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Study: Tree ring series of Bosnian pine
(Pinus heldreichii Christ) from Pirin mountains
in Bulgaria
Aim of this Study is
to construct long and highly replicated tree ring chronology
from the species, analyze the climate-growth relationships
with available climate data and construct a proxy climate
record with duration of 800 years or more.
Pirin
Mountains are the second highest in Bulgaria (Vihren
peak, 2917m a.s.l.). The climate in the range is formed
under the complex influence of Mediterranean and Atlantic
air masses, with the predominance of moist Mediterranean
masses. This is reason for milder winters with frequent
snowfalls and occasional Southwestern winds. Due to its
specific climate Pirin Mountains have become refuge for
numerous plant species, many of which are endemic. This
is the reason why the majority of the northern part of the
range has been declared a national park and included in
UNESCO’s “Man and Biosphere” list of very important natural
zones. On the territory of the park are situated some of
the best-preserved forests of the Balkan endemic species
Pinus peuce and the very rare Pinus heldreichii.
Vihren peak (2917m a.s.l.)
is situated in the central part of the mountains , just
above Vihren and Bunderitsa hut. Its slopes are steep, often
almost vertical (the North-Eastern wall is 400 meters high
vertical wall). One very peculiar thing is that the base
rock is marble. This is the reason for presence of many
species that are capable of enduring both low temperatures
and at the same time drought-type conditions. Many of them
are very rare, included in the Bulgarian "Red Book"
and are either Bulgarian, or Balkan endemic species. Of
the tree species the most remarkable is Pinus heldreichii
Christ. The slopes o Vihren are one of the "refuges"
of the ancient forests, many of which consist of trees with
age of 500+ years.
A magnificent old Pinus heldreichii (more than 700 years
of age) along the Eastern slope of Vihren peak in Pirin,
Bulgaria
Our team has been studying
these forests for almost a decade. Up to now we have collected
an impressive archive of tree ring series (more than 150
with age of +300 years), constructed several chronologies.
We have presented results on conference meetings and prepared
first articles (please, see a list below). Currently we
are working in cooperation with the WSL team (dr. Valerie
Trouet) for the analysis of the chronologies and continuation
of the work.
Collecting of the cores often is quite risky and requires
the use of ropes and climbing equipment:)
Our "team"
is coordinated by dr. Momchil Panayotov (Forestry University,
Sofia, Bulgaria). During these years other people were attracted
and took part in the collection of the cores, measurement
and analysis. Among them are students Albena Ivanova, Neli
Nikolova, Yanitsa Todorova, Alexander Dountchev and teachers
in the University of Forestry Evgeni Tsavkov and dr. Steffan
Yurukov. Work has been supported by project
115/2008 of the University of Forestry.
You can see some nice
pictures from such work in our Galleries pages.
Publications:
Panayotov. M., Bebi.
P., Trouet, V. and Yurukov, S. Climate signal in tree-ring
chronologies of Pinus peuce and Pinus heldreichii
from the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria. Submitted to "Trees
- structure and Function"
Panayotov, M. and Yurukov,
S. (2008) Pinus peuce and Pinus heldreichii
tree rings as a key to past mountain climate in Southeastern
Europe. Proceedings of TRACE2008 conference: 71-77, PDF
file
Panayotov, M.P. and
Yurukov, S. (2007) Tree ring chronology from Pinus peuce
in Pirin Mts and the possibilities to use it for climate
analysis. Phytologia Balcanica, 13(3): 313-320 , PDF
file
Yurukov S.,Panayotov
M., E.Tsavkov and P. Zhelev. (2005). Dendrological characteristic
of Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii Christ) on karst
terrains in “Pirin” National Park. Proceedings of the International
Scientific Conference "Protected Karst Territories
– Conditions, Problems, Perspectives", 18-21. Oct.
2005, Shumen, Bulgaria.(PDF
file, Bulgarian language, abstract in English. 0,5MB)
Contacts:
Dr. Momchil Panayotov,
e-mail: mp2@ abv.bg (please note, there is
one blank space after the "@" symbol, you have
to remove it to send a mail. Nobody likes spam:)
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