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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 • • • • • 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 • • • • • • 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 • • • • sensitivity to climate o at the edge of a range same species that is dominant, plentiful in the area slow growing tree o more sensitive to changes in climate easy to core and to hit the center Why the Red Oak ? • White Oak o o o 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 • • • • 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 • • • • • Water-reflected by precipitation data (most important) Temperature High Growth Season-Spring and Summer Low Growth Season-Winter Tree Stresses o o 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 • • Strengths: resource of Professor Jim Mills and 2011 SRF students unique individual set skills: holistic project Enthusiasm • • • Process of Tree Coring • • • • • • 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 • • • • 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 • • • • • 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 -------> Collecting and Analyzing Climate Data • • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- Source for climate data in Putnam County. Analyzing and correlating our tree ring data with climatic factors such as: o o • o 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 • • • • • 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. • • • Future Research • • • • • 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 • • • • • 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.