Wood anatomy, fire wounds and dendrochronological potential of Prosopis pugionata Burkart (Fabaceae) in arid Argentine Chaco

IAWA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sandra Bravo ◽  
Stella Bogino ◽  
Marta Leiva ◽  
Martín Lepiscopo ◽  
María Alicia Cendoya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Bark Thickness ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Hardwood Species ◽  
Chaco Region ◽  
Mean Fire Interval ◽  
Cross Dating

Abstract Prosopis pugionata (Fabaceae) is a halophyte tree species that grows exclusively in Argentina’s arid environments, whose woodlands are mainly affected by fires and overgrazing. Here, we describe the wood anatomy and fire wounds of P. pugionata and their relationship with plant size and bark thickness. Besides, we attempt to determine the potential of P. pugionata for dendrochronological studies in order to date fire events throughout time. We tested the hypothesis that P. pugionataforms datable fire wounds, allowing its use for dendrochronological studies. The study area is located in the arid Argentine Chaco region. Seventeen individuals, varying from 15 to 65 years of age, were randomly sampled and bole disks were taken at 0.3, 1.3 and 2.3 m high. P. pugionatais a diffuse and semi-ring-porous hardwood species with growth rings delimited by marginal parenchyma bands. The bark is longitudinally fissured, with an average thickness of 0.19 cm, and a scarce increase with age. Seventy-seven percent of the samples showed fire wounds (). We identified fire scars (70%) and marks (30%), and differentiated them by wood growth interruption in the former. Sixty-one percent of fire wounds affected less than 20% of the cambial perimeter and there were no significant effects of age, bole diameter, bole height and bark thickness on the cambial damage percentage. After cross-dating, P. pugionata showed a mean correlation value between series of 0.5, which represents an accurate potential for dendrochronological studies. Twenty wildfires were dated from 1943 to 2007 in the study area with a fire frequency of 0.40 fires/year and a mean fire interval of 2.5 years. Wildfires frequency increased from 1980 to 0.48 fires/year and a mean fire interval of 2 years. Our results indicate that P. pugionata has the potential to date fires, considering its potential for dendrochronological studies, its ability to survive recurrent fires and forms identifiable wound scars in the wood.

Aspidosperma flaviflorum (Apocynaceae), a New Species from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with Notes on Wood Anatomy

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-322
Author(s):  
David Johane Machate ◽  
Marcelo Rodrigo Pace ◽  
Flávio Macedo Alves ◽  
Juliana Furtado da Costa Queiroz ◽  
Maria Ana Farinaccio
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Semideciduous Forest ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Axial Parenchyma ◽  
Mato Grosso Do Sul ◽  
A New Species

Abstract—Aspidosperma flaviflorum, is described as a new species from the submountain semideciduous forest in the municipality of Porto Murtinho in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. This new taxon is described and compared with the most morphologically similar species, A. quirandy and A. tomentosum. In its wood anatomy, A. flaviflorum is unique within the genus by the very scanty axial parenchyma and the lack of a line of axial parenchyma delimiting the growth rings.

Useful Strategies for the Development of Tropical Tree-Ring Chronologies

IAWA Journal ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Stahle
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Seasonally Dry ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Annual Growth Rings ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Cross Dating

This paper outlines efficient strategies for the development of long, climatically sensitive tree-ring chronologies in the tropics. Effective strategies include sampling useful temperate or subtropical species that extend naturally into the tropics; sampling species in botanical families that have already provided examples useful for dendrochronology (e. g., Pinaceae, Taxodiaceae, Verbenaceae); targeting deciduous species in seasonally dry forests; and sampling species described in the literature or found in xylaria that have promising anatomical features such as ring porosity and marginal parenchyma. Dendrochronology can also be used to test the annual nature of growth banding in tropical species. The cross-dating oflong ring-width time series between individual trees and between multiple sites in a region is strong evidence that the growth rings are indeed synchronized with the annual calendar. This can be confirmed if the ring-width data are also strongly correlated with long annual or seasonalized records of climate variability. Blind cross-dating tests to identify the cutting dates of known-age timbers can provide a final proof that a species produces reliable annual growth rings.

The potentials and limitations of dicotyledonous wood anatomy for climatic reconstructions

Paleobiology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth A. Wheeler ◽  
Pieter Baas
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Vessel Diameter ◽  
Fossil Wood ◽  
Phylogenetic Significance ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Past Climate ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Conflicting Information

The incidences of selected features of dicotyledonous wood that are believed to be of ecologic and/or phylogenetic significance (distinct growth rings, narrow and wide vessel diameter, high and low vessel frequencies, scalariform perforations, tangential vessel arrangement, ring porosity, and helical wall thickenings) were plotted through time (Cretaceous–Recent). There are marked differences between the Cretaceous and Tertiary in the frequency of all wood anatomical features. Incidences of features that are associated with markedly seasonal climates in extant floras do not approach modern levels until the Neogene. Correlations of wood anatomical features with ecology do not appear to have been constant through time, because in the Cretaceous different features provide conflicting information about the climate. Throughout the Tertiary the southern hemisphere/tropical and the northern hemisphere/temperate regions differed in the incidences of ecologically significant features and these differences are similar to those in the Recent flora. Possibilities for reliably using dicotyledonous wood for climatic reconstructions appear restricted to the Tertiary and Quaternary. However, at present the fossil wood record for most epochs and regions is too limited to permit detailed reconstructions of their past climate.

Wood Anatomy of Caesalpinia S.S., Coulteria, Erythrostemon, Guilandina, Libidibia, Mezoneuron, Poincianella, Pomaria and Tara (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, Caesalpinieae)

IAWA Journal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gasson ◽  
Kate Warner ◽  
Gwilym Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Caesalpinia Sappan ◽  
Old World ◽  
Axial Parenchyma ◽  
Anatomical Point ◽  
Ray Cells ◽  
Old World Tropics

Caesalpinia s.l. traditionally comprised c. 140 species in the New and Old World tropics, and contained a maximum of 25 generic synonyms. The genus in its broadest sense has been shown to be polyphyletic in molecular studies, and most species have now been assigned to reinstated segregate genera: Caesalpinia s.s. (c. 25 spp.), Coulteria (10 spp.), Erythrostemon (13 spp.), Guilandina (c. 7 spp.), Libidibia (8 spp.), Mezoneuron (c. 26 spp.), Poincianella (c. 35 spp.), Pomaria (16 spp.) and Tara (3 spp.). About 15 Asian taxa remain unassigned pending more data, especially DNA sequences. In this paper we describe the wood anatomy of these nine segregate genera, outlining the features that consistently help define some of them. We have examined the wood of 27 species representing all the woody segregate genera and found wood descriptions of three more species in the literature. Most species lack well defined growth rings, vessels are solitary and in radial multiples, intervessel pitting is alternate and vestured, fibres are mainly non-septate, axial parenchyma is aliform to confluent and irregularly storied, and the rays are mainly 1–2-seriate, mostly non-storied, and of varying height. Prismatic crystals are in chambered axial parenchyma cells in all except Erythrostemon gilliesii (Hook.) Link, and in ray cells in many species. Libidibia is well defined, with storied axial parenchyma, narrow short storied homocellular rays and lacking crystals in ray cells. Tara is also well defined with non-storied heterocellular rays and some ray cells containing crystals. The other genera are less consistent in wood characters. In Caesalpinia s.s. the rays are not storied, and most species lack crystals in ray cells. Coulteria has some species with storied rays and all have homocellular rays and crystals in ray cells. Poincianella is particularly poorly defined from a wood anatomical point of view, perhaps indicating that it can be further segregated. A few Poincianella species have septate fibres, which are otherwise seen only in Libidibia corymbosa. Mezoneuron has non-storied, heterocellular rays. The two species of Guilandina we examined have wide vessels and heterocellular rays containing crystals. Only two species of Erythrostemon were examined and E. gilliesii was unusual in having ring porous wood and very wide rays (but the sample was cultivated at Kew, and we do not know its porosity in its native range). Caesalpinia decapetala (Roth) Alston (originally described as Reichardia decapetala Roth) and Caesalpinia sappan L. from the Old World have not been reassigned to a segregate genus. Pomaria is mainly herbaceous and we have included some information on it.

Estimating the time since fire of long-unburnt Eucalyptus salubris (Myrtaceae) stands in the Great Western Woodlands

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl R. Gosper ◽  
Suzanne M. Prober ◽  
Colin J. Yates ◽  
Georg Wiehl
Keyword(s):  
Plant Height ◽  
Growth Ring ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Significant Advance ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Trunk Diameter ◽  
Class Distribution ◽  
Age Class ◽  
Time Since Fire

Establishing the time since fire in infrequently burnt, yet fire-prone, communities is a significant challenge. Until this can be resolved for >50-year timeframes, our capacity to understand important ecological processes, such as the periods required for development of habitat features, will remain limited. We characterised the relationship between observable tree growth rings, plant age and plant size in Eucalyptus salubris F.Muell. in the globally significant Great Western Woodlands in south-western Australia. In the context of recent concerns regarding high woodland fire occurrence, we then used this approach to estimate the age of long-unburnt E. salubris stands, and the age-class distribution of Eucalyptus woodlands across the region. Time since fire was strongly predicted by trunk growth rings and plant size predicted growth rings with reasonable accuracy. The best model estimating growth rings contained parameters for trunk diameter, plant height and plot location, although simple models including either trunk diameter or plant height were nearly as good. Using growth ring–size relationships to date long-unburnt stands represents a significant advance over the current approach based on satellite imagery, which substantially truncates post-fire age. However, there was significant uncertainty over the best model form for estimating the time since fire of stands last burnt over 200 years ago. The management implications of predicted age-class distributions were highly dependent on both the choice of what, if any, transformation was applied to growth rings, and the theoretical age-class distribution to which the actual age-class distribution was compared.

ECOLOGICAL TRENDS IN THE WOOD ANATOMY OF SOME BRAZILIAN SPECIES. 1. GROWTH RINGS AND VESSELS

IAWA Journal ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edenise Segala Alves ◽  
Veronica Angyalossy-Alfonso
Keyword(s):  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Brazilian Species ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Brazilian Flora ◽  
Perforation Plates ◽  
Helical Thickenings ◽  
Special Arrangement

Some ecological trends based on wood were established in woody florulas of several regions in Brazil. Growth rings and qualitative vessel features were analysed in trees belonging to the 22 most representative families of the Brazilian flora, including 133 genera, 491 species and 686 specimens. Some ecological trends were statistically proven by Pearsonʼs Standardised Residues. The presence of growth rings was associated with seasonal environments. Vessels tended to show special arrangement patterns at higher latitudes and in environments affected by thermal seasonality. Vessels in multiples were more common in environments that were seasonal for temperature and humidity. Although not statistically significant, there is a trend for multiple perforation plates and helical thickenings to be most common in higher latitudes and colder environments. Overall, the results for Brazilian species are compatible with trends established by other authors for other floras and /or taxa.

WOOD ANATOMY OF MYRCIARIA, NEOMITRANTHES, PLINIA AND SIPHONEUGENA SPECIES (MYRTEAE, MYRTACEAE)

IAWA Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel U.C.A. Santos ◽  
Cátia H. Callado ◽  
Marcelo da Costa Souza ◽  
Cecilia G. Costa
Keyword(s):  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Bordered Pits ◽  
Parenchyma Cells ◽  
Ray Parenchyma ◽  
Square Cells ◽  
Ray Parenchyma Cells ◽  
Perforation Plates ◽  
Fruit Characters

Myrciaria, Neomitranthes, Plinia and Siphoneugena are closely related genera whose circumscriptions are controversial. The distinctions between Myrciaria vs. Plinia, and Neomitranthes vs. Siphoneugena, have been based on a few fruit characters. The wood anatomy of 24 species of these genera was examined to determine if wood anatomical features could help delimit the genera. It was determined the four genera cannot reliably be separated by wood anatomy alone. Characteristics seen in all four genera are: growth rings usually poorly-defined; diffuse porous; exclusively solitary vessels, usually circular to oval in outline; simple perforation plates; vessel-ray pits alternate and distinctly bordered; fibers with distinctly bordered pits in radial and tangential walls, usually very thickwalled; vasicentric tracheids typically absent; scanty paratracheal parenchyma, sometimes unilateral, and diffuse to diffuse-in-aggregates; chambered crystalliferous axial parenchyma in many species, usually both prismatic and smaller crystals; rays 1–4-seriate, uniseriate rays composed of upright/square cells, multiseriate rays with procumbent body cells and 1 to many marginal rows of upright/square cells; disjunctive ray parenchyma cells usually present.

scholarly journals TREE RING ANALYSIS OF BRACHYSTEGIA SPICIFORMIS AND ISOBERLINIA TOMENTOSA: EVALUATION OF THE ENSO-SIGNAL IN THE MIOMBO WOODLAND OF EASTERN AFRICA

IAWA Journal ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Trouet ◽  
Kristof Haneca ◽  
Pol Coppin ◽  
Hans Beeckman
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Growth Ring ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Monthly Precipitation ◽  
Miombo Woodland ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Ring Analysis ◽  
Cross Dating ◽  
Brachystegia Spiciformis

The value of growth rings as proxy data for climate reconstruction was studied in two miombo woodland species in eastern Africa. Growth rings, marked by terminal parenchyma, were visually detectable on carefully prepared stem discs of Isoberlinia tomentosa and Brachystegia spiciformis, dominant species of the miombo woodland in north-western Tanzania. However, the presence of multiple growth ring anomalies rendered cross-dating of the growth ring series between trees difficult. Cross-dating succeeded for eight out of thirteen samples for Isoberlinia tomentosa, but was unsuccessful for Brachystegia spiciformis. A mean series of 38 years was calculated for Isoberlinia tomentosa only. Monthly precipitation, monthly maximum air temperature and monthly SOI-value (Southern Oscillation Index) correlated significantly with tree ring widths of the mean series. These correlations are strong indicators of the annual character of the growth rings. They also suggest that Isoberlinia tomentosa provides an appropriate paleoclimatic record for dendroclimatic reconstruction.

Annually Verified Growth of Cedrela Fissilis from Central Brazil

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 927-937
Author(s):  
Izabela Hammerschlag ◽  
Kita D Macario ◽  
Ana Carolina Barbosa ◽  
Gabriel de Assis Pereira ◽  
Camila Laís Farrapo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tree Rings ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Forest Patch ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Central Brazil ◽  
Annual Growth Rings ◽  
Cross Dating ◽  
Crucial Test

ABSTRACTGiven the difficulty in obtaining robust chronologies from tree rings in tropical regions, the search for appropriate species is very important. Both dendrochronology and radiocarbon (14C) measurements are required to validate the use of any specific tree. Some species have proved to be reliable for representing atmospheric 14C concentration over time, such as Cedrela fissilis and Araucaria angustifolia. However, not only the species have to be validated, but also different climatic conditions may result in different growth patterns for the same species. In this work, we study the annual growth rings of Cedrela fissilis from a dry tropical forest patch typical of a highly seasonal climate in central Brazil. 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was used to compare the isotopic ratios of tree rings with the 14C concentrations in the atmosphere during the nuclear tests based on curve Bomb13SH 1-2. Results are similar to the bomb peak curve within the period from 1958 to 1980 AD and serve as a crucial test for the cross-dating analyses using the skeleton plot technique.

scholarly journals The Cretaceous vegetational history of the tropics

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 73-73
Author(s):  
Peter R. Crane ◽  
S. Lidgard
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Arid Environments ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Low Latitudes

The mid-Cretaceous (Aptian-Turonian) was a critical interval in the modernization of terrestrial ecosystems. In particular, the rapid transition from vegetation dominated by pteridophytes (ferns, lycopods and sphenopsids), cycadophytes (true cycads, Bennettitales, “pteridosperms” with pinnate foliage) and conifers, to one dominated by angiosperms marks a pivotal change in the evolution of terrestrial floras. Current knowledge of the paleoecological circumstances of this transition is still rudimentary and based almost entirely on macrofloras and palynofloras from mid-to high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Information from low paleolatitude areas is especially sparse and based almost entirely on palynofloras. Ongoing syntheses of published palynological data document the similarity of mid-Cretaceous palynofloras in a broad equatorial zone ranging from Ecuador in the west to Papua-New Guinea in the east (Africa-South America Floristic Province of Hemgreen). Palynofloras from this area are characterized by a high diversity and abundance of elaterate and ephedroid pollen grains (both probably gnetalean), low diversity of saccate conifer pollen grains and a paucity of pteridophyte spores relative to contemporaneous mid- and high latitude regions. Frequently, these palynofloras also show high levels of Afropollis and Classopollis-pollen (produced by probable winteroid angiosperms and extinct cheirolepidiaceous conifers respectively). Macrofossil floras corresponding to this low paleolatitude floristic assemblage are sparse but the assemblage of macrofossils now available from the from the Santana Formation (probable Albian) of north-eastern Brazil shows conifer leafy shoots (Araucariaceae or Cheirolepidiaceae) interspersed with macrofossils of ferns, various “pteridosperms'” occasional angiosperms, and possible Gnetales. Many of the plant fossils show structural features consistent with growth in arid environments (e.g., small leaf size, thick leaf textures, well-developed indumentum). The fossil record of woods from low latitude areas is difficult to evaluate because of uncertainties in dating many of the specimens that have been described. Previous analyses have suggested that woods from Cretaceous low-latitudes show only faint growth rings, however, in recently collected specimens from the Albian of Niger growth rings are marked. Taken together, the weight of paleobotanical data are consistent with the distribution of climatically sensitive sediments (e.g., presence of evaporites and aeolian sands, absence of well-developed coals) which has been interpreted to reflect at least seasonal aridity. Although existing paleobotanical data are sparse they provide no evidence for rainforests in low latitude areas during the mid-Cretaceous.Beginning at around the late Cenomanian palynofloras from low paleolatitudes undergo a substantial compositional change (the transition to the Palmae Floristic Province of Herngreen & Chlonova). Classpollis pollen becomes much less abundant, the diversity and abundance of putative gnetalean pollen declines, while the abundance and diversity of angiosperm pollen (particularly forms probably referable to the Palmae) increases. Fossil woods associated with Campanian and Maastrichtian palynofloras from low latitudes show only weak evidence of growth rings. These data may imply a more equable distribution of rainfall than during the mid-Cretaceous and perhaps the initial, local, development of tropical rainforest vegetation. A latest Cretaceous-Early Tertiary initiation of tropical rainforest environments has important implications for patterns of diversification, not only in angiosperms but also in several of the most diverse lineages of nonangiosperm land plants, particularly the leafy liverworts (Jungermanniales), homosporous lycopods of the genus Huperzia, heterosporous lycopods of the genus Selaginella, and the “higher” filicalean ferns. In all of these groups the majority of extant species are restricted to tropical, frequently rainforest environments. While the origin of these groups may substantially predate the Cretaceous, the bulk of their extant diversity may have arisen over the last 70–50 million years.

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