Download Dendroclimatology in Putnam County

Dendroclimatology
in
Putnam County
By
Julia Roell
Peter Konieczny
Rudra Vishweshwar
Ben Harsha
Weiqing Zhang
Project Question
Can trees in Putnam County
be used as a proxy to
provide evidence of climate
change?
Hypothesis
Dendroclimatology is a field that correlates
tree ring width with climatic change.
Previous studies have shown that the white
oak (Quercus alba) is sensitive to climatic
change due to its longevity and slow
growth. Based on these characteristics of
the white oak, we believe that by analyzing
the tree rings of a similar species, the red
oak (Quercus rubra), we can examine the
evidence of climate change in Putnam
County.
Stages of Project
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Background Research (Understanding the subject
and look for previous work)
Design ( Figuring out a timeline and setting a final
goal along with steps to achieve it)
Data Gathering ( Coring the red oak in the Nature
Park, and gathering climatic data)
Analysis ( Getting data from the cores, analyzing
our previous researched data with the data we
collected)
Conclusion ( Drawing together all the conclusions
and looking for interesting patterns and preparing a
final presentation)
Background Research
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Reading articles about tree rings
Understanding climate patterns
Finding weather data for over a hundred
years
Figuring out game plan
Creating a program to manipulate the
climate data
Learning how to core
Factors that Typically Make a Good
Stand
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sensitivity to climate
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at the edge of a range
same species that is dominant, plentiful in
the area
slow growing tree
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more sensitive to changes in climate
easy to core and to hit the center
Why the Red Oak ?
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White Oak
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commonly use in dendroclimatic studies because of
its various properties
not available in Nature Park
White Oak is close relative to Red Oak
WHY ?
Slow growing
Distinct Tree Rings-Ring Porous
Populous in the nature park local to Indiana
Low Drought Tolerance
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How Trees Grow
http://www.beringia.com/climate/images/treerings-cutout.jpg
Practical Example of Tree Ring
http://www.beringia.com/climate/images/treerings-cutout.jpg
Factors that Affect Tree Growth
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Water-reflected by precipitation data (most
important)
Temperature
High Growth Season-Spring and Summer
Low Growth Season-Winter
Tree Stresses
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Summer Drought (high temperature, low precipitation)
Warm Winters-tree pathogens and parasites do not die
Strengths and Challenges
Challenges :
No one had prior background in geoscience
Understanding the focus of the project and
technical details we knew
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Strengths:
resource of Professor Jim Mills and 2011
SRF students
unique individual set skills: holistic project
Enthusiasm
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Process of Tree Coring
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Get equipment ready.
o Dr. Vanessa Fox as a resource.
Insert core in tree and rotate clockwise til
you hit the center.
Pull core out by rotating core in the opposite
direction.
Put the core into two joined straws.
Seal and write location of tree and direction
in which cored.
Once in lab, remove core gently and place in
core trays, glue it and tape it on top.
Tree Coring
First attempt at
tree coring…
…then we
became pros.
Tree Coring
Tree Coring
Preparing the Cores for Analysis
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Take the tree core tray.
Peel of the tape and
see if it is firmly glued.
Slice of a thin layer of
the top of core using a
razor blade.
Sand down with
sandpaper until smooth.
Sanding Tree Cores
Reading the Rings
The ring porous tree rings of
the red oak made it easier
for us to read the rings.
http://woodgears.ca/wood_grain/r
inged.html
Process of plotting Tree Rings
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First measure maximum
and minimum tree ring
length.
Create a scale (make it
uniform for all tree cores)
Measure the distance
between tree rings
through stereoscopes.
Record the data through
scale and plot them on
the skeleton graph.
Run this process for all
the cores.
Skeleton Plots
Plotting Skeleton Plots
<--Creating Skeleton
Plots
Measuring the size of the
Tree rings
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Collecting and Analyzing Climate Data
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration- Source for climate data in
Putnam County.
Analyzing and correlating our tree ring data
with climatic factors such as:
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El Nino and La Nina
Volcano Eruption
Sunspots
Graphed data
Annual Precipitation
Y Axis: Precipitation ( Inches)
X Axis: Year
Precipiatation (5 year average)
Y Axis: Precipitation ( Inches)
X Axis: Year
Precipitation with Respect to El Nino
and La Nina
Y Axis: Precipitation ( Inches)
X Axis: Year
Temperature with Respect to Sunspot
and Major Volcanic Eruptions
Temperature & Sunspot Major Volcanic Eruptions
Y Axis: Temperature
(Fahrenheit)
X Axis: Year
Average Length of Tree Ring Based On
Skeleton Plot
Y Axis: Length of Tree Ring (the shorter the
bar on the graph, the longer the tree ring)
X Axis: Years since 1891
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
2000
2010
Straight Average of Tree Ring Length Based on
Skeleton Plots with First Ten Years of
Accelerated Growth Removed
Y Axis: Length of Tree Ring (the shorter
the bar on the graph, the longer the tree
ring)
X Axis: Years starting from 1901
1900
1920
1940
1960
1980
2000
2010
Date
Average Data Superimposed by Data Available
1890
1910
1930
1950
1970
2000
Y Axis (Blue): Length of Tree Ring (the shorter
the bar on the graph, the longer the tree ring)
(Red) Amount of Data Available
X Axis: Years since 1891
2010
Additional Skills Acquired
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Map Reading
Using Microscopes
Knowledge about trees in general
Research tricks
Knowledge about rocks
Conclusion
Thus we have come to conclude the following:
Red Oaks can be used as proxy to show
evidence of climate change.
We saw a steady growth in precipitation
since 1930’s and this was reflected in
greater growth in tree rings.
We also saw a correlation between less
precipitation during periods of La Niña and
narrower tree ring growth.
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Future Research
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Regression Analysis of Tree Ring Data and
Climate Data
Different Species to compare to the Red Oak
Stand
Stand of trees of similar age, size, position
Use more cookies to improve quality of the
analysis
Why is average precipitation in Putnam
County increasing?
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Science Research Fellows
Program(SRF) for the opportunity and funding to carry
out this project.We would also like to thank Dr. Vanessa
Fox, Chair, Biology Dept., for providing us with the tree
coring tools , location maps of trees in the Nature Park,
and general information on trees in the Nature Park.
Further, we would like to express gratitude to the SRF
group that worked on this project in 2011 for their
guidance. And lastly, we would also like to thank
Professor Mills for the time, ideas, and support during
this project.
References
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Speer, James H. Fundamentals of Tree-Ring Research. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2010. Print.
USDA, NRCS. 2012. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 29 November 2012). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC
27401-4901 USA.
David Goldblum, The geography of white oak's (Quercus alba L.) response to climatic variables in North America and speculation on its
sensitivity to climate change across its range, Dendrochronologia, Volume 28, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 73-83, ISSN 1125-7865,
10.1016/j.dendro.2009.07.001.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1125786509000630)
Keywords: Climate change; Dendrochronology; Correlation analysis; Dendroclimatology
J.C. Tardif, F. Conciatori, A comparison of ring-width and event-year chronologies derived from white oak (Quercus alba) and northern
red oak (Quercus rubra), southwestern Quebec, Canada, Dendrochronologia, Volume 23, Issue 3, 24 February 2006, Pages 133-138,
ISSN 1125-7865, 10.1016/j.dendro.2005.10.001.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1125786505000883)
Keywords: Ring width; Event years; Principal components analysis; Redundancy analysis; Radial growth–climate association
Title: Dendroclimatological Analysis of White Oak (Quercus alba L., Fagaceae) from an Old-Growth Forest of Southeastern Ohio, USA
Author(s): Darrin L. Rubino and Brian C. McCarthy
Source: Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, Vol. 127, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 2000), pp. 240-250
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3088761
Abstract: Dendrochronological techniques were applied to white oak (Quercus alba L., Fagaceae) from an old-growth, mixed
mesophytic forest in southeastern Ohio (Belmont County) in order to determine the relationship between climate and radial-growth rates.
Using increment cores and slabs, we created both master ring-width and basal area increment chronologies spanning 374 years (16251998). Both ring widths and basal area increments were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) correlated with growing season (April-July) precipitation
and drought severity. Additionally, numerous current growth year and previous growth year monthly climatic conditions (precipitation,
temperature, and drought severity) were significantly correlated with radial-growth rates. Analysis of extreme climatic events such as
droughts revealed that significant (P ≤ 0.05) declines in radial-growth rate can be expected and may result in sustained (5 years) growth
declines. We conclude that climate signals are sufficiently strong to be detected even in old-growth white oak trees growing under the
complacent conditions typical of upland, mesophytic forests of the Ohio Valley.