Torbenson, Max Carl Arne2014-09-122014-09-122014-06https://hdl.handle.net/11299/165635University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. June 2014. Major: Geography. Advisor: Dr. Scott St. George. 1 computer file (PDF); v, 51 pages.We developed five ring-width records from Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis) stands in northern California and southwestern Oregon to evaluate growth trends and their relation to climate across the species' latitudinal range. The chronologies are made up of 173 trees in total, and earliest adequate replication ranges from AD 1624 to AD 1812. The oldest tree sampled has an inner-ring date of AD 1340. Tree age is only weakly correlated with size, and younger individuals (<300 years old) make up the majority of large trees (>100 cm DBH) in our data. Chronologies display shared variability in ring-width at inter-annual timescales; however, cross-dating across the full study region is not possible. The five records, together with one publicly available chronology, were compared to local and regional climate data. Significant correlations between red fir tree growth and local climate were found at all six sites but these relationships were not consistent throughout the latitudinal gradient. Prior analysis has suggested that the growth of the species is primarily limited by summer minimum temperature, but this relationship was not apparent at most sites within our network. Instead, the associations observed between red fir growth and climate are multivariate, dependent on the temporal resolution of climate data used, and may also be influenced by both latitude and elevation.en-USClimate-growth relationshipDendrochronologyred firThesis or Dissertation