Objective To determine the effects of recent climate change on European timberline forests and to predict the effect of the anticipated near-future global warming at the timberline.A calibration data-set of climate/environment factors and a wide range of tree growth responses over the last 50 - 100 years will be produced along transects across the timberline in Northern Fennoscandia and on Alpine and Mediterranean mountains. The climate data will be obtained from both exisiting meteorological stations and on-transect monitoring sites. The present vegetation will be mapped in detail and the fertility of timberline species recorded. The tree growth responses will include annual measurements of pollen and plant macro-fossil deposition, needle density and needle shed, stomatal density on needles, tree-ring width, density, cell formation and structure and late-wood stable carbon isotope content. Focus will be primarily on Pinus but other tree species will be considered as regionally appropriate. The multidata-set will be used to model the effect of climate on timberline forests by elucidating any significant effects of temperature, precipitation and co2 concentration on tree growth. This model will be tested on past situations of Holocene timberline and climate different from today namely 4000 years ago (Northern transects) and 8000 years ago (Alpine and Mediterranean transects) through determining the same tree growth response factors annually for these time windows.=20 On the basis of this a predictive model of the responses of timberline forests to future changing climate will be built. Fields of science social sciencessociologydemographyfertilityagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulturearboriculturenatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Programme(s) FP4-ENV 2C - Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 01010402 - Agriculture, forests and the natural environment Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator University of Oulu EU contribution No data Address 90571 Oulu Finland See on map Total cost No data Participants (12) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece EU contribution No data Address University Campus 54006 Thessaloniki See on map Total cost No data LEOPOLD-FRANZENS-UNIVERSITAET INNSBRUCK Austria EU contribution No data Address 15,Sternwartestrasse 15 6020 INNSBRUCK See on map Total cost No data Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Switzerland EU contribution No data Address 111,Zürcherstrasse 8903 Birmensdorf See on map Total cost No data THE FINNISH FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE Finland EU contribution No data Address Etelaeranta 55 96301 ROVANIEMI See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN Norway EU contribution No data Address Allegaten 41 5007 BERGEN See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF BERNE Switzerland EU contribution No data Address 21,Altenbergrain 21 3013 BERN See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF HAMBURG Germany EU contribution No data Address 91,Leuschnerstrasse 91 21031 HAMBURG See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF WALES SWANSEA United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address Singleton Park SWANSEA See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Universidade de Lisboa Portugal EU contribution No data Address 58,Rua da Escola Politecnica 1294 Lisboa See on map Total cost No data University of Helsinki Finland EU contribution No data Address 5,Snellmaninkatu 00014 Helsinki See on map Total cost No data University of Tromsø Norway EU contribution No data Address 201,Dramsveien 9037 Tromsø See on map Total cost No data Université de Droit d'Economie et des Sciences d'Aix Marseille France EU contribution No data Address Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niemen 13397 Marseille See on map Total cost No data