Climatic Changes in the East-European Forest-Steppe and Effects on Scots Pine Productivity S. M. MATVEEV, 1 YU. G. CHENDEV, 2 A. R. LUPO, 2,3 J. A. HUBBART, 3,4 and D. A. TIMASHCHUK 1 Abstract—Climate change during the 20th and early 21st centuries in the transitional zone between forests and grasslands at the center of the East-European Plain (Voronezh oblast) was determined by examining climate trends and variability using tree ring radial increment data as representative of productivity. An increase in atmospheric moisture for the warm period of the year (May–September) since 1890s, and mean annual temperatures since the 1950s was identified. During the same time period, there was a marked increase in amplitude of the annual variations for temperature and precipitation. Study results revealed trends, vari- ability in the climatic indices, and corresponding radial wood increment for the regional stands of Pinus sylvestris L. These fluctuations are consistent with 10–12-years Schwabe–Wolf, 22-years Hale, and the 32–36-years Bruckner Solar Cycles. There was an additional relationship found between high-frequency (short-period) climate fluctuations, lasting for about three years, and 70–90-years fluctuations of the moisture regime in the study region corresponding to longer cycles. The results of this study can help guide management decisions in the study region and else- where, especially where climate change induced alterations to the state and productivity of forest ecosystems and associated natural resource commodities are of growing concern. Key words: Climate change, Voronezh oblast, cyclical fluc- tuations, dry years, hydrothermal coefficient, solar activity, Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), radial increment, dendroclimatic analysis. 1. Introduction Significant changes in climatic conditions are resulting in similar changes in ecosystems (especially in forests), causing great concern among scientists and ecosystem managers about the long-term implications for the health of ecosystems, natural resources sus- tainability, and human health. However, there is more to understand regarding the interaction between vari- ables in ecosystems, and this knowledge may help guide current and future management decisions. Much of the gap in understanding comes from the lack of information about past conditions. Trees can preserve records of collected information about the dynamics of climatic factors limiting their growth through vari- ability in the tree rings width (Douglass 1919, Fritts 1976 and others). Annual tree rings have been widely used for the detection and analysis of climate change and are thus a well-accepted source of information for climate history (Briffa et al. 1999; Wilson et al. 2007; Agafonov and Kukharskikh 2008; Skomarkova et al. 2009; Hantemirov et al. 2011; Matskovskiy 2013; Lara et al. 2013; Gillner et al. 2014). The dominant tree species in the forest-steppe zone of Eastern Europe are English or Summer oak (Quercus robur) and Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). When compared to oak, pine is a more sensi- tive tree to climate change in this region. Old- growth pine plantations are essential resources for studying the dynamics of radial increment of trees, including their exposure to climate variability, anthropogenic impacts, as well as characteristics of the ecological state and stand phytocenosis (Mat- veev 2003). In the Voronezh oblast, there are two large forest areas with a predominance of Pinus sylvestris L. Previous studies identified generalized chronologies for pine forests in the Voronezh Oblast, which is the region within the central part of the forest-steppe zone of the Russian Plain, and showed the existence of ring patterns in pine with moisture conditions and other external factors that limit the growth of pine (Matveev 1998, 2002, 2005, and others). 1 Voronezh State University of Forestry and Technologies named after G.F. Morozov, Voronezh, Russia. 2 Belgorod State University, Belgorod, Russia. E-mail: lupoa@missouri.edu 3 Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sci- ence, University of Missouri, 302 E ABNR Building, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. 4 West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA. Pure Appl. Geophys. Ó 2016 Springer International Publishing DOI 10.1007/s00024-016-1420-y Pure and Applied Geophysics