intra-annual C dynamics in stems under such conditions. Wood formation and stem CO₂ efflux were monitored in a Mediterranean beech forest for 3 years (2015–2017), including a late frost (2016) and a summer drought (2017). The late frost reduced radial growth and, consequently, the amount of carbon fixed in the stem biomass by 80%. Stem carbon dioxide efflux in 2016 was reduced by 25%, which can be attributed to the reduction of effluxes due to growth respiration. Counter to our expectations, we found no effects of the 2017 summer drought on radial growth and stem carbon efflux. The studied extreme weather events had various effects on tree growth. Even though late spring frost had a strong impact on beech radial growth in the current year, trees fully recovered in the following growing season, indicating high resilience of beech to this stressful event.     

Chemical composition and ultrastructural changes in Scots pine needles in a forest decline area in southwestern Finland

Tree decline and deaths have been observed among 15 to 20-year-old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) in a dry heath forest in southwestern Finland. The sudden decline in height growth, the dieback of leading shoots and the yellowing of needles in young shoots in the upper part of the tree are typical symptoms of the decline of these young pines. Needle ultrastructure and chemical composition of Scots pines with or without decline and fluctuations of them in different seasons were studied. Afflicted trees were found to suffer from a deficiency in calcium and magnesium with low concentration of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus observed in all the trees studied. Ultrastructural study revealed changes characteristic of different seasons and measured nutrient status of needles. A clear reduction of membrane system in chloroplasts, especially related to Mg deficiency, was observed in most samples. The symptoms related to N deficiency, the translucent appearance of the cytoplasm and chloroplast stroma, and the elongated chloroplasts, as well as swelling of mitochondria, indicating P deficiency, were also found in the needles sampled from this forest decline area. The present study showed that it is possible to detect specific nutrient deficiency symptoms in needle ultrastructure in field samples and for use as sensitive indicators of unbalanced nutrient status.     

Challenges for growth of beech and co-occurring conifers in a changing climate context

Given recent climatic trends, it is crucial to understand the plasticity and adaptiveness of forest trees in order to evaluate their current and future responses to changing climatic conditions. We investigated inter- and intra-annual xylem growth and its relation to weather factors in European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and a co-occurring conifer, either Norway spruce (Picea abies) or Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), at five sites with different elevations and climatic conditions, in Spain, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The selected sites were located in central and marginal parts across the distribution range of the investigated species. The results showed that climate-growth relationships vary between different species at the same site and within the same species at different sites, indicating diverse survival strategies among the observed species but also high plastic capacity within the same species. Moreover, xylogenesis analysis revealed the capacity of trees to adapt the beginning and cessation of wood formation depending on conditions. In case of beech, shortening growth duration in dryer and warmer environments and the opposite in the case of conifers, with which the growing period was extended in such conditions. Consequently, the plasticity capacity of beech was limited due to short growth duration, while conifers (especially pine) proved to be able to compensate climatic constrictions by growing over a longer period and becoming more adapted to survival in drought-prone environments.     

Climatic influences on intra-annual stem radial increment of Pinus sylvestris (L.) exposed to drought

Within a dry inner Alpine valley in the Eastern Central Alps (750 m a.s.l., Tyrol, Austria), the influence of climate variables (precipitation, air humidity, temperature) and soil water content on intra-annual dynamics of tree-ring development was determined in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) at two sites differing in soil water availability (xeric and dry-mesic site). Radial stem development was continuously followed during 2007 and 2008 by band dendrometers and repeated micro-sampling of the developing tree rings of mature trees. Daily and seasonal fluctuations of the stem radius, which reached almost half of total annual increment, primarily reflected changes in tree water status and masked radial stem growth especially during drought periods in spring. However, temporal dynamics of intra-annual radial growth determined by both methods were found to be quite similar, when onset of radial growth in dendrometer traces was defined by the occurrence of first enlarging xylem cells. Radial increments during the growing period, which lasted from early April through early August, showed statistically significant relationships with precipitation (Kendall τ = 0.234, p < 0.01, and τ = 0.184, p < 0.05, at the xeric and dry-mesic site, respectively) and relative air humidity (Pearson r = 0.290, p < 0.05, and r = 0.306, p < 0.05 at the xeric and dry-mesic site, respectively). Soil water content and air temperature had no influence on radial stem increment. Culmination of radial stem growth was detected at both study plots around mid-May, prior to occurrence of more favourable climatic conditions, i.e., an increase in precipitation during summer. We suggest that the early decrease in radial growth rate is due to a high belowground demand for carbohydrates to ensure adequate resource acquisition on the drought-prone substrate.     

Understanding 3D structural complexity of individual Scots pine trees with different management history

Tree functional traits together with processes such as forest regeneration, growth, and mortality affect forest and tree structure. Forest management inherently impacts these processes. Moreover, forest structure, biodiversity, resilience, and carbon uptake can be sustained and enhanced with forest management activities. To assess structural complexity of individual trees, comprehensive and quantitative measures are needed, and they are often lacking for current forest management practices. Here, we utilized 3D information from individual Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees obtained with terrestrial laser scanning to, first, assess effects of forest management on structural complexity of individual trees and, second, understand relationship between several tree attributes and structural complexity. We studied structural complexity of individual trees represented by a single scale‐independent metric called “box dimension.” This study aimed at identifying drivers affecting structural complexity of individual Scots pine trees in boreal forest conditions. The results showed that thinning increased structural complexity of individual Scots pine trees. Furthermore, we found a relationship between structural complexity and stem and crown size and shape as well as tree growth. Thus, it can be concluded that forest management affected structural complexity of individual Scots pine trees in managed boreal forests, and stem, crown, and growth attributes were identified as drivers of it.     

tracheideR—An R package to standardize tracheidograms

Here we present the package tracheideR to standardize profiles of tracheid features, using the R computing environment. This package contains a collection of functions to transform the raw data obtained from image analysis into a tracheidogram to better visualize the radial intra-ring variation of histometric parameters. This procedure is crucial when estimating past weather conditions with a sub-annual resolution, since tracheidograms reflect the influence of fluctuations in weather conditions throughout the growing season (such as temperature and soil water content). The main function of this package is tracheider, which takes as input raw tracheidograms and standardizes them using three different methods. The first method standardizes the number of tracheids from different radial files to the mean number of cells, allowing that different annual rings have different number of cells. The second method normalizes the number of cells of different annual rings to the same number. Finally we present a new method to standardize histometric parameters considering the relative position of the cells within the tree ring. This package was tested using two rings of Pinus pinaster to demonstrate variations between the three methods. According to our results species with high intra- and inter-annual variability, as shown by conifers species growing under Mediterranean climate, should be standardized using the “relative position” method. Finally, we suggest that this new method should be applied to other species to check its potential to detect intra-ring fluctuations in tracheid features and to improve our capacity to detect intra-annual climatic signals.     

A Functional and Structural Mongolian Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) Model Integrating Architecture, Biomass and Effects of Precipitation

Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the principal tree species in the network of Three-North Shelterbelt for windbreak and sand stabilisation in China. The functions of shelterbelts are highly correlated with the architecture and eco-physiological processes of individual tree. Thus, model-assisted analysis of canopy architecture and function dynamic in Mongolian Scots pine is of value for better understanding its role and behaviour within shelterbelt ecosystems in these arid and semiarid regions. We present here a single-tree functional and structural model, derived from the GreenLab model, which is adapted for young Mongolian Scots pines by incorporation of plant biomass production, allocation, allometric rules and soil water dynamics. The model is calibrated and validated based on experimental measurements taken on Mongolian Scots pines in 2007 and 2006 under local meteorological conditions. Measurements include plant biomass, topology and geometry, as well as soil attributes and standard meteorological data. After calibration, the model allows reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) canopy architecture and biomass dynamics for trees from one- to six-year-old at the same site using meteorological data for the six years from 2001 to 2006. Sensitivity analysis indicates that rainfall variation has more influence on biomass increment than on architecture, and the internode and needle compartments and the aboveground biomass respond linearly to increases in precipitation. Sensitivity analysis also shows that the balance between internode and needle growth varies only slightly within the range of precipitations considered here. The model is expected to be used to investigate the growth of Mongolian Scots pines in other regions with different soils and climates.     

A stochastic model of tree architecture and biomass partitioning: application to Mongolian Scots pines

Background and Aims

Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the principal species used for windbreak and sand stabilization in arid and semi-arid areas in northern China. A model-assisted analysis of its canopy architectural development and functions is valuable for better understanding its behaviour and roles in fragile ecosystems. However, due to the intrinsic complexity and variability of trees, the parametric identification of such models is currently a major obstacle to their evaluation and their validation with respect to real data. The aim of this paper was to present the mathematical framework of a stochastic functional–structural model (GL2) and its parameterization for Mongolian Scots pines, taking into account inter-plant variability in terms of topological development and biomass partitioning.

Methods

In GL2, plant organogenesis is determined by the realization of random variables representing the behaviour of axillary or apical buds. The associated probabilities are calibrated for Mongolian Scots pines using experimental data including means and variances of the numbers of organs per plant in each order-based class. The functional part of the model relies on the principles of source–sink regulation and is parameterized by direct observations of living trees and the inversion method using measured data for organ mass and dimensions.

Key Results

The final calibration accuracy satisfies both organogenetic and morphogenetic processes. Our hypothesis for the number of organs following a binomial distribution is found to be consistent with the real data. Based on the calibrated parameters, stochastic simulations of the growth of Mongolian Scots pines in plantations are generated by the Monte Carlo method, allowing analysis of the inter-individual variability of the number of organs and biomass partitioning. Three-dimensional (3D) architectures of young Mongolian Scots pines were simulated for 4-, 6- and 8-year-old trees.

Conclusions

This work provides a new method for characterizing tree structures and biomass allocation that can be used to build a 3D virtual Mongolian Scots pine forest. The work paves the way for bridging the gap between a single-plant model and a stand model.     

X-ray microdensitometry applied to subfossil tree-rings: growth characteristics of ancient pines from the southern boreal forest zone in Finland at intra-annual to centennial time-scales

A collection of subfossil wood of Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) was exposed to X-ray densitometry. The collection of 64 samples from the southern boreal forest zone was dendrochronologically cross-dated to a.d. 673-1788. Growth characteristics were determined by performing density profiles including the following parameters: minimum density, earlywood and latewood boundary density, maximum density, earlywood width, earlywood density, latewood width, latewood density, annual ring width and annual ring density. Seven out of the nine parameters were found to contain non-climatic growth trends and six were found to be heteroscedastic in their variance. Tree-specific records were indexed, to remove the non-climatic growth trends and stabilize the variance, and combined into nine parameter-specific tree-ring chronologies. Growth characteristics of the pines changed in parallel with the generally agreed climatic cooling from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age: pine tree-rings showed decreasing maximum densities from the period a.d. 975-1150 to a.d. 1450–1625. A concomitant change in the intra-annual growth characteristics was detected between these periods. The findings indicate that not only the trees growing near the species’ distributional limits are sensitive to large-scale climatic variations but also the trees growing in habitats remote from the timberline have noticeably responded to past climate changes.     

Variability of the cytological parameters of Pinus sylvestris L. seeds from the unique Hrenovskoy pine forest

Hrenovskoy pine forest is a unique island stand at the boundary of the species range of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. This object is of exceptional economic value, because it serves as a forest-seed base for the Voronezh oblast and some other regions of Russia; therefore, the stand and seed qualities have to be monitored constantly. The results of the first cytogenetic study of the seed progeny of P. sylvestris from the Morozov Grove, a high-quality stand in a reserved site within the Hrenovskoy pine forest, are reported. The studies have been performed in order to obtain a more correct assessment of seed quality based not only on their germination and energy of germination (traditionally used by forest breeders), but also on their genomic stability. The latter may be estimated by the stability of chromosome number in the somatic cells of seedlings and the regularity of mitotic divisions, because they also characterize the state of the generative system of parental forms and may serve as an integrated estimate of the stand development homeostasis. Therefore, the chromosome number, mitotic and nucleolar activities, and the number and spectrum of pathological mitoses (PMs) have been determined. Seedlings have been obtained from 240 seeds (collected from 12 trees) that resulted from free pollination. The cytological analysis of the rootlets of these seedlings has not detected any deviations from the chromosome number typical of the species P. sylvestris L. (2n = 24). However, considerable variation has been found in each family with respect to the mitotic index (MI) (from 4.2 +/- 0.36 to 8.1 +/- 0.39%) and the number of PMs (from 0.5 to 2.1%); micronuclei have also been found in each family (from 0.01 to 0.05%). In general, the phenotypic characteristics and the variation pattern of cytological parameters of the progeny of the trees studied in the Hrenovskoy pine forest, together with the high germination rate of seeds (90-98%), indicate that the current state of pines in the Hrenovskoy pine forest can be considered to be satisfactory. However, the presence of micronuclei in all variants and the decrease in MI in some individual plants (which was, on average, 6.1 +/- 0.03% in the sample studied, i.e., significantly lower than that of P. sylvestris from the Usmanskii pine forest (7.3 +/- 1.2%), where the conditions are optimal for this species) may serve as the bioindicators of the deterioration of both the state of trees themselves and the ecological conditions in the Hrenovskoy pine forest. Therefore, the population structure of this valuable autochtonic stand should be reproduced urgently.     

Growth and nutrient characteristics in bog and fen populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Nutrient content in peat and growth rate, rate of nutrient accumulation and allocation patterns in Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. from eleven natural Swedish peatlands were examined. The peatlands studied represented a wide range of climatic conditions and mire types. Whole and even-sized pines with intact root-systems were excavated to give the whole-pine budget for growth and nutrient accumulation. All samples originated from hummock communities.Pine growth and nutrient characteristics were much more variable in the minerogenous sites than in the ombrogenous sites, which indicates a larger environmental heterogeneity within the minerogenous sites. In the ombrogenous sites, rate of pine growth was constant, approximately 1 mg day^-1, and independent of latitudinal variation. There was either no relationship between latitudinal location and growth rate in the minerogenous sites, which suggests that pine growth is largely controlled by site-specific, very local conditions. The growth rate of pines was not correlated with any peat nutrient. The pines allocated a large proportion of their nutrient-pool to the metabolically active current year's growth. This is likely a trait that enables Scots pine to occupy a wide range of peatland types in which it experience a marked imbalance and shortage of nutrients.     

杉木径向生长动态及其对季节性干旱的响应

为探讨杉木径向变化的季节动态及其气候响应特征,利用径向生长仪连续2年(2016—2017年)监测了江西中部杉木的径向变化过程,分析了径向变化的日动态、季节动态规律及其与气候因子的相关性。结果表明: 杉木日径向昼夜变化呈白天收缩、夜间膨胀的格局;2017年径向生长开始时间比2016年提前一个月,但旱季持续的水分亏缺使生长季也早一个月结束;在主要生长季内(4—9月),无论湿季与旱季,径向增长量与降雨、相对湿度呈显著正相关,与光合有效辐射、饱和水汽压差呈显著负相关,而水分亏缺量的气候相关性与径向增长量相反;旱季严重缺水时土壤含水量对径向变化的影响显著增强。水分条件始终是影响杉木径向变化的关键因素,夏季干旱时可通过提高土壤含水量等有效途径促进杉木径向生长。     

热带喀斯特森林多花白头树木质部年内生长动态及其对环境因子的响应

多花白头树(Garuga floribunda var.gamblei)是西双版纳热带喀斯特森林中常见的落叶树种,容易受水分亏缺的影响。为探究热带喀斯特森林树木年内生长动态及其对环境因子的响应,该研究利用生长环和微树芯两种方法监测了多花白头树在2020—2021年的树干径向变化和木质部生长动态,并分析了树干径向变化和木质部生长与环境因子的相关性。微树芯法的监测表明,在2020年,多花白头树在3月底开始出现扩大细胞,9月底细胞壁加厚结束;在2021年,多花白头树在4月中旬开始出现扩大细胞,10月中旬细胞壁加厚结束。生长环的监测表明,2020年和2021年的径向生长开始时间均晚于扩大细胞出现时间,径向生长结束时间均早于细胞壁加厚结束时间。多花白头树在2020年和2021年的木质部生长持续时间大致相同,2020年的木质部生长量((2.87±1.46)mm)也与2021年((2.98±1.02)mm)几乎一致。多花白头树的月径向生长量、扩大细胞区域宽度和细胞壁加厚区域宽度均与降水呈显著正相关,这表明水分状况在多花白头树的木质部生长过程中发挥了重要作用;扩大细胞区域宽度还与日平均气温和日最低温显...     

Gradients and dynamics of inner bark and needle osmotic potentials in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst)

Preconditions of phloem transport in conifers are relatively unknown. We studied the variation of needle and inner bark axial osmotic gradients and xylem water potential in Scots pine and Norway spruce by measuring needle and inner bark osmolality in saplings and mature trees over several periods within a growing season. The needle and inner bark osmolality was strongly related to xylem water potential in all studied trees. Sugar concentrations were measured in Scots pine, and they had similar dynamics to inner bark osmolality. The sucrose quantity remained fairly constant over time and position, whereas the other sugars exhibited a larger change with time and position. A small osmotic gradient existed from branch to stem base under pre‐dawn conditions, and the osmotic gradient between upper stem and stem base was close to zero. The turgor in branches was significantly driven by xylem water potential, and the turgor loss point in branches was relatively close to daily minimum needle water potentials typically reported for Scots pine. Our results imply that xylem water potential considerably impacts the turgor pressure gradient driving phloem transport and that gravitation has a relatively large role in phloem transport in the stems of mature Scots pine trees.     

The effect of bark phenols upon mountain hare barking of winter-dormant Scots pine

Due to high numbers of mountain hares in recent winters in northern Finland the barking of winter dormant Scots pines was widespread. The hares fed selectively upon upper crown bark of grafted pines, nitrogen fertilized trees and trees in poor condition. Bark of preferred upper crown branches and physiologically mature scions contained less total phenols than lower parts. However, there were no differences between total phenols concentrations of graft bark preferred by hares and nearby unbarked juvenile phase Scots pine. Neither decrease in resistance after nitrogen fertilization n- or stress was correlated with bark total phenolic concentration. Thus, total phenolic concentration is not a reliable predictor of the susceptibility of Scots pine to winter barking by the mountain hare.     

Did the ambient ozone affect stem increment of Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) on territories under regional pollution load? Step III of Lithuanian studies

This study aimed to explore if changes in stem increment of Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) could be related to changes in ambient ozone concentration when the impact of tree dendrometric parameters (age, diameter) and crown defoliation are accounted for. More than 200 dominant and codominant trees from 12 pine stands, for which crown defoliation had been assessed since 1994, were chosen for increment boring and basal area increment computing. Stands are located in Lithuanian national parks, where since 1994-95 Integrated Monitoring Stations have been operating. Findings of the study provide statistical evidence that peak concentrations of ambient ozone (O3) can have a negative impact on pine tree stem growth under field conditions where O3 exposure is below phytotoxic levels.