Tree-Ring Based Fire Reconstruction from 1666 to 2017 in Southeastern Siberia Boreal Forest and its Potential Underlying Drivers

Spatial distribution and species composition of the boreal forest are expected to change under predicted climate change scenarios. Current research indicates that water limitations control the southern boundary of the central Canadian boreal forest and temperature limitations control the northern boundary. As part of Boreal Ecosystem - Atmosphere Study (BOREAS), we examined this idea by comparing annual variation in tree-ring widths and carbon isotope ratios ( delta 13C) of tree-ring cellulose with annual climatic parameters in the northern and southern boreal forest. Contrary to expectations, climate correlations with ring widths at the northern and southern sites were similar in black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP). Annual growth was favored by cooler and wetter conditions. For jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), increased temperature and spring precipitation favored annual growth at both sites. In the north, annual growth was negatively correlated with winter precipitation. The delta 13C - climate correlations in Pinus banksiana followed current distribution theories. In the south, potential evapotranspiration explained significant annual delta 13C variation, whereas in the north, winter and growing season precipitation influenced annual delta 13C variations. Our data support the concept that moisture limits the southern range of Pinus banksiana and cold soil temperatures limit the northern extent. However, colder, wetter conditions favored growth of Picea mariana throughout its range. These observations strengthen the concept that species respond individually to climate change, not as a cohesive biome.

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Relations between tree-ring widths, climate, and annual area burned in the boreal forest of Alberta

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x95-189 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 25 (11) ◽

pp. 1746-1755 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

C.P.S. Larsen ◽

G.M. MacDonald

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

National Park ◽

Ring Width ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Fire Weather ◽

Severity Rating ◽

Area Burned ◽

Positive Correlations ◽

Wood Buffalo National Park

Ring-width chronologies from three white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) and two jack pine (Pinusbanksiana Lamb.) sites in the boreal forest of northern Alberta were constructed to determine whether they could provide proxy records of monthly weather, summer fire weather, and the annual area burned by wildfires in Wood Buffalo National Park. All but one of the standard and residual chronologies exhibited significant positive correlations with June precipitation in the growth year, and all but three of the chronologies exhibited positive correlations with precipitation in June, July, or August of the previous year. Three of the residual chronologies also exhibited negative correlations with June temperature in the growth year. Four of the standard and residual chronologies exhibited significant correlations with the Seasonal Severity Rating fire weather variable from Fort Smith, N.W.T. Four of the standard chronologies and three of the residual chronologies exhibited significant correlations with the annual area burned in Wood Buffalo National Park. Significant correlations were also found for some of the standard and residual chronologies with fire weather and annual area burned in the previous year. These results suggest that ring widths and annual area burned in this portion of the boreal forest are sensitive to similar weather conditions. Tree-ring records may therefore provide a useful means of examining decadal to centennial length relations between climate and annual area burned in the boreal forest.

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Assessing tree-ring carbon and oxygen stable isotopes for climate reconstruction in the Canadian northeastern boreal forest

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology ◽

10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.01.021 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 423 ◽

pp. 91-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Christian Bégin ◽

Mathieu Gingras ◽

Martine M. Savard ◽

Joëlle Marion ◽

Antoine Nicault ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stable Isotopes ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Climate Reconstruction ◽

Ring Carbon ◽

Oxygen Stable Isotopes

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How to Calibrate Historical Aerial Photographs: A Change Analysis of Naturally Dynamic Boreal Forest Landscapes

Forests ◽

10.3390/f9100631 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 631 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Niko Kulha ◽

Leena Pasanen ◽

Tuomas Aakala

Keyword(s):

Bayesian Inference ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Time Interval ◽

Calibration Data ◽

Forest Change ◽

Change Analysis ◽

Percentage Points

Time series of repeat aerial photographs currently span decades in many regions. However, the lack of calibration data limits their use in forest change analysis. We propose an approach where we combine repeat aerial photography, tree-ring reconstructions, and Bayesian inference to study changes in forests. Using stereopairs of aerial photographs from five boreal forest landscapes, we visually interpreted canopy cover in contiguous 0.1-ha cells at three time points during 1959–2011. We used tree-ring measurements to produce calibration data for the interpretation, and to quantify the bias and error associated with the interpretation. Then, we discerned credible canopy cover changes from the interpretation error noise using Bayesian inference. We underestimated canopy cover using the historical low-quality photographs, and overestimated it using the recent high-quality photographs. Further, due to differences in tree species composition and canopy cover in the cells, the interpretation bias varied between the landscapes. In addition, the random interpretation error varied between and within the landscapes. Due to the varying bias and error, the magnitude of credibly detectable canopy cover change in the 0.1-ha cells depended on the studied time interval and landscape, ranging from −10 to −18 percentage points (decrease), and from +10 to +19 percentage points (increase). Hence, changes occurring at stand scales were detectable, but smaller scale changes could not be separated from the error noise. Besides the abrupt changes, also slow continuous canopy cover changes could be detected with the proposed approach. Given the wide availability of historical aerial photographs, the proposed approach can be applied for forest change analysis in biomes where tree-rings form, while accounting for the bias and error in aerial photo interpretation.

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A novel stochastic method for reconstructing daily precipitation times-series using tree-ring data from the western Canadian Boreal Forest

Dendrochronologia ◽

10.1016/j.dendro.2017.01.003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 9-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

K.P. Chun ◽

S.D. Mamet ◽

J. Metsaranta ◽

A. Barr ◽

J. Johnstone ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Daily Precipitation ◽

Stochastic Method ◽

Times Series ◽

Tree Ring Data ◽

Canadian Boreal Forest

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Spatial analysis of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) radial growth response to climate in northern Québec – Labrador Peninsula, Canada

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/cjfr-2014-0080 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 343-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

A. Nicault ◽

E. Boucher ◽

D. Tapsoba ◽

D. Arseneault ◽

F. Berninger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cluster Analysis ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Spatial Scale ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Picea Mariana ◽

Black Spruce ◽

Growing Season ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Large Spatial Scale

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) growth and climate at a large spatial scale in North America’s northeastern boreal forest. The study area (approximately 700 000 km2) is located in the taiga zone of the Quebec – Labrador Peninsula. A network of tree-ring chronologies from 93 black spruce populations was developed. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to analyze tree-ring series affinities, and response functions were calculated to analyze relationships between tree rings and climate. The cluster analysis results showed well-marked spatial affinities among the tree-ring series. These affinities were strongly linked with the spatial variability of the relationships between tree rings and climate. The interannual growth variations were governed mainly by the temperature variables that preceded the growing season (November (negative influence), December–January (positive influence), and April (positive influence)). The growing-season temperature (July temperature) mainly influenced the northernmost populations. Relationships between tree rings and climate in the northeastern boreal forest varied at a large spatial scale. This variability was expressed by a north–south contrast, which appears to be related to a temperature gradient, and an east–west contrast linked to a humidity gradient, which favors winter snow cover.

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Latitudinal variation in tree-ring and wood cell characteristics of Picea mariana across the continuous boreal forest in Quebec

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x08-008 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 1397-1405 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Jean-Luc St-Germain ◽

Cornelia Krause

Keyword(s):

Cell Wall ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Wall Thickness ◽

Picea Mariana ◽

Wood Anatomy ◽

Black Spruce ◽

Cell Wall Thickness ◽

Cell Numbers ◽

Tracheid Length

Wood anatomical features measured in tree-rings are useful indicators of environmental change and wood quality. The effect of latitude on the wood anatomy of mature black spruce ( Picea mariana (Mill.) BSP) was investigated along a 500 km transect from 47°N to 52°N across the continuous boreal forest in Quebec, Canada. Total tree-ring width, earlywood width, latewood width, latewood proportion, cell numbers, tracheid length, radial diameter, lumen diameter, and cell wall thickness were measured using image analysis on samples from 15 mature stands. Our results suggest that tree-ring, earlywood, and latewood widths, cell numbers, latewood radial cell diameter, and cell wall thickness decrease with latitude. No significant trend was observed for latewood proportion, despite a slight increase with latitude (p = 0.0856). However, the high variability in radial growth seen along the gradient might explain the absence of a significant relationship. Latitude and the associated growth rate reduction had no effect on tracheid length. The existence of a latitudinal pattern of variation in black spruce wood anatomy may be the result of tree adaptation to differing environmental conditions along the gradient.

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