U. Sass et D. Eckstein, THE VARIABILITY OF VESSEL SIZE IN BEECH (FAGUS-SYLVATICA L) AND ITS ECOPHYSIOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION, Trees, 9(5), 1995, pp. 247-252
The vessel areas of ten beech trees growing on a dry site were measure
d separately for all tree rings using automatic image analysis. These
data were correlated with the monthly amount of precipitation from the
July prior to the growing season until the August of the current grow
ing season. It is evident that vessel formation at the beginning of ca
mbial activity is mainly controlled by internal factors. The rainfall
in the previous summer and autumn and in the contemporary May had only
a slight influence, Vessel formation towards the end of the cambial a
ctivity is strongly influenced by the July rainfall and is thus determ
ined to a greater degree by external factors. These results are discus
sed on the basis of hypotheses of tree physiology.