Croissance de la châtaigneraie limousine et climat. Réflexion sur la place du Châtaignier dans les prochaines décennies

This paper explores the growth/climate relationships in earlywood, latewood and total ring-width chronologies of Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in three areas with different climatic conditions (humid, mesic and dry climate) in the Limousin region (36 stands, 146 sampled trees in high forests). Earlywood growth mainly depends on the previous autumn’s conditions (November) and late winter temperatures (February and March, negative effects of high temperatures). Subsequent spring precipitation (May-June) plays a major role for the production of earlywood; the effect of spring rainfall being greater under the driest climate. Temporal analyses revealed unstable sensitivity to spring conditions, which raises questions about the future of this species in the area of investigation.