Harvard Forest >

Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2017

• Title: Strip-bark Morphology and Radial Growth Trends in Ancient Pinus sibirica Trees from central Mongolia
• Primary Author: Caroline Leland (Columbia University in the City of New York)
• Additional Authors: Kevin Anchukaitis (University of Arizona); Daniel Bishop (Harvard Forest); Amy Hessl (West Virginia University); Neil Pederson (Harvard Forest)
• Abstract:

  Caroline Leland, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, cleland@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Edward R. Cook, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, drdendro@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Laia Andreu-Hayles, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, lah@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Neil Pederson, Harvard University, Harvard Forest, Petersham, MA, neilpederson@fas.harvard.edu
  
  Amy Hessl, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, Amy.Hessl@mail.wvu.edu
  
  Oyunsanaa Byambasuren, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, oyunsanaa@gmail.com
  
  Baatarbileg Nachin, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, baatarbileg@num.edu.mn
  
  Kevin Anchukaitis, Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona, kanchukaitis@email.arizona.edu
  
  Nicole Davi, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, DAVIN@wpunj.edu
  
  Rosanne D’Arrigo, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, rdd@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Kevin Griffin, Columbia University, New York, NY, griff@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Mukund Palat Rao, Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, mukund@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  Daniel Bishop Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, dbishop@ldeo.columbia.edu
  
  
  Strip bark, or partial cambial dieback, is a morphological feature in some long-lived tree species inhabiting adverse environments. The ecophysiological factors initiating strip bark, and the potential effect of cambial dieback on annual ring widths and tree-ring estimates of past climate, are not well understood across different species and environments. Through a project funded by NSF, we analyzed 45 strip-bark and 35 whole-bark Pinus sibirica trees to compare their radial growth rates and trends through time. Results indicate that strip-bark and whole-bark trees had differing trends over the past 500 years, and strip-bark trees had a larger increase in mean ring widths than whole-bark trees in the 20th and 21st centuries. Strip-bark was more common on the southern aspect of trees, suggesting a solar radiation influence on localized cambial dieback. Dieback events were also more common in the 19th century, a colder and drier period in Mongolia, after which strip-bark mean ring widths notably increased. Unfavorable climatic conditions might have further stressed the trees and increased the rate of dieback.

• Research Category: Regional Studies
  Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
  International Research Projects
  Historical and Retrospective Studies
  Forest-Atmosphere Exchange