HR: 0800h
AN: PP11A-1431    [Abstracts]
TI: The climate signal in limber pine chronologies from southwestern Alberta and northcentral Montana
AU: * David, S J
EM: sauchyn@uregina.ca
AF: Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative, University of Regina, 150 - 10 Research Drive, Regina, SK S4S 7J7 Canada
AU: Axelson, J
EM: axelsonj@uregina.ca
AF: Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative, University of Regina, 150 - 10 Research Drive, Regina, SK S4S 7J7 Canada
AB: Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) occupies the most xeric wind-swept sites in the island forests of northcentral Montana and in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta. It is therefore the source of sensitive (variable) ring-width series reflecting growth response to summer and annual precipitation. Standardized ring-width is a particularly good proxy of precipitation deficits (drought) and low stream flow. We describe a network of tree-ring chronologies established to reconstruct precipitation and streamflow for the past 500 years in a region where few instrumental records exceed 50 years and where soil and surface water supplies are in high demand and scarce in some years. This network includes sites of previous tree-ring research, where we conducted further sampling to improve chronology depth. It also includes ring-width chronologies from stands of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in close proximity to the Limber pine. The use of complementary tree-ring chronologies from two species aids in the crossdating and interpretation of the limber pine which can have series and segments of tree rings that are more difficult to interpret than the Douglas fir growing under less harsh conditions, that is, with more soil and less exposure to wind. A dense network of chronologies from two species captures greater climate variability, than fewer more widely distributed records, producing tree-ring models that explain a large proportion of the variability in precipitation and streamflow and are the basis for long proxy records.
DE: 0473 Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography (3344, 4900)
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005