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Abstract
The boreal forests of northern Eurasia are experiencing accelerated warming. Understanding the climate sensitivity of its dominant tree species is essential for predicting changes in the global carbon cycle. Here, we present the first network of tree-ring width (TRW) and Blue Intensity (BI) chronologies spanning the Siberian boreal forest. Our network includes six larch forests representing three major species (Larix sibirica Ledeb., Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr., and Larix cajanderi Mayr.) ranging from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Sakha Republic in the east. For each site, we developed chronologies of TRW, earlywood BI (EWBI), latewood BI (LWBI), and delta BI (DBI). All parameters show positive correlations with summer temperatures from 1961 to 2020 CE. LWBI and DBI exhibit stronger and temporally more stable signals than TRW, particularly for June-July temperatures at the northernmost sites. The significant temperature signals suggest a species- and parameter-independent thermal constraint of Siberian larch growth. Our findings advocate DBI as a viable, cost-efficient surrogate for traditional wood density measurements that are typically used to reconstruct summer temperatures at high northern latitudes.