Albania, 968-2008 AD, Tree ring width, Scots Pine, PAGES Euro-Med 2k Version Seim, A.; Büntgen, U.; Fonti, P.; Haska, H.; Herzig, F.; Tegel, W.; Trouet, V.; Treydte, K. Seim, A. Büntgen, U. Fonti, P. Haska, H. Herzig, F. Tegel, W. Trouet, V. Treydte, K. PAGES 2k Network PAGES Euro-Med 2k PISY Pinus sylvestris L. Scots pine Scotch pine earth science/paleoclimate/tree-ring (Balkan Peninsula, Albania>LATITUDE 41>LONGITUDE 20) Considerable progress has been made in assessing European climate variations of the last millennium, but little is known about the Mediterranean region and particularly its eastern part including the Balkan Peninsula. This area, however, will be particularly vulnerable to a predicted temperature increase and precipitation decrease, likely resulting in amplified drought extremes and episodes. Here we present a well-replicated composite tree-ring width chronology of millennial length from Albania, Balkan Peninsula. The Pinus heldreichii Christ dataset contains 302 series from 217 living and dead trees from 3 high-elevation sites, and spans the years 968-2008. Signal strength and growth-climate relationships were investigated using subsets according to location, age class, and growth level, as well as differently detrended chronology versions. Growth comparisons amongst the 3 sites' chronologies, between age classes and between growth-rate groups reveal an overall strong common signal. Growth-climate relationships over the last 100 yr, however, indicate that tree-ring formation does not depend on one single dominant factor, but rather on various combinations of summer precipitation and temperature resulting in temporally varying drought sensitivity. Our results emphasize a mixed and variable climate signal, corresponding with findings from other P. heldreichii sites across the Balkan Peninsula and Southern Italy. STUDY NOTES: Tree-ring sampling was performed in order to develop well-replicated, long, and climate-sensitive chronologies including different age classes. From 131 living trees, 47 disk and 255 core samples were collected, and 86 samples here derived from stumps of recently logged trees or from dry dead wood remains. We sampled at 3 high-elevation sites along a north-south transect in Albania: Thethi (AT), Fushe Lura (AL) and the Cuka Partisan (AP). All sites were located in open forest stands near the upper local treeline on shallow soils. The most northern site, AT (42° 25' N, 19°46' E), is located in the Albanian Alps, and 41 trees were sampled between 1700 and 1900 m above sea level (a.s.l.) on a southeast-exposed slope. The AL site (41°48' N, 20°14' E) is located in the Lura mountain range in central Albania, where 89 trees were sampled between 1800 and 2000 m a.s.l. on a steep southwest-exposed slope. We complemented cores of living trees with samples from 10 logs (>500 yr) found in local sawmills close to this site. The AP site in the Tomorri massif (40°42' N, 20° 8' E) is the southernmost location, where 77 trees were sampled between 1900 and 2100 m a.s.l. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Seim, A. Investigator : Büntgen, U. Investigator : Fonti, P. Investigator : Haska, H. Investigator : Herzig, F. Investigator : Tegel, W. Investigator : Trouet, V. Investigator : Treydte, K. 2013-05-15 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003410 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Seim_et_al_CR_2012.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Seim_et_al_CR_2012.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003410 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Seim_et_al_CR_2012.txt Seim, A., U. Buentgen, P. Fonti, H. Haska, F. Herzig, W. Tegel, V. Trouet, and K. Treydte. 2012. Climate sensitivity of a millennium-long pine chronology from Albania. Climate Research, 51, 217-228. DOI: 10.3354/cr01076 START YEAR: 968 AD * END YEAR: 2008 AD 20 41 20 41