The Potential of Tree Rings in Eucalyptus pauciflora for Climatological and Hydrological Reconstruction

Abstract

We investigate the causes of variability in a tree‐ring chronology comprising data from Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. Ex. Spreng. at the alpine treeline on the Kosciuszko Plateau in New South Wales, Australia. Following verification of crossdating in a subset of the available data, we found that ring width correlates significantly with net radiation, precipitation and mean minimum and maximum air temperature during the preceding winter and spring of the growing season. Our results for spring are consistent with the impact of climate on tree growth in alpine woodlands reported in previous studies. Analyses of snow‐depth data revealed negative correlations with ring width throughout winter and spring. Our results indicate that low temperature and high precipitation during winter negatively affect the growth of E. pauciflora by prolonging spring snow cover. Ring width also correlates significantly with an index of soil dryness and flow in rivers with their headwaters in the Kosciuszko plateau. Given the apparent sensitivity of our chronology to climate and snow conditions, our results suggest that tree‐ring chronologies comprising data from E. pauciflora at the alpine treeline have potential for climatological and hydrological reconstruction in southeast Australia.

Species‐Specific Growth Responses to Climate Variations in Understory Trees of a Central African Rain Forest

“…Tree growth is affected by climatic fluctuations and by a wide array of non-climatic factors (Brookhouse 2008), e.g., canopy dynamics or individual size-related trends (Pilcher & Gray 1982). Tree-ring width series thus reflect a complex set of variations.…”

Southern Hemisphere high-resolution palaeoclimate records of the last 2000 years

“…The dominant genus on the continent, however, is Eucalyptus , which is notoriously difficult to cross-date (Brookhouse, 2006). Recently, some promising progress has been made in the Mount Baw Baw alpine region of Victoria where Eucalyptus pauciflora (snow gum) has been used to reconstruct streamflow back to the late eighteenth century (Brookhouse et al, 2008).…”

A Review of Methods Used to Measure Treeline Migration and Their Application

“…Vegetation transects are also a more suitable form of analysis where tree species have shown limited success with dendrochronological studies. For example, Eucalyptus pauciflora (snow gum), which makes up the Australian treeline, is notoriously difficult to date due to missing and false rings (Brookhouse et al, 2008). Repeat vegetation transects may, in these instances, provide more useful at establishing changes to treeline positions over time (Naccarella et al, 2020).…”