CHRONOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT NEW-ZEALAND PINK PINE (HALOCARPUS-BIFORMIS) TREE-RING PARAMETERS

Seven different tree-ring parameters (total ring width, earlywood widt h, latewood width, maximum latewood density, minimum earlywood density , average earlywood density, and average latewood density) were obtain ed from pink pine (Halocarpus biformis Hook.) at one chronology site i n New Zealand (NZ). The chronologies were analyzed individually and th en compared with each other. The relationships between the different t ree-ring parameters and climate data (NZ average and local climate dat a) are also presented. There were more significant climate response fu nctions in the NZ national average climate series than that of local c limate data series. Earlywood-related parameters (earlywood width, min imum density, and average earlywood density) were more sensitive to cl imate than those of latewood. Temperature during the NZ growth season (November-March) was found to be the most strongly related to tree gro wth. This study demonstrates that the use of both ring width and ring density data can increase the climate information obtained from ring w idths and should lend to improved paleoclimate reconstructions in New Zealand.