Primary Data

The search and selection of suitable regions, sites, species, and trees are fundamentally important in dendrochronological studies. Practically every dendrochronological study states the locality from which the material is taken and the number of tree rings contained in the samples and the chronologies. However, only in dendroecological papers are the principles of site and specimen selection described (e.g., Mueller-Stoll, 1951; Jazewitsch, 1961; Fritts, 1965; Shiyatov, 1973, 1986; Bitvinskas, 1974; Lovelius, 1979). LaMarche et al. (1982) point out the potentials and limits of dendrochronological studies in historical and ecological fields. These depend primarily on the aims and the tasks of the investigator, and their accuracy determines the quality of the tree-ring chronologies obtained. This section focuses on the importance of the sampling strategies for various applications of dendrochronology.