This book is a review and description of the state-of-the-art methods of tree-ring analysis with specific emphasis on applications in the environmental sciences. Traditionally, methods of tree-ring analysis, or more properly in this case methods of dendrochronology, were developed and used for dating archaeological and historical structures and for reconstructing past climates. The classic book Tree Rings and Climate, by H.C. Fritts, published in 1976, provided a superb introduction to the science and an in-depth description of techniques useful for extracting climatic information from tree rings. This book, which was published by Academic Press, is sadly out of print and, even though only 12 years old, limited in its methods and applications. This is owing to the extremely rapid development of the science since the 1970s. Only recently have tree rings as environmental sensors been fully recognized as a valuable tool in detecting environmental change. For example, tree-ring measurements have been critically important in studies of forest decline in Europe and North America. There are also attempts to use tree-ring analysis for ecological prognosis to solve large-scale regional problems including the sustainability of water supplies, prediction of agricultural crops, and adoption of silvicultural measures in response to ecological changes. More speculatively, dendrochronological methods are also used for dating and evaluating some astrophysical phenomena and for indicating possible increase in the biospheric carrying capacity due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Such a wide range of application of modern dendrochronology beyond its traditional field has resulted in the development of various approaches. This has placed heavy demands on methodological unification and improvement. However, the principles and methods of tree-ring analysis are not widely known by scientists outside the field. In addition, papers on the application of tree-ring analysis are not always easily accessible as they are scattered in a wide range of journals, many of which are non-English. Therefore, an attempt to meet these demands is being made through international cooperative efforts among the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and leading dendrochronological bodies, such as the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB), the Dendrochronological Commission of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the International Project in Dendrochronology (IPID), as well as leading dendrochronology laboratories in countries around the world. As a result of these activities, an international network has been established, East-West collaboration of scientists has been fascilitated, several international workshops onb dendrochronology (Albena, Bulgaria, 1985; Cracow, Poland, 1986; Irkutsk, USSR, 1987) have been organized, and, finally, this book - an..
