Species-specific and Non-species-specific Elemental Trends in Tree Rings

The goal was to find out how consistent the elemental distributions in tree rings are. The dataset was received for a long-term afforestation experiment that included even soil conditions and a variety of conifers (Scots pine, Norway spruce, Siberian pine, and Siberian larch) growing in pure stands. The stands are a part of a long-term experiment of the Institute of Forest SB RAS. The experiment is located in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk city. Relative contents of elements (counts) were received through the scanning facility of Itrax Multiscanner (COX Analytical Systems). Every element was attributed with two variables: concentration of counts and quantity of counts. A cluster analysis was performed in a four-dimensional space of standard deviations and linear slopes of the variables. The elements studied non-randomly distribute over the clusters. Three elements (Ca, Co, and P) display a high consistency of distribution parameters in tree rings as they cluster largely irrespective of species. A few elements (Mn, Pb, Cl, Cr, Ni, Sr, and W) cluster consistently within species. Therefore, for the first time, it was found that the species factor does not affect the distribution of some elements, but significantly affects the distribution of others.