Dendroclimatic Information on Silver Fir (Abies Alba Mill.) in the Northern Apennines

The main studies on silver fir were aimed at investigating the relationship between annual ring growth rhythms and climate factors. The aim of the present work is to know how the silver fir responds to both the environmental factors and meteorological parameters as a function of altitude and soil characteristics. The results are that the ring growth depends mainly on winter mean temperature of the same year considered in the chronologies, from summer precipitation and from mean summer temperature of the preceding year. The influence of winter mean temperature appears more pronounced in shallow soil at high altitude. The effect of mean summer temperature and of summer precipitation is greater at low altitude, and at high altitude only in shallow soil.