Anatomical and Dendrochronological Investigation of the Chestnut-Leaved Oak in The South East Part of the Great Caucasus

Parameters of the earlywood vessels and the width of annual rings have been investigated. Studies were carried out by using standard dendrochronological and anatomical methods. To this end, we measured the area of the lumen and compared with the widths of the tree rings. An increase in earlywood vessel lumen area and decrease in their number in the process of tree ageing were observed. We observed negative correlation between vessel lumen area and ring-width index and trends were 65%. In the end we came to conclusion that not only the internal but also external factors influence on the formation of early wood vessels. It was also found that a positive correlation exists between the vessel lumen area and temperatures of March, April of the current year, and precipitation of November of last year and a negative correlation exists between precipitation of February, August, and November of this year. Based on these results, it was found that the chestnut-leaved oak, which is distributed in this area, is very sensitive to climate and can be used for studying climate changes in the future