DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THAILAND

Some of the first tree-ring chronologies from mainland Southeast Asia have been developed from Thailand, and a significant link between clim ate and tree growth has been suggested. Four chronologies from two spe cies of pine (Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon and Pinus merkusii Jungh. & de Vriese) from northeastern, lower northern and northwestern Thailan d have been constructed: three from P. kesiya and one from P. merkusii . A second P. merkusii chronology is being developed from samples from northwestern Thailand. Preliminary climate modelling demonstrates sig nificant relationships for tree growth with both temperature and preci pitation for both species, A significant, direct relationship is revea led with temperature at the beginning of the wet season for Pinus merk usii from Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, along with an inverse rel ationship with precipitation for the same period. It is also suggested that the month of November (the transitional month from wet to dry se ason) during the year of growth is most important for Pinus kesiya fro m Nam Nao National Park, based on significant, direct relationships wi th both temperature and precipitation. The dendrochronological potenti al of another species, the long-lived Podocarpus neriifolius, is also discussed.