The analysis of tree rings has been critically important in all kinds of environmental studies including forest decline, ecological prognosis on a large scale and climate trends for the past decades to millennia. It may also provide important knowledge for forest management and the forest product industry. This book has been developed from an IUFRO meeting in Washington State, USA in July 1997 and describes the latest achievements and challenges in tree ring research from around the world.

Table of Contents:
SECTION A: Analyzing radial growth processes 1: A simulation model of conifer ring growth and cell structure, H C Fritts et al, DendroPower, USA 2: Effects of environment on xylogenesis of Norway Spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.), P Horacek et al,University of Agriculture and Forestry, Czech Republic 3: Measuring and interpreting diurnal activity in the main stem of trees, W Gensler, Agricultural Electronics Corporation, USA 4: Diurnal variation and radial growth of stems in young plantation Eucalypts: a preliminary study, G M Downes, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, Australia SECTION B: Analyzing anatomical and structural features 5: Significance of vertical resin ducts in the tree rings of spruce, R Wimmer, University of Agricultural Sciences, Austria 6: Practical application of annual rings in the bark of Magnolia, Z-Z Zhao, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SECTION C: Tropical tree-ring analysis 7: Remarks on the current situation of tree-ring research in the tropics, R E Vetter, INPA/CPPF, Brazil 8: Identification of annual growth rings based on periodical shoot growth, P P de Mattos, CNPF-EMBRAPA, Brazil 9: Seasonal variations of the vascular cambium of Teak (Tectona grandis L.) in Brazil, M Tomazello, ESALQ/University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and N de Silva Cardoso, Technological Institute of Amazonia/UTAM, Brazil 10: Climate-growth relationships of Teak (Tectona grandis L.) from Northern Thailand, N Pumijumnong, Mahidol University, Thailand 11: Growth periodicity in relation to the xylem development in three Shorea spp. (Dipterocarpaceae) growing in Sarawak, T Fujii, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan 12: Pinus tropicalis growth responses to seasonal precipitation changes in Western Cuba, M M Chernavskaya, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia SECTION D: Tree rings and historical aspects 13: Occurrence of moon rings in oak from Poland during the Holocene, 15: M Krapiec, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Poland 16: Site chronologies for historical dating in High Asia/Nepal, B Schmidt, Universitat Koln, Germany SECTION E: Tree-ring analysis and environmental interactions 17: A comparison between repeated timber inventories and dendochronological time series for forest monitoring, F Biondi, Inversity of California - San Diego, USA 18: Tree-ring patterns in an old-growth, subalpine forest in southern interior British Columbia, R Parish et al, BC Ministry of Forests, Canada 19: A new detrending method for the analysis of the climate-competition relations in tree-ring sequences, E Piutti, Centro di Ecologia Alpina, Italy and A Cescatti, Italy 20: Dendochronological investigations of climate and competitive effects on longleaf pine growth, R S Meldahl et al, Auburn University, USA 21: Influence of climatic factors on the radial growth of Pinus densiflora from Sogni Mountains in Central Korea, W -K Park et al, Chungbuk University, Republic of Korea