• Zahner, Robert
  Department of Forestry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
  

This study interprets changes in tree rings over the 22-year period 1964-1985 in natural longleaf pine (pinus palustris Mill.) on the Escambia Experimental Forest in Alabama. A linear aggregate model was used to analyze absolutely-dated tree-ring measurements, describing five factors known to contribute to radical growth variance in southern pines: stand age, stand density, prescribed fire, site, and climate. Reduced ring widths were closely associated with current droughts and with years following winter burns. With stand age held at 25 years, basal area at 100 sq ft-ac and site index at 75, the model finds that climate and prescribed winter fires together account for 30 percent of the annual variation in radial growth.