Dendroclimatological Research in Labrador with Nunatsiavut Partners

拉布拉多树表现出一个引人注目的和鲜为人知的现象：它们的径向生长（树木年轮的宽度）更强烈地响应气候变量沿着东/西梯度比它没有北到南。为了充分了解这些关系，详细分析环境因素和树木生长是必要的。 拟议中的研究将在两个地点进行，一个直接沿着沿着，另一个更远的内陆。这些地点是在因努人监护人方案的协助下选定的，该方案在其传统领土上建立了因努人永久样地。每个地点附近的当地人将有机会获得有用的技能，如现场助理，部署和监测设备，取样，培训他人，并帮助提出结果。研究将对当地社区完全透明，并定期通报研究结果。传统知识将得到尊重，并在获得许可的情况下记录在案。 在每个地点，16棵白色云杉是优势物种，将使用带状树木测量仪进行监测，这种测量仪可以检测树木扩张的微小变化。微核心也将从树上移除，以帮助解释细胞是如何以及何时被放置的。在相同的IPSP中，将记录详细的环境数据，并将与径向增长数据结合使用，以更好地了解增长的时间。 据预测，北部的气候将发生剧烈变化，当地社区必须了解可能对其森林造成的影响。这项研究将：（1）建立北方拉布拉多内陆和沿海地区树木生长的精确时间，从而加强我们对最东端北方森林复杂森林生态的理解。(2)利用这些信息更好地重建拉布拉多过去的气候，更准确地预测拉布拉多未来的树木生长和分布。(3)向当地有关各方免费提供详细的本地化环境数据。(4)通过让努纳齐亚武特社区参与研究，让他们更好地了解自己的森林，并做出更明智的管理决策，使他们参与进来。

Labrador trees exhibit a striking and poorly understood phenomenon: their radial growth (width of tree rings) responds more strongly to climate variables along an east/west gradient than it does north to south. To fully understand these relationships, a detailed analysis of environmental factors and tree growth is necessary. The proposed research will take place at two sites, one directly along the coast and one farther inland. The sites have been selected with the assistance of the Innu Guardians program that has set up Innu Permanent Sample Plots (IPSP) across their traditional territory. Local people near each site will have the opportunity to gain useful skills as field assistants, deploying and monitoring equipment, taking samples, training others, and helping to present results. The research will be fully transparent to local communities, with results communicated regularly. Traditional knowledge will be respected and documented, with permission. At each site, 16 white spruce, the dominant species, will be monitored using band dendrometers, which detect tiny changes in tree expansion. Micro-cores will also be removed from the trees to help interpret how and when cells are being laid down. At the same IPSPs, detailed environmental data will be logged, and will be used in conjunction with the radial-growth data to better understand the timing of growth. Dramatic changes in climate are forecasted for the north, and local communities must learn the probable impacts on their forests. This research will: (1) Establish the precise timing of tree growth in both inland and coastal regions of northern Labrador, thereby enhancing our understanding of the complex forest ecology of the easternmost boreal forest. (2) Use the information to make better reconstructions of past climate and more accurate forecasts of future tree growth and distribution in Labrador. (3) Make detailed, localized environmental data freely available to interested local parties. (4) Engage Nunatsiavut communities by involving them in the research, and by allowing them to better understand their forests and make more informed management decisions.