Dendroclimatic Studies

A top priority in climate research is obtaining broad-extent and long-term data to support analyses of historical patterns and trends, and for model development and evaluation. Along with directly measured climate data from the present and recent past, it is important to obtain estimates of long past climate variations spanning multiple centuries and millennia.Dendroclimatic Studies at the North American Tree Line presents an overview of the current state of dendroclimatology, its contributions over the past few decades, and its future potential. The material included is not useful not only to those who generate tree-ring records of past climate-dendroclimatologists, but also to users of their results-climatologists, hydrologists, ecologists and archeologists.In summary, this book:* Sheds light on recent and future climate trends by assessing long term past climatic variations from tree rings* Is a timely coverage of a crucial topic in climate science portraying recent warming trends which are of serious concern today* Features well-reputed scientists highlighting new advanced methodologies to reconstruct past climate change* Models the tree growth environmental response

Preface vAcknowledgments vii1. Introduction 11.1. Overview 11.2. Basic Tree-Ring Principles 11.3. Polar Amplification of Global Warming and Impacts on Forests 31.4. "Northern Archive" Synthesis 62. Tree-Ring Investigations at Northern Latitudes 72.1. Initial Studies 72.2. Site Selection 82.3. Tree-Ring Parameters and Processing: Ring Width and Maximum Latewood Density 93. Selected Local to Regional TRL-LDEO Northern Tree-Ring Studies 134. The Broader Context of Northern Dendroclimatic Studies 194.1. North America 194.2. Eurasia 214.3. Tree-Ring Chronology Networks 215. Temperature Reconstructions for the Northern Hemisphere 235.1. Initial Attempts 235.2. Evolution of NH Temperature Reconstructions 255.3. Reconstructed NH Temperature Trends 315.4. Standardization of NH Tree-Ring Temperature Reconstructions 336. Tree Growth Issues in the Anthropogenic Era: CO2 Fertilization and the "Divergence Problem" 376.1. CO2 Fertilization 376.2. The Divergence Problem 387. Conclusions and Future Challenges 43Glossary 51References 57Core TRL-LDEO Publications on Northern Forests 67Index 75Color plate section is located between pages 36 and 37.