DENDROECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A FITZROYA-CUPRESSOIDES AND A NOTHOFAGUS-NITIDA STAND IN THE CORDILLERA-PELADA, CHILE

Lumbering of Fitzroya cupressoides in Chile began in 1599 and continue d until 1976, when the species was declared a national monument and cu tting of live trees was prohibited. Today, F. cupressoides is threaten ed; many of the remaining stands in the coastal range appear to be dec lining, with a predominance of standing dead stems and patchy, sparse regeneration. We performed tree-ring analysis on a F. cupressoides sta nd and a nearby Nothofagus nitida stand, in the Cordillera Pelada, of coastal Chile (40 degrees S) in order to examine the ecological histor y of two stands in the montane forest. Our analysis demonstrates that the F. cupressoides stand has undergone several periods of growth rele ase and disturbance; the last 34 years of the chronology show a trend of increasing growth. In contrast, after 1865 radial growth of the N. nitida stand is fairly constant and steady. Radial growth of these two species is highly correlated with spring rainfall. November rainfall of the current growing season proved to be the best growth predictor o f F. cupressoides, whereas current June and December rain, and Decembe r rain of the past growing season best predicted growth of N. nitida. Although episodic disturbances have occurred, the chronologies demonst rated that these stands are vigorous, despite the presence of dead sta nds nearby. These results do not support the idea that climatic deteri oration is responsible for the decline of F. cupressoides during the p ast 77 years.