Unveiling the Dendroclimatic Potential of Blue Pine (Pinus wallichiana) Growing in Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Unveiling the Dendroclimatic Potential of Blue Pine (Pinus wallichiana) Growing in Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Tanvir Hussain*, Zahid Rauf, Mansoor Ali Khan and Khalid Hussain
ABSTRACT
Dendroclimatic potential of coniferous trees reflects their ability to serve as a valuable tool for understanding the past climatic conditions and predicting future trends of the region. Blue pine (Pinus wallichiana ) with well-defined annual growth rings offers a reliable record of previous circumstances of environment . The objective of current study was to evaluate its dendroclimatic potential under Shangla’s wet temperate climate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . In order to conduct study, wood samples in the form of cores were taken from the district of Swat’s Shahpur and Liliani Forest areas. Using standard laboratory techniques, the collected cores were processed and measured for tree ring width. Cofecha and R packages, two computer - based programs , were used to statistically evaluate the data. The findings indicated that there was a notable rise in yearly precipitation between 1921 and 2021, which had a substantial impact on the species ’ growth . Furthermore , precipitation was discovered to be a limiting factor for this species’ growth. From the results, it was concluded that blue pine growing under the prevailing climatic conditions of Shangla has good potential for dendroclimatic studies and could be helpful for scientists and researchers to forecast regional and global climate change by reconstructing past climatic factors.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
