3. Dendroclimatology: trees as recorders of past climate

3.1 The role of climate in tree growth

The cerne-climate relationship is estimated using linear regression, the assumption being that the effect of variation in the climatic factor studied on that of the width, maximum density or isotopic signature of the cerne is linear within the range of ecological conditions covered by the sample. However, ring width incorporates all inter-annual variations in environmental conditions. In order to determine to what extent (how and when?) climatic parameters can influence tree growth, response functions are calculated