Weakening climatic signal since mid-20th century in European larch tree-ring chronologies at different altitudes from the Adamello-Presanella Massif (Italian Alps)

Tree rings from temperature-limited environments are highly sensitive climate proxies, widely used to reconstruct past climate parameters for periods prior to the availability of instrumental data and to analyse the effect of recent global warming on tree growth. An analysis of the climatic signal in five high-elevation tree-ring width chronologies of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) from the tops of five different glacial valleys in the Italian Central Alps revealed that they contain a strong summer-temperature signal and that tree-ring growth is especially influenced by June temperatures. However, a moving correlation function analysis revealed a recent loss of the June temperature signal in the tree-ring chronologies. This signal reduction primarily involves the two lowest-altitude chronologies. It is probable that the observed increasing importance of late-summer temperature for tree-ring growth over the past 50 yr is an effect of the lengthening growing season and of the variations in the climate/tree-ring relationship over time. All the chronologies considered, especially those at the highest altitudes, show an increasing negative influence of June precipitation on tree-ring growth. The climatic signal recorded in tree-ring chronologies from the Italian Central Alps varies over time and is also differentially influenced by climatic parameters according to site elevation.

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Ecological interpretation of tree-ring width and intraannual density fluctuations inPinus sylvestrison dry sites in the central Alps and Siberia

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x00-126 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 18-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Andreas Rigling ◽

Philipp O Waldner ◽

Theodor Forster ◽

Otto U Bräker ◽

Antti Pouttu

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Radial Growth ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Ring Width ◽

Growing Season ◽

Density Fluctuations ◽

Climatic Data ◽

Central Alps ◽

Tree Ring Width ◽

Soil Substrate

The radial growth of Pinus sylvestris L. from nine sites at the semiarid lower forest border of the central Alps (Switzerland) and central Siberia (Russia) has been investigated using dendroecological methods. Tree growth differed according to soil substrate, with trees on dune sites showing lower mean ring widths, lower mean sensitivities, and higher autocorrelation. The relationships between climate and tree-ring width were studied using response function analysis. Independent of the climatic zone and the soil substrate, precipitation just before and at the beginning of the growing season is positively correlated with radial growth. The climatic response of dune sites is low, possibly because of the poor water-holding capacity and the high permeability of the sandy soils. Intraannual density fluctuations (IADFs) were observed at all the sites. Most IADFs were found in latewood. On dunes, fewer cores contain IADFs, and their frequency is lower. All stands showed significant relationships between IADF frequency and tree-ring width (positive) and ring age (negative). For Swiss sites, moist-cool conditions in the middle of the growing season are demonstrated as the triggering factor for IADFs. For the Russian sites, inadequate climatic data made it impossible to demonstrate any climate dependence of IADFs.

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Four Centuries of Summer Temperature Changes in Tierra Del Fuego: Atmospheric Drivers and Tree-Ring Reconstruction From the Southernmost Forests of the World

10.21203/rs.3.rs-373205/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vladimir Matskovsky ◽

Fidel A. Roig ◽

Mauricio Fuentes ◽

Irina Korneva ◽

Diego Araneo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Ring Width ◽

Temperature Reconstruction ◽

Summer Temperature ◽

Temperature Variability ◽

Tierra Del Fuego ◽

Climate Modelling ◽

Least Squares Regression ◽

Nothofagus Pumilio ◽

The World

Abstract Proxy climate records, such as those derived from tree rings, are necessary to extend relatively short instrumental meteorological observations into the past. Tierra del Fuego is the most austral territory with forests in the world, situated close to the Antarctic Peninsula, which makes this region especially interesting for paleoclimatic research. However, high-quality, high-resolution summer temperature reconstruction are lacking in the region. In this study we used 63 tree-ring width chronologies of Nothofagus pumilio and Nothofagus betuloides and partial least squares regression (PLSR) to produce annually resolved December-to-February temperature reconstruction since AD 1600 which explains up to 65% of instrumental temperature variability. We also found that observed summer temperature variability in Tierra del Fuego is primarily driven by the fluctuations of atmospheric pressure systems both in the South Atlantic and South Pacific, while it is insignificantly correlated to major hemispheric modes: ENSO and SAM. This fact makes our reconstruction important for climate modelling experiments, as it represents specific regional variability. Our reconstruction can be used for direct comparison with model outputs to better understand model limitations or to tune a model or contribute to larger scale reconstructions based on paleoclimatic data assimilation. Moreover, we showed that PLSR has improved performance over principal component regression (PCR) in the case of multiple tree-ring predictors. According to these results, PLSR may be a preferable method over PCR for the use in automated tree-ring based reconstruction approaches, akin widely used point-by-point regression.

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Early summer temperature reconstruction in the eastern Tibetan plateau since ad 1440 using tree-ring width of Sabina tibetica

Theoretical and Applied Climatology ◽

10.1007/s00704-011-0419-7 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 106 (1-2) ◽

pp. 45-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Hai-Feng Zhu ◽

Xue-Mei Shao ◽

Zhi-Yong Yin ◽

Lei Huang

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Ring Width ◽

Temperature Reconstruction ◽

Early Summer ◽

Summer Temperature ◽

Tree Ring Width ◽

Eastern Tibetan Plateau ◽

Summer Temperature Reconstruction

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Fire history and climate-growth response of Abies spectabilis : A case from Langtang National Park, Nepal Himalaya

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v29i2.28093 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 3-12

Author(s):

S. Basnet ◽

N. P. Gaire ◽

P. K. Chhetri

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Radial Growth ◽

National Park ◽

Fire History ◽

Ring Width ◽

Negative Influence ◽

Himalayan Region ◽

Fire Scars ◽

Fire Event ◽

Abies Spectabilis

This study presents the potential of a conifer species (Abies spectabilis D. Don) to reconstruct fire history by using dendro chronological technique along with thedendroclimatic response in Langtang National Park, Central Himalaya of Nepal. For the fire history reconstruction, altogether eight cross-sections samples from fire affected eight trees and another 20 tree-cores from 10 trees with visible fire scars were taken. In the case of dendroclimatic study, 24 healthy cores of A. spectabilis were selected from the 40 cores extracted from 19 trees. The standard dendro chronological methodology was used for sample preparation and analysis. A 199-year long ring-width chronology of A. spectabilis spanning from 1818 to 2016 AD was developed. In spite of visible fire burn in near bark-surface, no potential fire scars are seen in inner parts in the cross-section samples. However, 12 cores showed that three fire burns occurred simultaneously in the forest area in the years 1917−1918, 1969−1970 and 2009−2010, respectively. Tree-ring-based fire event-record is found to be concurrent to the local people's perceptions/experience about the past fire history in the area. Tree growth climate relationship showed sensitive responses to both growing and non-growing season’s temperature and precipitation variability. Summer temperature had positive influence on growth of the species. Precipitation of monsoon and autumn were found to have negative influence on radial growth whereas pre-monsoon precipitation had positive association with tree radial-growth. This preliminary assessment shows that there is a huge potential of tree-ring research for long-term fire history in the region and helps us to better understand the role of fire in the ecology and management in the Himalayan region. The study can also be replicated in other fire-affected areas of the Himalayan region by using fire sensitive species in the sampling.

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Multiproxy records of climate variability for Kamchatka for the past 400 years

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-3-119-2007 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 119-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

O. Solomina ◽

G. Wiles ◽

T. Shiraiwa ◽

R. D'Arrigo

Keyword(s):

Climate Variability ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Ice Core ◽

Ring Width ◽

Summer Temperature ◽

Positive Anomaly ◽

Temperature Decrease ◽

Positive Mass ◽

The Past ◽

Tree Ring Data

Abstract. Tree ring, ice core and glacial geologic histories for the past several centuries offer an opportunity to characterize climate variability and to identify the key climate parameters forcing glacier expansion in Kamchatka over the past 400 years. A newly developed larch ring-width chronology (AD 1632–2004) is presented that is sensitive to past summer temperature variability. Individual low growth years in the larch record are associated with several known and proposed volcanic events from the Northern Hemisphere. The comparison of ring width minima and those of Melt Feature Index of Ushkovsky ice core helps confirm a 1–3 year dating accuracy~for this ice core series over the late 18th to 20th centuries. Decadal variations of low summer temperatures (tree-ring record) and high annual precipitation (ice core record) are broadly consistent with intervals of positive mass balances measured and estimated at several glaciers in 20th century, and with moraine building. According to the tree-ring data the 1860s–1880s were the longest coldest interval in the last 350 years. The latest part of this period (1880s) coincided with the positive anomaly in accumulation. This coincidence led to a positive mass balance, which is most likely responsible for glacier advances and moraine deposition of the end of 19th-early 20th centuries. As well as in some other high latitude regions (Spitsbergen, Polar Urals, Franz Jozef Land etc.) in Kamchatka these advances marked the last millennium glacial maximum. In full agreement with subsequent summer warming trend, inferred both from instrumental and tree ring data, glacier advances since 1880s have been less extensive. The late 18th century glacier expansion coincides with the inferred summer temperature decrease recorded by the ring width chronology. However, both the advance and the summer temperature decrease were less prominent that in the end of 19th century. Comparisons of the glacier history in Kamchatka with records from Alaska and the Canadian Rockies suggests broadly consistent intervals of glacier expansion and inferred summer cooling during solar irradiance minima.

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Spatial and temporal stability of the climatic signal in northern Fennoscandian pine tree-ring width and maximum density

Boreas ◽

10.1111/j.1502-3885.2008.00046.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

MERVI TUOVINEN ◽

DANNY McCARROLL ◽

HÅKAN GRUDD ◽

RISTO JALKANEN ◽

SIETSE LOS

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Temporal Stability ◽

Ring Width ◽

Maximum Density ◽

Tree Ring Width ◽

Pine Tree ◽

Climatic Signal

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First Dendroclimatological Insight into Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) Climate-Growth Relationship in Belgrade Area, Serbia

South-east European forestry ◽

10.15177/seefor.20-12 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 127-134

Author(s):

Branko Stajić ◽

Marko Kazimirović ◽

Vojislav Dukić ◽

Nenad Radaković

Keyword(s):

Correlation Analysis ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Response Function ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Ring Width ◽

Growth Data ◽

The Impact ◽

Precipitation And Temperature

In order to assess the impact of climate variations on Austrian pine forest in the Belgrade area, the radial growth of artificially-established Austrian pine trees and its dependence on temperature and precipitation was studied using dendroclimatological methods. The site is classified as Quercetum-frainetto cerris Rudski. Standard and residual chronologies were established and several common statistics were calculated. A dendroclimatic study was carried out using the correlation and response function analysis. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the chronology indices and 13 seasonal (3-month period) precipitation and temperature data were calculated for the period from 1959 to 2014. The applied response function analysis included 24 precipitation and temperature variables from October of the prior year to September of the current year. The results of the correlation analysis pointed out that there was a strong tendency towards a positive response to the summer and late summer/early autumn precipitation and a weak significant negative response to the spring and summer temperatures. Climate-growth relationships were further first studied using the response functions for the significant seasons that were detected from the correlation analysis and then for individual months from previous October to current September. These results also highlighted the findings that higher precipitation in the current summer months has a beneficial effect on the tree-ring width. The conducted correlation between the residual chronology and the Standardised Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index indicated that a high summer value of this drought index had a positive impact on the pine growth and reinforced the previously detected relevance of September as an important month for the Austrian pine growth. These preliminary results point out that some additional climate-Austrian pine growth studies (application of various tree-ring features, growth data with a much longer time span, more sites/stands, etc.) should be performed to obtain new and valuable knowledge important for the sustainable management of Austrian pine forests.

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Evaluating the dendroclimatological potential of blue intensity on multiple conifer species from Australasia

10.5194/bg-2021-119 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rob Wilson ◽

Kathy Allen ◽

Patrick Baker ◽

Sarah Blake ◽

Gretel Boswijk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Tree Ring ◽

High Frequency ◽

Ring Width ◽

Signal Strength ◽

Summer Temperature ◽

Weak Signal ◽

Conifer Species ◽

Blue Intensity ◽

Blue Reflectance

Abstract. We evaluate a range of blue intensity (BI) tree-ring parameters in eight conifer species (12 sites) from Tasmania and New Zealand for their dendroclimatic potential, and as surrogate wood anatomical proxies. Using a dataset of ca. 10–15 trees per site, we measured earlywood maximum blue reflectance intensity (EWB), latewood minimum blue reflectance intensity (LWB) and the associated delta blue intensity (DB) parameter for dendrochronological analysis. No resin extraction was performed, impacting low frequency trends. Therefore, we focused only on the high frequency signal by detrending all tree-ring and climate data using a 20-year cubic smoothing spline. All BI parameters express low relative variance and weak signal strength compared to ring-width. Correlation analysis and principal component regression experiments identified a weak and variable climate response for most ring-width chronologies. However, for most sites, the EWB data, despite weak signal strength, expressed strong calibrations with summer temperatures. Significant correlations for LWB were also noted, but the sign of the relationship for most species is opposite to that reported for all conifer species in the Northern Hemisphere. DB performed well for the Tasmanian sites but explained minimal temperature variance in New Zealand. Using the full multi-species/parameter network, excellent summer temperature calibration was identified for both Tasmania and New Zealand ranging from 52 % to 78 % explained variance, with equally robust independent validation (Coefficient of Efficiency = 0.41 to 0.77). Comparison of the Tasmanian BI reconstruction with a wood anatomical reconstruction shows that these parameters record essentially the same strong high frequency summer temperature signal. Despite these excellent results, a substantial challenge exists with the capture of potential secular scale climate trends. Although DB, band-pass and other signal processing methods may help with this issue, substantially more experimentation is needed in conjunction with comparative analysis with ring density and quantitative WA measurements.

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Separating the climatic signal from tree-ring width and maximum latewood density records

Trees ◽

10.1007/s00468-006-0094-y ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 37-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Alexander V. Kirdyanov ◽

Eugene A. Vaganov ◽

Malcolm K. Hughes

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Ring Width ◽

Tree Ring Width ◽

Maximum Latewood Density ◽

Climatic Signal ◽

Latewood Density

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Exploring the climate signal in tree-ring density of Clanwilliam cedar, South Africa

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20692 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Valerie Trouet ◽

Tom De Mil ◽

Matthew Meko ◽

Jan Van den Bulcke

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Ring Width ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Spring Precipitation ◽

Climate Signal ◽

Climatic Signal ◽

X Ray Computed ◽

Instrumental Records

High-resolution annual precipitation and temperature proxies are largely lacking in Southern Africa, partly due to the scarcely available tree species that are suitable for dendrochronology. Clanwilliam cedar (Widdringtonia cedarbergensis) from Cape Province, South Africa, is a long-lived conifer with distinct tree rings and thus a strong dendroclimatic potential. However, the climatic signal in its tree-ring width (TRW) is weak and other tree-ring parameters such as density need to be explored to extract climatic information from this proxy. Here we investigate the climatic signal of density parameters in 17 Clanwilliam cedar samples (9 trees) collected in 1978 (Dunwiddie & LaMarche, 1980). We use a non-destructive X-ray Computed Tomography facility to develop minimum density (MIND) and maximum density (MXD) chronologies from 1900 until 1977. EPS for both density series exceeded 0.85. For the period 1930-1977 (reliable instrumental records), MIND correlates negatively with early-growing season precipitation (Oct-Nov), whereas MXD correlates negatively with end-of-season (March) temperature. The spatial correlation between MIND and spring precipitation spans the winter rainfall zone of South Africa. Clanwilliam cedar can live to be 356 years old and the current TRW chronology extends to 1564 CE. Full-length density chronologies for this long-lived species could provide a precipitation reconstruction for southern Africa, a region where historical climate observations are limited and where societal vulnerability to future climate change is high.References:Dunwiddie, P. W., & LaMarche, V. C. (1980). A climatically responsive tree-ring record from Widdringtonia cedarbergensis, Cape Province, South Africa. Nature, 286(5775), 796&#8211;797.

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