Introduction
Dendrochronology is the study of the characteristics of tree ring widths correlated in the same geographical region to be able to understand and estimate changing weather patterns over the years and centuries, and also to date archaeological sites. The width of these rings from trees cut down, is directly affected by the growing conditions that affect it, namely the climate. Studying tree rings provides a detailed outlook into whether changes in global temperatures are natural cycles, or human made problems, like global warming today. This area of studies in science is called dendrochronology.
Background
In understanding dendrochronology it may be important to note that there are eight different types of the science, all of which developed from the study of tree rings. The definition of some of which are:
•Dendropyrochronology: Is the abilty to
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• Dendroclimatology: The science of determining past climates from trees (primarily properties of the annual tree rings).
• Dendroecology: The use of tree rings to study changes in ecological processes over time such as defoliation by insect outbreaks; the effects of air, water, and soil pollution on tree growth and forest health; the age, maturity, and successional status of forest stands; and the effects of human disturbances and management on forest vitality.
• Dendrogeomorphology: The use of tree-ring data to study earth surface processes. Scientists can date when trees were killed (by dating the outer ring of the tree) or bent (by analysing when dramatic changes in tree growth occurred) by mass movements, such as landslides and snow avalanches.
• Dendrohydrology: The science of using tree-ring data to investigate and reconstruct hydrologic properties, such as streamflow and riverflow, runoff, and past lake
how old a tree is. As the tree grows each year, and becomes stronger, the rings build themselves up around
...Clague, John J., Luckman, Brian H., Wiles, Gregory C. “Tree-Ring Dating of the Nineteenth-Century Advance of Brady Glacier and the Evolution of Two Ice- Marginal Lakes, Alaska.” The Holocene 21.4 (2001): 641-649. Sage Journals. Web. 9. Feb. 2014.
FIG 1 dating can only be used on dead inanimate objects. Fig 1 (to the right) demonstrates the process of the development of carbon atoms.
Discerning the spatial patterns of biodiversity and understanding their ultimate (why) and proximate (how) causes is very dear to biogeography and is one of the key concepts of Macro ecology. Some places on earth contain more species as compared to others. All species occurring at a given space and time either originated (speciated) there or dispersed and arrived from another place and settled there. Biogeographers try to understand the past and current distributions of species by incorporating historical, evolutionary and ecological factors. Earlier biogeographers or the ‘naturalists’ in their sacred quest to serve ‘the creator’, travelled to various parts of the world and imparted valuable knowledge about the diverse patterns and processes of nature. Linnaeus (1743), on the one hand, hypothesized that early Earth was filled with water except for it’s highest mountain top i.e., Mount Ararat which was known to be the site of paradise and as the sea level dropped the exposed land was colonized by plants and animals that migrated down from high elevational zones of Mount Ararat whereas Willdenow (1805) hypothesized that within each geographical region of the earth, plants and animals were first placed and later survived the great flood on many mountain ranges (Lomolino,2001). Von Humboldt and Darwin in the South American Andes and Wallace Southeast Asian islands noticed the decreasing trend in elevational species richness patterns (McCain and Grytnes, 2010). Later work done by Grinnell (1917), Whittaker (1952), Terborgh (1977, 1985) on elevational species richness became accepted and set a established pattern for all species for more than two decades (McCain and Grytnes, 2010). However current researches on elevational gradients are...
Extreme weather events, such as drought, are tremendously important when considering stressors to water resources. History of drought has been documented in Paleoclimate studies using long lived tree species indigenous to Texas. Tree-ring proxies are especially useful when reconstructing histories of climate change across a large region like Texas, since many can be sampled from different areas. Annual tree ring data can give a precise year-to-year temperature and precipitation records. Tree ring data has shown droughts lasting a decade or more staggered throughout the state happening randomly since the 1600’s. (why this is important to water supply) [Brenner]
The Western forests are drastically different from what they were like before the European settlement. In pre-European time, the forests were open and park-like with only 25-35 trees per acre surrounded by areas of open grasslands. One could easily ride a horse through the spacious forest. This, however, is not possible in today's forests. Today, for example the Ponderosa pine forests, have over 500 trees per acre, creating thick dense areas of trees, brush, and bushes (President Bush, 4). The pre-European forests were subject to frequent low inte...
Climate change is difficult to express directly, for knowledge of climate change generally falls under the classification of “weather.” However geologists have known since the mid-nineteenth century that local, and global climate undergoes change throug...
Starr, Chester G., Nowell, Charles E., Lyon Bryce, Stearns, Raymond P., Hamerow Theordore S. A History of the World: Volume II- 1500 to Present. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1960.
Climate change has been happening for many years and it continues to do so. It is a significant change in regards to the distribution of weather patterns over a given time frame such as decades or millennia. In recent times, the climate change is called “global warming” and it has been linked to certain human activities (NRC 2010). This shows that climate change is not limited to biotic factors. In a general sense, these changes have the potential to impact populations and ecosystems due to alterations in the water cycle. Climate change impacts includes too little water in some regions while too much water in other regions. Changes in precipitation patterns can influence plant physiology and thereby affect the rates of photosynthesis. Such patterns include drought in which warmer temperatures increase evaporative stress on a plant and increased rain or frequency of storms can influence water uptake by plants. Under both conditions, there is a change in photosynthetic rates. Photosynthesis allows the plant to accumulate carbon, grow and produce biomass (Niu et al. 2008). Therefore, a change in photosynthetic rates can be either beneficial or harmful to a plant. The effects of altered precipitation patterns on photosynthetic rates is significant to the scientific field because it gives insight on the shifts in plant community composition and how it affects the water availability for human and ecosystem uses (Kray et al. 2012). In addition, understanding the connection between water relations and photosynthesis with respect to changes in precipitation patterns could help with management decisions of ecosystems, where climate change indicates alterations in species composition, in water availability for wildlife and in fire regimes (L...
America’s Old Growth Forests are an endangered resource that is quickly disappearing. The ancient forests are being unnecessarily wasted, and are growing smaller and smaller with each passing moment.
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The discovery of a mysterious artifact can provoke curiosity and theories of many sorts in the individuals that hear of it. Often the artifact can become a legend, as seen in the discovery of the Shroud of Turin. This relic was supposedly the burial cloth of the biblical Jesus Christ, but there is much debate on the validity of this theory. Through advancements in archaeology, insight has been provided regarding methods that can be used to date certain items, such as this cloth. The care that must be taken in using the methods of archaeological dating is essential to the accuracy of the results produced. Many of these archaeological techniques have been discovered and improved over the course of the last hundred years. One of the most famous methods used to date organic, living, and previously living materials is carbon dating. Carbon-14 dating has enlightened archaeologists to a technique that dates materials that are thousands of years old. With this relatively new dating method, archaeologists have been able to date certain artifacts more accurately than ever before. To understand the important impacts this method has had on archaeology, it is essential to understand what Carbon-14 is, how Carbon-14 dating works, how it is calibrated, and how it is measured.
One of the most key examples of understanding human culture through archaeology is the topic of climate and the environment. As seen through history, there is an intricate relationship between the environment and life on earth. Through extensive research, archaeologists have the ability to take note of minor cultural changes that can be attributed to the environment during a particular time period. These changes include, shifts in methods of food collection, changes in the artwor...
“Healthy forests help absorb greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions that are caused by human civilization and contribute to global climate change. Without trees, more carbon and greenhouse gasses enter the...
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