Towards improving the Central Asian dendrochronological network—New data from Tajikistan, Pamir-Alay

Abstract

Millennial long tree-ring records are crucial for better understanding temperature and hydroclimatic variability over the globe. Juniper is one of particularly long-lived species, which can provide more than a thousand-year record, especially in Central Asia. However, there is a lack of dendrochronological series from the Pamir Mountains. Here we report the first 1010-year (AD 1005–2014) juniper tree-ring chronology from the mountain ranges of north-western Tajikistan, the western Pamir-Alay. We present the potential of Juniperus semiglobosa and Juniperus seravshanica in developing millennia-long records. We sampled three study sites at the elevations from 2200 to 3500m. In general, the climate-growth analyses show that radial growth of the Himalayan pencil juniper is positively correlated with the winter precipitation and spring temperature. At some sites tree rings were also positively correlated with summer temperature. Our findings demonstrate the importance of developing the tree-ring data network for the Pamir-Alay and its potential for reconstruction of hydroclimatic variability over the last thousand years in this region.