Growth change; Forest disturbance; Landslide; Anthropogenic cut-off effect; Forest stand; Dendrogeomorphology

Our study analyzes the growth response (release or suppression) of Norway spruce trees growing along a landslide zone in eastern Czech Republic. A total of one hundred and eighty-six increment cores were extracted from Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) individuals, which were affected by two different disturbances, the Girová landslide in May 2010 and an anthropogenic cut-off in the neighborhood of the landslide later the same year. Growth changes were analysed in three zones that were defined according to the type of effect the disturbance had on the surrounding vegetation. The aims of our study are to (i) detect growth changes in trees that survived the disturbances in 2010, (ii) evaluate the delay time of the growth reaction to the disturbances, (iii) compare how growth changes differed in response to the two different disturbance types (natural landslide vs. anthropogenic harvesting and deforestation), and (iv) investigate spatio-temporal differences in the growth changes. Our results indicate that tree growth changed in response to the altered environmental conditions following the 2010 disturbances.