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This paper deals with the response of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) growth to climate, mainly drought, presenting data from southern Kosovo, for which only little information is available. Two cores from 55 dominant trees were extracted at two sites representing the limits of the natural distribution of silver fir. We built 80- and 112-year-long chronologies for each site. Comparison of both ring width chronologies showed that they were diverse. Pointer year analysis indicated that high spring temperatures and ample rainfall (1082 mm) influenced positively silver fir growth (wide ring), while low spring temperatures and scarce precipitation had an inverse effect. Bootstrapped response functions confirmed that April and May temperatures of the current growth year influenced positively silver fir growth at the low-elevation site, while the July precipitation of the previous growth year had a negative influence. At the high-elevation site, warm previous December temperatures had a positive influence on silver fir growth. Drought indices indicated two periods (1953-1961 and 1994-2001) with moderate drought. Correlation analysis between silver fir radial growth and drought indices revealed that the impact of drought on radial growth was significant at the time scale of 1.5 months during the summer months. Resume: Cet article porte sur la reaction de la croissance du sapin pectine (Abies alba Mill.) au climat, surtout a la seche-resse, selon des donnees provenant du sud du Kosovo, une region pour laquelle il y a peu d'information disponible. Deux carottes ont ete prelevees sur 55 arbres dominants dans deux stations situees a la limite de l'aire naturelle de repartition du sapin pectine. Nous avons construit des series dendrochronologiques d'une duree de 80 et 112 ans pour chacune des sta-tions. La comparaison des deux series dendrochronologiques a montre qu'elles etaient differentes. L'etude des annees carac-teristiques a indique que les temperatures printanieres elevees et amplement de precipitations (1 082 mm) ont influence positivement la croissance du sapin pectine (larges cernes), tandis que des temperatures printanieres basses et des precipitations peu abondantes ont eu un effet inverse. Des fonctions de reponse basees sur la methode de reechantillonnage ont confirme que les temperatures des mois d'avril et mai de l'annee en cours ont influence positivement la croissance du sapin pectine dans la station situee a faible altitude tandis que la precipitation du mois de juillet de l'annee precedente a eu une influence negative. Dans la station situee a haute altitude, les temperatures chaudes du mois de decembre precedant ont eu une influence positive sur la croissance du sapin pectine. Deux periodes (1953-1961 et 1994-2001) ont connu une seche-resse moderee selon les indices de secheresse. L'analyse de correlation entre la croissance radiale du sapin pectine et les indices de secheresse a revele que l'impact de la secheresse sur la croissance radiale etait significatif a une echelle de temps de 1,5 mois pendant les mois d'ete. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Climate changes and their impacts already observed globally are expected to become more pronounced in the future. Climate observations show that the global average temperature has increased by 0.8 [...]

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The objective of this study is to analyze the physical and chemical characteristics of three coastal zones of the Adriatic Sea during late spring, and to identify similarities and differences among the zones. The trophic status of the Southeastern Adriatic-Sea, dominated by the discharge from the Buna/Bojana river delta watersheds, is compared with two other Adriatic regions: the Northwestern Adriatic Sea and the Southwestern Adriatic Sea (Gulf of Manfredonia); the first is dominated by the Po River freshwater discharge and the second is one of the most productive areas of the Southwestern Adriatic. The areas are influenced by two main Adriatic surface currents: the Eastern Adriatic Current (EAC) that flows north-westward, and the Western Adriatic Current (WAC) that flows south-eastward. The measurements of temperature, salinity, fluorescence, oxygen, nutrients and chlorophyll a in the three areas were collected and compared. The areas showed similar physical and bio-chemical characteristics, despite the Northern Adriatic is impacted by the Po River runoff and the WAC carries out along the Western Adriatic water rich of nutrients from the northern Italian rivers. The area affected by the Po River discharge showed maximum chlorophyll and nitrogen concentrations within the river plume. Moreover, the Southwestern Adriatic Sea showed a load of nutrients and organic matter connected to substances coming from the northern Italian rivers (mainly the Po River). Similarly, in the Southeastern Adriatic-Sea, the Buna/Bojana River discharge contained relatively high values in the regional chlorophyll distribution. The three areas are directly or indirectly linked to river plume dynamics and the associated inorganic and organic inputs determine the trophic state of the areas. In particular, the Southeastern Adriatic Sea was a meso-eutrophic area; despite the most eastern side of the Adriatic was an oligotrophic basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]