Vol. 14, issue 12, article # 10

Zuev V. V., Bondarenko S. L. Relationship between long-period variability of the atmospheric ozone layer and UV-B induced variability of wood density. // Atmospheric and oceanic optics. 2001. V. 14. No. 12. P. 1054-1057.    PDF
Copy the reference to clipboard

Abstract:

Correlation between dendrochronological time series of conifers from International Tree-Ring Data Bank and chronology of total ozone at Arosa station, Switzerland, are analyzed. The strongest correlation is observed for such a characteristic as wood density. The negative correlation between chronologies of the mean density and total ozone, such as for Stone Pine, exceeds 0.6 in the absolute value. Ozone absorbs UV radiation in the same wavelength range as the molecules of living cells. The thinner the ozone layer, the higher the level of solar UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface. The UV В radiation causes plant shock depressing the growth of plant cells. This process has biological consequences in the tree rings, thus allowing the use of dendrochronological series for qualitative reconstruction of the total ozone in the vegetation season (April-September).