An Account of the Climate as Told by the Trees

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Researchers at the GFZ
German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany are reconstructing
temperature data from trees in Turkey to better define and understand the
climactic conditions.  Researchers have
confidently chronicled a block of time that reflects the medieval warm period
including a little ice age between the 16^th and 19^th
centuries up to the transition into the more modern warm phase in the mountains
near Antalya, the coastal Mediterranean coastal region of Turkey. Researchers
led by Ingo Heinrich from the GFZ have studied this time series using carbon
isotope ratios reflected in the tree rings of the region.

Researchers have long been
dogged with reconciling the differences between various extreme locations
including high mountain zones and high latitudes from different geographical
locations. However stable carbon isotope ratios (¹³C/¹²C)
are clearing up the puzzlement and opening the door for greater historical
understanding of climate change.

Beyond simply counting the
rings to determine a tree’s age, researchers are able to discern the
temperature and precipitation for any given year. Each ring is unique, some are
thicker and some are thinner yielding more in depth questions. By extracting a
sample wood core from the Juniperus excels, researchers microscopically
analyzed the early and late wood cells and the “variability in wood density and resin
channels as a result of drought stress.”

Therefore each ring tells
its own individual annual climactic story. For instance, for a year when the
winter was particularly cold, cambium and leaves are more severely damaged
extending the amount of time it takes to evolve into spring.  This action leaves its mark in the form of
the tree’s historic record for the annual temperature and precipitation
calculator. Similarly, when spring temperatures are consistently low,
photosynthesis is delayed effecting development of the cambium.

“A comparison with seasonal meteorological
data also demonstrates that at several places in the Mediterranean the winter
and spring temperatures indicate long-term trends which are decreasing or at
least not increasing“, says Ingo Heinrich. “Our results stress the need
for further research of the regional climate variations.”

As climactic historians,
trees therefore become good predictive recorders for the future. 

Read more: GFZ
German Research Centre for Geosciences

Photo Credit: Ingo
Heinrich

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