Unlimited fuel wood during the middle Mesolithic (9650–8300 cal. yr BP) in northern Sweden: Fuel typology and pine-dominated vegetation inferred from charcoal identification and tree-ring morphology

The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1370-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Carcaillet
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Fuel Wood ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
Wood Analysis ◽  
Growing Conditions

A fuel wood analysis based on the ‘Principle of Least Effort’ helps to decipher the ecological limitations imposed on prehistoric hunter-gatherers. This study is based on botanical identification of wood charcoal from ‘Swedish middle Mesolithic’ archaeological sites dating from between ca. 9650 and 8300 cal. yr BP in northern Sweden, a period when the land was freshly released from ice cover. Charcoal fragments were analysed based on their anatomical and morphological features and anomalies. Tree-ring thickness gives an indication of the growing conditions experienced by woody plants, the tree-ring curvature provides an indication of the diameter of the pieces of wood used for fuel and the percentage of fragments with spiral thickening indicates the importance of compression or tension wood, which is related to branches or trunks stressed by snow burden or wind. Among the main woody species, the assemblages are dominated by Pinus sylvestris with some Salicaceae trees ( Populus, Salix). Large wood pieces including branches were used as fuel. Several taxa were rarely recorded ( Betula, Sorbus, Ericaceae) or not observed ( Juniperus, Hippophae, Alnus) although their presences were expected based on other local palaeobotanical records. Because (1) charcoal of Pinus sylvestris abounds despite not being a good fuel wood and (2) certain consumable or combustible taxa are scarce ( Betula) or are only present at certain sites (Salicaceae), it appears that Mesolithic hunters were not selective when choosing wood for fuel, although wood was not a limiting factor for the first settlers in northern Sweden. Pine tree-ring width range is within the modern range for the same species, indicating growing conditions similar to those experienced today. The results suggest the occurrence of woodland, probably in the lowlands. During the early-Holocene, trees rapidly covered the land after the ice-sheet melted, facilitating the life of Mesolithic hunters following reindeer herds.

Is temperature still the most limiting factor for growth in northern boreal forests?

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110116
Author(s):  
Jeroen DM Schreel
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Tree Ring Width ◽  
Climate Reconstructions ◽  
Latewood Density

Over the last few decades – at a range of northern sites – changes in tree-ring width and latewood density have not followed mean summertime temperature fluctuations. This discrepancy sharply contrasts an earlier correlation between those variables. As the origin of this inconsistency has not been fully deciphered, questions have emerged regarding the use of tree-ring width and latewood density as a proxy in dendrochronological climate reconstructions. I suggest that temperature is no longer the most limiting factor in certain boreal areas, which might explain the observed divergence.

Bristlecone pine tree rings and volcanic eruptions over the last 5000 yr

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Salzer ◽  
Malcolm K. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Pinus Longaeva ◽  
Bristlecone Pine ◽  
Ice Core Record ◽  
Pinus Aristata

AbstractMany years of low growth identified in a western USA regional chronology of upper forest border bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva and Pinus aristata) over the last 5000 yr coincide with known large explosive volcanic eruptions and/or ice core signals of past eruptions. Over the last millennium the agreement between the tree-ring data and volcano/ice-core data is high: years of ring-width minima can be matched with known volcanic eruptions or ice-core volcanic signals in 86% of cases. In previous millennia, while there is substantial concurrence, the agreement decreases with increasing antiquity. Many of the bristlecone pine ring-width minima occurred at the same time as ring-width minima in high latitude trees from northwestern Siberia and/or northern Finland over the past 4000–5000 yr, suggesting climatically-effective events of at least hemispheric scale. In contrast with the ice-core records, the agreement between widely separated tree-ring records does not decrease with increasing antiquity. These data suggest specific intervals when the climate system was or was not particularly sensitive enough to volcanic forcing to affect the trees, and they augment the ice core record in a number of ways: by providing confirmation from an alternative proxy record for volcanic signals, by suggesting alternative dates for eruptions, and by adding to the list of years when volcanic events of global significance were likely, including the mid-2nd-millennium BC eruption of Thera.

scholarly journals Tree-Ring Width and Carbon Isotope Chronologies Track Temperature, Humidity, and Baseflow in the Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1308
Author(s):  
Yuting Fan ◽  
Huaming Shang ◽  
Ye Wu ◽  
Qian Li
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Tianshan Mountains ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Source Water ◽  
Tree Ring Width ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

Concerns have been raised about the negative impacts of global warming on the hydrological climate change and ecosystems of Asia. Research on the high-altitude mountainous regions of Asia with relatively short meteorological and hydrological records relies on paleoclimate proxy data with long time scales. The stable isotopes of tree-rings are insightful agents that provide information on pre-instrumental climatic and hydrological fluctuations, yet the variability of these data from different regions along the Tianshan Mountains has not been fully explored. Herein, we related climate data with tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies and δ13C (stable carbon isotope discrimination) series to discern if the Picea schrenkiana in the Ili and Manas River Basins are sensitive to climatic factors and baseflow (BF). The results show significant correlations between temperature and TRW chronologies, temperature and δ13C, relative humidity and TRW chronologies, and BF and δ13C. Temperature, particularly the mean late summer to early winter temperature, is a pronounced limiting factor for the tree-ring and the δ13C series in the Manas River Basin, located in the middle of the North Tianshan Mountains. Meanwhile, mean early spring to early autumn temperature is a limiting factor for that of the Ili River Basin, located on the southern slope of the North Tianshan Mountains. We conclude that different seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation of the two river basins exerted significant control on tree growth dynamics. Tree-ring width and tree-ring δ13C differ in their sensitivity to climate and hydrological parameters to which tree-ring δ13C is more sensitive. δ13C showed significant lag with precipitation, and the lag correlation showed that BF, temperature, and precipitation were the most affected factors that are often associated with source water environments. δ13C series correlated positively to winter precipitation, suggesting baseflow was controlling the length of the growing season. The tree-ring δ13C provided information that coincided with TRW chronologies, and supplied some indications that were different from TRW chronologies. The carbon stable isotopes of tree-rings have proven to be powerful evidence of climatic signals and source water variations.

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

Boreas ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
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

Species mixture increases the effect of drought on tree ring density, but not on ring width, in Quercus petraea–Pinus sylvestris stands

2015 ◽  
Vol 345 ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maude Toïgo ◽  
Patrick Vallet ◽  
Valène Tuilleras ◽  
François Lebourgeois ◽  
Philippe Rozenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Quercus Petraea ◽  
Ring Density ◽  
Species Mixture

Dendroclimatic relationships and possible implications for mountain birch and Scots pine at treeline in northern Sweden through the 21st centuryThis article is a contribution to the series Tree recruitment, growth, and distribution at the circumpolar forest–tundra transition.

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda B. Young ◽  
David M. Cairns ◽  
Charles W. Lafon ◽  
Jon Moen ◽  
Laura E. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Scots Pine ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Mountain Birch ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Northern Sweden

Changing climate in the Arctic is expected to have significant effects on the pattern and distribution of terrestrial vegetation. Species characteristic of specific zones in the mountains of northern Sweden have been shown to migrate up- and down-slope with changes in climate over the Holocene. This study evaluates the potential for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) to become a treeline dominant at Fennoscandian treelines, replacing mountain birch (Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovii (Orlova) Hämet-Ahti). Data from paired mountain birch and Scots pine tree-ring chronologies for eight locations in northern Sweden are used to develop climate – tree ring width index (RWI) relationships. Modeled climate–RWI relationships are then used to predict the relative RWI values of the two species under a suite of climate-forcing scenarios using an ensemble of three global climate models. Results indicate that mountain birch and Scots pine RWI are both correlated with summer temperatures, but Scots pine is more likely than mountain birch to be influenced by moisture conditions. Predictions of RWI under future climate conditions indicate that mountain birch is unlikely to be replaced by Scots pine within the next century.

Intra-annual climatic signal in tree rings of Larix sp. based on the Vaganov-Shashkin model output

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Fonti ◽  
Olga Churakova (Sidorova) ◽  
Ivan Tychkov
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Precipitation Regime ◽  
The North ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

<p>Air temperature increase and change in precipitation regime have a significant impact on northern forests leading to the ambiguous consequences due to the complex interaction between the ecosystem plant components and permafrost. One of the major interests in such circumstances is to understand how tree growth of the main forest species of the Siberian North will change under altering climatic conditions. In this work, we applied the process-based Vaganov-Shashkin model (VS - model) of tree growth in order to estimate the daily impact of climatic conditions on tree-ring width of larch trees in northeastern Yakutia (Larix cajanderi Mayr.) and eastern Taimyr (Larix gmelinii Rupr. (Rupr.) for the period 1956-2003, and to determine the extent to which the interaction of climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) is reflected in the tree-ring anatomical structure. Despite the location of the study sites in the harsh conditions of the north, and temperature as the main limiting factor, it was possible to identify a period during the growing season when tree growth was limited by lack of soil moisture. The application of the VS-model for the studied regions allowed establishing in which period of the growing season the water stress is most often manifest itself, and how phenological phases (beginning, cessation, and duration of larch growth) vary among the years.</p><p>The research was funded by RFBR, Krasnoyarsk Territory and Krasnoyarsk Regional Fund of Science, project number 20-44-240001 and by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (projects FSRZ-2020-0010).</p>

scholarly journals The 12,460-Year Hohenheim Oak and Pine Tree-Ring Chronology from Central Europe—A Unique Annual Record for Radiocarbon Calibration and Paleoenvironment Reconstructions

Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 1111-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Friedrich ◽  
Sabine Remmele ◽  
Bernd Kromer ◽  
Jutta Hofmann ◽  
Marco Spurk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Tree Ring Chronology ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Pine Tree ◽  
German Part ◽  
Radiocarbon Calibration

The combined oak and pine tree-ring chronologies of Hohenheim University are the backbone of the Holocene radiocarbon calibration for central Europe. Here, we present the revised Holocene oak chronology (HOC) and the Preboreal pine chronology (PPC) with respect to revisions, critical links, and extensions. Since 1998, the HOC has been strengthened by new trees starting at 10,429 BP (8480 BC). Oaks affected by cockchafer have been identified and discarded from the chronology. The formerly floating PPC has been cross-matched dendrochronologically to the absolutely dated oak chronology, which revealed a difference of only 8 yr to the published 14C wiggle-match position used for IntCal98. The 2 parts of the PPC, which were linked tentatively at 11,250 BP, have been revised and strengthened by new trees, which enabled us to link both parts of the PPC dendrochronologically. Including the 8-yr shift of the oak-pine link, the older part of the PPC (pre-11,250 BP) needs to be shifted 70 yr to older ages with respect to the published data (Spurk 1998). The southern German part of the PPC now covers 2103 yr from 11,993–9891 BP (10,044–7942 BC). In addition, the PPC was extended significantly by new pine chronologies from other regions. A pine chronology from Avenches and Zürich, Switzerland, and another from the Younger Dryas forest of Cottbus, eastern Germany, could be crossdated and dendrochronologically matched to the PPC. The absolutely dated tree-ring chronology now extends back to 12,410 cal BP (10,461 BC). Therefore, the tree-ring-based 14C calibration now reaches back into the Central Younger Dryas. With respect to the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition identified in the ring width of our pines at 11,590 BP, the absolute tree-ring chronology now covers the entire Holocene and 820 yr of the Younger Dryas.

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