Collaborative Research: A Geospatial Approach to Dendroclimatology of Multi-Millennial Bristlecone Pine

提供资金，将地形与树种气候学分析结合起来，以便更好地说明海拔对树木记录的气候信号的影响。研究人员将使用美国西南部半干旱地区海拔2800-3600米之间的马尾松和其他松树作为这项研究的数据库，因为现有的网络中已经存在大量复制良好的年表，这些物种是存活时间最长的树木之一。具体地说，研究人员将寻找沿着海拔横断面对气候变化的树轮响应的地形修改，并将基于过程的建模应用于加州东部、内华达州和四角州目前树木生长极限以下和以上的活木材和残存木材形成树轮的过程。这项研究的科学目标包括审查不同气候变量对老树生长的影响，以及评估研究结果对将树木年轮记录作为气候信息自然档案的作用。这项研究旨在解决与过去气候变异性背后的因素以及对理解未来变异性的影响有关的重要问题。这项研究将从数千年的角度审查目前的气候变化(例如最近的干旱)，并为调查极端气候事件的原因提供一个潜在的重要和独特的工具。近几个世纪以来，关于重建北半球温度的科学争议中，有关树冠的树轮记录处于中心位置，这项工作应该有助于更好地为这场辩论提供信息。研究人员计划通过暑期实习计划剥离学生研究项目。此外，这项研究还将为在Inyo国家森林的美国林业局游客中心举办的一个展览提供信息，突出猪皮松的研究。

Funding is provided to integrate topography into dendroclimatological analyses to better account for the effects of elevation on the climate signal recorded in trees. The researchers will use bristlecone, and other pines, from between 2800-3600 meters above sea level in the semi-arid southwest United States as the database for this research because an existing network of well-replicated chronologies already exists and these species are among the longest living trees. Specifically, the researchers will look for topographic modification of tree-ring response to climate variability along elevation transects and apply process-based modeling to the formation of tree rings from living and relict wood below and above the present limit of tree growth in eastern California, Nevada, and the Four-Corners States. The scientific goals of the research include examining the influences of differing climate variables on the growth of the old trees and evaluating the implications of the research results on the utility of tree-ring records as natural archives of climate information. The research aims to address important issues regarding the factors underlying past climate variability and the implications for understanding future variability. The research will examine present climate variability (e.g., recent droughts) in a multi-millennial perspective as well as providing a potentially important and unique tool for investigating the causes of extreme climate events. The bristlecone tree-ring records are at the center of the scientific controversy concerning the reconstruction of Northern Hemispheric temperature from recent centuries and the work should help better inform this debate. The researchers plan to spin off student research projects through a summer internship program. In addition, the research will provide information for an exhibit, highlighting bristlecone pine research, at the US Forest Service Visitor Center in the Inyo National Forest.