TREE-RINGS & CLIMATE

Temporal instability of tree-ring/climate relationships: tree responses to climatic change and implications for paleoclimate research

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Although temporal instability of tree-ring/climate relationships is a critical issue with potentially significant implications for the global carbon cycle, forest growth patterns, and climate reconstruction, a greater level of understanding is still needed. Two temporal instabilities identified in Boreal and Iberian forests, termed the “divergence problem” and “climate stress strength”, respectively, will be evaluated. Novel regional (aim 1) and local (aim 2) approaches will be used to understand and attribute their causes, and a multi-proxy approach will deal with their implications for climate research (aim 3). Aim 1 will assess climate change impacts on forests and will predict their response to future climatic conditions using a network of tree-ring chronologies. This regional approach will use tree-growth models for a better knowledge of growth limiting factors and to simulate forest growth under different climate scenarios. Aim 2 will explore stable isotopes as a key for the “divergence problem”, performing analytical work at an Alaskan site. This local approach will provide physiological insights and new data to improve accuracy in the calibration period. Aim 3 will develop more reliable paleoclimate reconstructions. This multi-proxy approach will combine tree-ring parameters (width, density and stable isotopes) and non tree-ring archives to reduce uncertainties in climate reconstructions. This multidisciplinary project will employ biogeochemical techniques using mass spectrometry, dendrochronological techniques and mechanistic models. The study of Boreal forests during the outgoing phase (USA) will develop new techniques and procedures that will be adjusted and implemented to study instabilities at Iberian forests and to reconstruct past climate in the western Mediterranean area, mainly during the return phase (Spain). The project covers disciplines such ecology, plant physiology, climatology and atmospheric sciences within the context of climate change.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An interdisciplinary EU-funded initiative successfully addressed crucial questions regarding climate change by analysing different tree ring parameters and applying different statistical approaches.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The aim of the project TREE-RINGS & CLIMATE (Temporal instability of tree-ring/climate relationships: Tree responses to climatic change and implications for paleoclimate research) was to provide a greater understanding of the relationship between tree rings and climate. This important issue has potential implications for the global carbon cycle, forest growth patterns and climate change reconstructions.

Project partners evaluated two areas of uncertainty over time found in Boreal and Iberian forests, termed the divergence problem and climate stress strength. New approaches were used to understand and attribute their causes and their implications for climate research.

The first approach used a network of tree-ring chronologies to assess climate change impacts on forests and assess their response to future climate change conditions. Approach two explored stable isotopes as a possible key to the divergence problem. The third approach developed more reliable reconstructions of past climate using tree ring parameters (width, density and stable isotopes) and non-tree-ring archives to reduce uncertainties in climate reconstructions.

Results showed that tree-ring analyses can provide an insight back in time from several centuries to millennia, with a resolution at the annual scale. Project partners analysed different tree ring parameters and applied different statistical techniques to improve tree ring models and growth model predictions.

TREE-RINGS & CLIMATE will advance scientific knowledge on the interactions between the biosphere, ecosystems and human activities. By studying interactions between climate and forests, researchers were able to determine forest responses to a changing climate and extract the climate ?signal? contained in tree rings. The project therefore provided valuable expertise on tree growth and how to reduce uncertainties in the reconstruction of past climate.

The project will help to quantify local impacts of climate change in one of the most sensitive regions of Europe (e.g. Iberian Peninsula) and worldwide (Boreal region), supporting further initiatives. In addition, the work conducted on climate change processes and impacts on natural resources will help to identify and assess key drivers and improve understanding of their interactions.