Do Different Tree-Ring Proxies Contain Different Temperature Signals? A Case Study of Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) in the Eastern Carpathians

One of the most important proxy archives for past climate variation is tree rings. Tree-ring parameters offer valuable knowledge regarding how trees respond and adapt to environmental changes. Trees encode all environmental changes in different tree-ring parameters. In this study, we analyzed how air temperature is encoded in different Norway spruce tree-ring proxies along an altitude gradient in an intramountain valley of the Carpathians. The study area, in the Gheorgheni region, Romania (Eastern Carpathians), has a mountain climate with a frequent temperature inversion in winter. The climate–growth relationship was analyzed for two contrasting altitudes: low elevation, i.e., below 1000 m a.s.l., and high elevation, i.e., above 1500 m a.s.l. Two local weather stations, one in the valley and the other on the upper part of the mountains, provide daily temperatures (Joseni—750 m a.s.l. and Bucin—1282 m a.s.l.). The bootstrap Pearson correlation between cumulative daily temperature data and three tree-ring proxies (tree-ring width—TRW, basal area increment—BAI, and blue intensity—BI) was computed for each series. The results show that elevation modulates the climate response pattern in the case of BI, and remains relatively similar for TRW and BAI. The winter temperature’s positive influence on spruce growth was observed in both TRW and BAI chronologies. Additionally, the BAI chronology highlights a positive relationship with summer temperature. The highest correlation coefficient (r = 0.551, p < 0.05, n = 41) was recorded between BI residual chronology from high elevation series and summer/autumn temperature from the upper-part weather station for a cumulative period of 59 days (the second half of August to the beginning of October). Our results show that, for this intramountain valley of the Eastern Carpathians, different tree-ring proxies capture different climate signals.