Long- and short-term incremental response of Pinus sylvestris L. from industrial area nearby steelworks in Silesian Upland, Poland

•The influence of a local factor like morphology might be more important than the distance in the terrains which vary in relief.•A spatiotemporal distribution of growth reductions is connected with increase in pollution.•High climatic variability from year to year is clearly reflected in the annual rhythm of changes in the radial growth of Scots pines.

In the current work, we present a complex analysis of the factors influencing the annual increment growth dynamics of Scots pine growing in the vicinity of the steelworks “Huta Katowice” in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland. The conifers investigated in this study originated from nine sampling sites and their growth covered the period from 1891 to 2012 AD. A morphologically diverse terrain of research area allowed for comprehensive and detailed analyses that considered a number of factors. We determined the climatic and anthropogenic effects of tree rings width, taking into account spatiotemporal distribution of growth reductions, depth of reduction with respect to distance from the emitter and local morphology, modifications of the relationship between tree growth and climate during the period of development of industry and during the application of a pro-ecological strategy. Common periods of strong growth declines are observed between 1960 and 1980s for most of the investigated sites. The reported results indicate that in terrain of a variable relief, the influence of local factors like morphology might be more important than the distance.