Intra-annual variations of radial growth and ring structure.

Radial growth monitoring of four Aleppo pines is done to analyse ring forma tion and its climatic determinism. These measures are confronted to wood de nsity profiles and meteorological parameters. Growth occurs in two phases: spring growth and autumnal growth, separated by the summer rest period. The rainfall pattern, before and after the summer drought, plays a major role on ring increment and ring structure. Temperature combined with precipitati on, influences growth start and summer water availability. Radial growth me asurement and density profiles confrontation makes it possible to associate a temporal scale to density profile. Early wood formation corresponds to o ptimum of the spring growth phase; early wood-late wood transition correspo nds to growth rate reduction at the end of the spring growth phase (June, J uly); late wood fluctuations are linked with the successive rest period and autumnal growth.