Combining wood anatomy and stable isotope variations in a 600-year multi-parameter climate reconstruction from Corsican black pine

Szymczak S, Hetzer T, Bräuning A, Joachimski M, Leuschner HH, Kuhlemann J (2014)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2014

Journal

Publisher: Elsevier

Book Volume: 101

Pages Range: 146-158

URI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114002856

DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.010

Abstract

We present a new multi-parameter dataset from Corsican black pine growing on the island of Corsica in the Western Mediterranean basin covering the period AD 1410-2008. Wood parameters measured include tree-ring width, latewood width, earlywood width, cell lumen area, cell width, cell wall thickness, modelled wood density, as well as stable carbon and oxygen isotopes. We evaluated the relationships between different parameters and determined the value of the dataset for climate reconstructions. Correlation analyses revealed that carbon isotope ratios are influenced by cell parameters determining cell size, whereas oxygen isotope ratios are influenced by cell parameters determining the amount of transportable water in the xylem. A summer (June to August) precipitation reconstruction dating back to AD 1185 was established based on tree-ring width. No long-term trends or pronounced periods with extreme high/low precipitation are recorded in our reconstruction, indicating relatively stable moisture conditions over the entire time period. By comparing the precipitation reconstruction with a summer temperature reconstruction derived from the carbon isotope chronologies, we identified summers with extreme climate conditions, i.e. warm-dry, warm-wet, cold-dry and cold-wet. Extreme climate conditions during summer months were found to influence cell parameter characteristics. Cold-wet summers promote the production of broad latewood composed of wide and thin-walled tracheids, while warm-wet summers promote the production of latewood with small thick-walled cells. The presented dataset emphasizes the potential of multi-parameter wood analysis from one tree species over long time scales. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

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APA:

Szymczak, S., Hetzer, T., Bräuning, A., Joachimski, M., Leuschner, H.-H., & Kuhlemann, J. (2014). Combining wood anatomy and stable isotope variations in a 600-year multi-parameter climate reconstruction from Corsican black pine. Quaternary Science Reviews, 101, 146-158. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.010

MLA:

Szymczak, Sonja, et al. "Combining wood anatomy and stable isotope variations in a 600-year multi-parameter climate reconstruction from Corsican black pine." Quaternary Science Reviews 101 (2014): 146-158.

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