Climate-Growth Response of Cryptomeria japonica Cultivars in Southwestern Japan

Abstract Understanding how tree growth responds to climate is important for predicting how plantation forests may react to ongoing climate change. In this study, we examined the climate–growth relationships of six Cryptomeria japonica cultivars across five common-garden sites in southwestern Japan using dendrochronological methods. We analyzed 48 years of ring width data to evaluate how monthly and annual temperature and precipitation affect radial growth at site and cultivar levels. Static and moving correlation analyses revealed that late winter to early spring temperatures (February–March) positively influenced radial growth at most sites, likely by facilitating cambial reactivation, while high summer precipitation tended to suppress growth at some sites, possibly through reduced solar irradiance. Precipitation effects were variable across sites, with autumn rainfall showing positive effects at lower-elevation sites. At the cultivar level, early-growth type cultivars tended to show positive temperature responses, while late-growth types showed more variable precipitation responses, though the majority of cultivar-level correlations did not reach statistical significance. Multivariate ordination (PCA) and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) on correlation-based response profiles indicated that geographic location was a significant driver of climate-growth response patterns (R 2 = 0.28, p = 0.014), while cultivar type explained a substantial but non-significant proportion of variance (R 2 = 0.23, p = 0.085). These results suggest that local environmental conditions primarily shape climate sensitivity in C. japonica , while genetic provenance provides an additional, non-negligible layer of variation. Our findings underscore the importance of considering both site characteristics and cultivar characteristics in forest management and climate adaptation strategies for C. japonica plantations.