Relationships Between Temperature and Precipitation Conditions and Tree- Ring Growth in Küre Mountains National Park in the Context of Climate Change

Aim of study: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of temperature and precipitation on annual ring growth at the upper and lower growth limits of Scots pine, fir and black pine in the Küre Mountains National Park. Area of study: Küre Mountains National Park located in the Western Black Sea part of the Black Sea Region, is located between the borders of Pınarbaşı, Azdavay, Cide and Şenpazar districts of Kastamonu province and the central and Ulus, districts of Bartın province. This park is one of the 9 Hotspots in Türkiye. Material and method: For dendrochronological analyses, samples were taken from the lower and upper growth limits of Scots pine, fir and black pine using increment borers. Measurements of the samples taken were made using the LINTAB-TSAP measurement system with a sensitivity of 0.01 mm. In the analysis of climate-tree ring relations, climate data with a resolution of 0.5° x 0.5° grid, taken from the website of the World Meteorological Organization Regional Climate Center, were used. Response Functions were calculated to reveal the statistical relationships between climate data and tree ring growth. Main results: According to our results, tree ring growth on trees in the research area is positively affected by the increases in monthly total precipitation in June and July for all site all chronologies and negatively affected by November of the previous year and January, February, September and October of the current year. Research highlights: In this study, a positive relationship was found between precipitation and tree-ring growth in March-August. Temperature tree-ring relationships were positive in spring in all sites.