Dendrochronologists have long estimated the impact of climate on tree-ring growth by empirical-statistical methods. The use of the model is illustrated with examples from widely differing environments, and possible future directions for model development and application are discussed. As forests are the main carbon sink on land, the results are of great importance for all global change studies.

Factors influencing the seasonal growth of trees.- Tree-ring structure in conifers as an image of growth conditions.- Seasonal cambium activity and production of new xylem cells.- Radial cell enlargement.- Cell wall thickening.- Environmental control of xylem differentiation.- Modeling external influence on xylem development.- Simulation of tree-ring growth dynamics in varying and changing climates.- Ecophysiological modeling of tree-ring growth.- Epilogue.- References.- Subject Index.