Abstract
AbstractAlthough the importance of stable isotope ratios in tree rings is increasing for high‐resolution climate reconstructions, it is still unclear if such values exhibit age trends that require some form of standardization. Here we present 13,496 and 13,584 annually resolved and absolutely dated δ18O and δ13C measurements from 147 living and relict oaks (Quercus spp.) that grew over the past 2,000 years in the Czech Republic. In contrast to their heteroscedastic ring widths, the stable isotopes reveal constant spread versus level relationships over the trees' life span. Together with high signal strength, the absence of age‐related constraints makes δ18O and δ13C from oak latewood alpha cellulose a superior climate proxy in regions where traditional tree‐ring parameters are limited.
Highlights
Background and MotivationConsidered the backbone of high‐resolution paleoclimatology
Abstract the importance of stable isotope ratios in tree rings is increasing for high‐resolution climate reconstructions, it is still unclear if such values exhibit age trends that require some form of standardization
Whereas the concept of ecological amplitude tells us that the dendroclimatological skill of forest trees generally decreases with increasing distance from species‐specific distribution limits, tree‐ring stable isotopes (TRSI) can exhibit strong climate signals even when the wood samples are coming from less extreme sites (Cernusak & English, 2015; Hartl‐Meier et al, 2015; McCarroll & Loader, 2004; Treydte et al, 2007)
Summary
Considered the backbone of high‐resolution paleoclimatology (St. George & Esper, 2019), and providing a natural context for the Anthropocene (Lewis & Maslin, 2015; Waters et al, 2016), annually resolved and absolutely dated tree‐ring chronologies allow temperature or hydroclimate to be reconstructed over the past centuries to millennia. Whereas the concept of ecological amplitude tells us that the dendroclimatological skill of forest trees generally decreases with increasing distance from species‐specific distribution limits, tree‐ring stable isotopes (TRSI) can exhibit strong climate signals even when the wood samples are coming from less extreme sites (Cernusak & English, 2015; Hartl‐Meier et al, 2015; McCarroll & Loader, 2004; Treydte et al, 2007). It is still unclear if TRSI contain age‐related trends that require some sort of statistical treatment, so‐called standardization or detrending (Cook & Kairiukstis, 1990). All of the existing tree‐ring stable isotope studies are, limited by either (i) a relatively low sample size, (ii) a restriction to only living trees, (iii) the use of pooled samples, or (iv) some combination thereof
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