Response of Japanese Larch (Larix leptolepis Gord) Radial Growth to Climate Change in the Left Bank Forest-Steppe, Ukraine

The research presents the response of Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis Gord) radial growth to climate change in the conditions of the forest-steppe of Ukraine in the Arboretum planting at the State Biotechnological University. The article develops local-tree chronologies of early, late and annual wood, considering three periods: 1979–1993, 1994–2008, and 2009–2022. The authors emphasize that the sensitivity of the radial growth of trees to climate variations increased in the third period, as evidenced by the increase in the number of significant correlation coefficients between index tree-ring chronologies and climatic factors (temperatures and precipitation), as well as hydrothermal coefficients (O₁, O₃ and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)). This indicates the weakening of the plantation because of temperature increase. Early wood turned out to be the most sensitive to climate variations. The radial increment trend stabilized in 2020–2022.