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    The research methodology, the field sampling strategy and the data processing foreseen are fully in agreement with the objectives of the project. The project objectives are exploratory and involve specific research techniques. In order to analyze the time-dynamic of growth processes at intra-annual step and their link with climatic factors, the sampling will consist in extracting wood increment cores. New plots will be established in the timberline zone, which location will be chosen to respond to the project goals and be based on the complementary information that can be gathered from the dendrochronological network – RODENDRONET already in place. To quantify the influence of the canopy position and the age on the response to climate, a permanent plot with 1 hectare surface will be establish in the National Park Calimani, in a mixed stand of spruce and stone pine. To study the altitudinal gradient, two or three altitudinal transects will be settled in Eastern and Southern Carpathians.
     The sampling, the primary processing and the storage of the growth samples shall be achieved using specific equipment, modern such as: Pressler increment borer, dendrometric measurement instruments of last generation using laser and radio (Ledha Geo, vertex Laser), devices for measuring the parameters of tree rings with high accuracy (digital system LINTAB) and professional software (CAROTA, TSAPwin, STATISTICA, SAS). The build up of dendrochronological series will be achieved in accordance with the acknowledged methodologies on international plan and accepted by ITRDB (International Tree Rings Database), concerning the processing of statistical indicators, the crossdating and standardising techniques and also the building of master dendrochronological series.
     In order to reveal the climatic signals from the general growth fluctuations, we intend apply modern statistical methods that involve a complex mathematical apparatus, some being specific to dendrochronological studies, such as the method of signals separation, regional growth trend method, and cubic spline functions.
    The analysis of the relation climate-tree would be based as much on classical statistical methods  (correlation and regression analysis) as much as on complex statistics like the multiple regression with extraction of principal components, bootstraping for estimating of errors, response function.
     To study the intra-annual dynamics of radial growth processes, new techniques and high level research infrastructure will be used. The monitoring of growth processes will be done by application of two methods: the automatic point-dendrometer combined with band-dendrometer and, the microcores analysis by microscopy. The climatic factors monitoring would be done using automatic weather stations type HOBO with four sensors: humidity and temperature of the air, soil temperature, soil water content, and active photosynthetic radiation. To quantify the temperature altitudinal gradients humidity and temperature, sensors with integrated data logger will be use.
     The monitoring of growth and climatic factors will be made in six permanent plots established on the timberline for three species: Norway spruce, stone pine and larch. An intermediary plot will also be established at 1300-1400 m altitude to specifically study the altitudinal gradient at intra-annual time step.
     The differentiation and the quantification of tree-ring formation phases would be based on microcores sampling in two permanent plots of the Calimani National Park: one located at the edge (1700-1800 m) and the second at 1300-1400 m elevation. The monitoring has in view the next species: spruce, stone pine, mountain pine and European mountain ash. Every week, between March and October, we sampled microcores, 1-2 cm length and 2 mm thickness, from five trees for each species and plot (35 samples /week) with a special borer. These microcores contain the zone of ring formation (cambial cells, differentions cells, cell with cellular walls thickening and mature cells) as well as the last 2-3 annual rings. The samples will be put in paraffin blocks, following the devoted methodology. Microsections will be obtained using the rotary microtome and colored with Safranine and Atral blue. The analysis of these micro-sections would be done with a microscope, under normal transmitted and polarized light, for counting the number of cells for each tree ring development phases. The statistical analysis and the modeling of growth processes at intra-annual level in done using specific techniques: Gompertz function fit, regressions, etc.
      The management of fields data and also of the measurement and preliminary and final results will be done in a unitary system using relational database systems, and the processing of these is shall be achieved automatically by new and existent algorithms, computer implemented.
      It can be underlined that the methods and the approach as well as the project objectives, are new and original, compared to the newest scientific elements known.
      The contribution of the project leader will consist in the elaboration of the research methodology, work plans, the settlement of new permanent plots in the base of database and literature documentary. The tsampling will be done by entire research team as well as the processing, measurement and building of master dendrochronological series, the elaboration of research reports, and also the publication and dissemination of results in all project stage.
       The proposed project has a high degree of interdisciplinary through the complexity of the objectives. We utilize research techniques and methods from the area of forest biometry corroborated with one from the area of climatology, statistics, informatics, geography, biology and ecology. The dendrochronological research is by nature an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary domain. Also the project offers the information and data useful to other research domain, through the results expected, respectively on climatic changes, on the analysis of environmental changes at landscape level, meteorology and climatology.