Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Detecting invisible growth rings of trees in seasonally dry forests in Thailand: isotopic and wood anatomical approaches

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We measured radial variation of carbon isotope composition and vessel traits in tree species in seasonally dry forests of Northeast Thailand to explore a more reliable and amenable method of tropical dendrochronology for trees that lack visually detectable and consistent growth rings. Six Dipterocarpaceae species (3 Shorea, 2 Dipterocarpus, and 1 Hopea species) with indistinct or irregular growth rings and teak (Tectona grandis), a species which forms distinct growth rings, were examined. The δ13C value variations in all species showed annual cyclicity. Dipterocarpaceae species usually marked the lowest values of δ13C in the middle of the growing season, whereas teak had the lowest values at nearly the end of the growing season. Since the growing season of the species examined almost corresponds to the rainy season in the study area, the δ13C variation was likely caused by the change in moisture availability. The different variation pattern of teak was attributable to its stronger dependence on 13C-enriched reserved material early in the growing season. Changes in tree vessel traits for all species examined also showed annual cyclicity. Dipterocarpaceae species showed significant correlation between δ13C values and vessel measurements. Vessel lumen (mean area, tangential and radial diameter, and proportion of total area) had a negative correlation, whereas vessel frequency showed a positive correlation. The correlations indicated that changes in vessel traits were caused by the seasonal variation of moisture available to the trees. Thus, we concluded that methods using wood anatomy, as well as δ13C, have great potential for use as tools in tropical dendrochronology within the context of seasonal climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold DH, Mauseth JD (1999) Effects of environmental factors on development of wood. Am J Bot 86:367–371. doi:10.2307/2656758

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baker TR, Affum-Baffoe K, Burslem DFRP, Swaine MD (2002) Phenological differences in tree water use and the timing of tropical forest inventories: conclusions from patterns of dry season diameter change. For Ecol Manage 171:261–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • da Silva RP, dos Santos J, Tribuzy ES, Chambers JQ, Nakamura S, Higuchi N (2002) Diameter increment and growth patterns for individual tree growing in Central Amazon, Brazil. For Ecol Manage 166:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans MN, Schrag DP (2004) A stable isotope-based approach to tropical dendroclimatology. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:3295–3305. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2004.01.006

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, O’Leary MH, Berry JA (1982) On the relationship between carbon isotope discrimination and the intercellular carbon dioxide concentration in leaves. Aust J Plant Physiol 9:121–137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrio JP, Voltas J (2005) Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in wood constituents of Pinus halepensis as indicators of precipitation, temperature and vapour pressure deficit. Tellus 57B:164–173. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2005.00137.x

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fichtler E, Clark DA, Worbes M (2003) Age and long-term growth of trees in an old-growth tropical rain forest, based on analyses of tree rings and 14C. Biotropica 35:306–317

    Google Scholar 

  • Green JW (1963) Methods of carbohydrate chemistry. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow BA, Marshall JD, Robinson AP (2006) A multi-species comparison of δ13C from whole wood, extractive-free wood and holocellulose. Tree Physiol 26:767–774

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helle G, Schleser GH (2004) Beyond CO2-fixation by Rubisco–an interpretation of 13C/12C variations in tree rings from novel intra-seasonal studies on broad-leaf trees. Plant Cell Environ 27:367–380. doi:10.1111/j.0016-8025.2003.01159.x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kamo K, Kiatvuttinon B, Puriyakorn B (1995) Growth dynamics of some broad-leaved tree species in central Thailand. In: Box EO (ed) Vegetation science in forestry. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp 515–528

    Google Scholar 

  • Leavitt SW (2002) Prospects for reconstruction of seasonal environment from tree-ring δ13C: baseline findings from the Great Lakes area, USA. Chem Geol 192:47–58. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(02)00161-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leavitt SW, Danzer SR (1993) Method for batch processing small wood samples to holocellulose for stable-carbon isotope analysis. Anal Chem 65:87–89. doi:10.1021/ac00049a017

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mariaux A (1967) Les cernes dans les bois tropicauax africains, nature et periodicite. Bois For Trop 113:3–14 114:23–37

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarroll D, Loader NJ (2004) Stable isotopes in tree rings. Quat Sci Rev 23:771–801. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.06.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nobuchi T, Ogata Y, Siripatanadilok S (1995) Seasonal characteristics of wood formation in Hopea odorata and Shorea henryana. IAWA J 16:361–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohashi Y, Sahri MH, Yoshizawa N, Itoh T (2001) Annual rhythm of xylem growth in rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) trees grown in Malaysia. Holzforschung 55:151–154. doi:10.1515/HF.2001.024

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver CD, Larson BC (1996) Forest stand dynamics. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponton S, Dupouey JL, Breda N, Feuillat F, Bodenes C, Dreyer E (2001) Carbon isotope discrimination and wood anatomy variations in mixed stands of Quercus robur and Quercus petraea. Plant Cell Environ 24:861–868. doi:10.1046/j.0016-8025.2001.00733.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poussart PF, Schrag DP (2005) Seasonally resolved stable isotope chronologies from northern Thailand deciduous trees. Earth Planet Sci Lett 235:752–765. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.05.012

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poussart PF, Evans MN, Schrag DP (2004) Resolving seasonality in tropical trees: multi-decade, high-resolution oxygen and carbon isotope records from Indonesia and Thailand. Earth Planet Sci Lett 218:301–316. doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00638-1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Poussart PM, Myneni SCB, Lanzirotti A (2006) Tropical dendrochemistry: a novel approach to estimate age and growth from ringless trees. Geophys Res Lett 33:L17711. doi:10.1029/2006GL026929

  • Sass U, Killmann W, Eckstein D (1995) Wood formation in two species of Dipterocarpaceae in Peninsular Malaysia. IAWA J 16:371–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Saurer M, Aellen K, Siegwolf R (1997) Correlating δ13C and δ18O in cellulose of trees. Plant Cell Environ 20:1543–1550. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3040.1997.d01-53.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schongart J, Orthmann B, Hennenberg KJ, Porembski S, Worbes M (2006) Climate-growth relationships of tropical tree species in West Africa and their potential for climate reconstruction. Glob Change Biol 12:1139–1150. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01154.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searson MJ, Thomas DS, Montagu KD, Conroy JP (2004) Wood density and anatomy of water-limited eucalypts. Tree Physiol 24:1295–1302

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shiokura T (1989) A method to measure radial increment in tropical trees. IAWA Bull 10:147–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Kushwaha CP (2005) Paradox of leaf phenology: Shorea robusta is a semi-evergreen species in tropical dry deciduous forests in India. Curr Sci 88:1820–1824

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahle DW, Mushove PT, Cleaveland MK, Roig F, Haynes GA (1999) Management implications of annual growth rings in Pterocarpus angolensis from Zimbabwe. For Ecol Manage 124:217–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steenkamp CJ, Vogel JC, Fuls A, van Rooyen N, van Rooyen MW (2008) Age determination of Acacia erioloba trees in the Kalahari. J Arid Environ 72:302–313. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2007.07.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson JF, Mauseth JD (2004) Effects of environment on vessel characters in cactus wood. Int J Plant Sci 165:347–357. doi:10.1086/382807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tarhule A, Leavitt SW (2004) Comparison of stable-carbon isotope composition in the growth rings of Isorberlinia doka, Daniella oliveri, and Tamarindus indica and West African climate. Dendrochronologia 22:61–70. doi:10.1016/j.dendro.2004.09.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Therrell MD, Stahle DW, Mukelabai MM, Shugart HH (2007) Age, and radial growth dynamics of Pterocarpus angolensis in southern Africa. For Ecol Manage 244:24–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verheyden A, Helle G, Schleser GH, Dehairs F, Beeckman H, Koedam N (2004) Annual cyclicity in high-resolution stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in the wood of the mangrove tree Rhizophora mucronata. Plant Cell Environ 27:1525–1536. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3040.2004.01258.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verheyden A, De Ridder F, Schmitz N, Beeckman H, Koedam N (2005a) High-resolution time series of vessel density in Kenyan mangrove trees reveal a link with climate. New Phytol 167:425–435. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01415.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verheyden A, Roggeman M, Bouillon S, Elskens M, Beeckman H, Koedam N (2005b) Comparison between δ13C of α-cellulose and bulk wood in the mangrove tree Rhizophora mucronata: implications for dendrochemistry. Chem Geol 219:275–282. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2005.02.015

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams LJ, Bunyavejchewin S, Baker PJ (2008) Deciduousness in a seasonal tropical forest in western Thailand: interannual and intraspecific variation in timing, duration and environmental cues. Oecologia 155:571–582. doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0938-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Worbes M (1995) How to measure growth dynamics in tropical trees. A review. IAWA J 16:337–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Worbes M (2002) One hundred years of tree-ring research in the tropics—a brief history and an outlook to future challenges. Dendrochronologia 20:217–231. doi:10.1078/1125-7865-00018

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. K. Tangjaipitak for his assistance in collecting samples and Mr. T. Artchawakom, the Head of Sakaerat Environmental Research Station, for allowing us to conduct field research. We also thank Prof. A. Ohsawa, Kyoto University, for his critical reading of the manuscript, and the anonymous reviewer for the helpful comments. This study was supported by Grants-in-Aid to NO (No. 15255015) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Government of Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Forest Utilization, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Shinta Ohashi, Naoki Okada & Tadashi Nobuchi

  2. Department of Forest Biology, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10090, Thailand

    Somkid Siripatanadilok

  3. Department of Forest Products, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10090, Thailand

    Teera Veenin

Authors
  1. Shinta Ohashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Naoki Okada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tadashi Nobuchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Somkid Siripatanadilok
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Teera Veenin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinta Ohashi.

Additional information

Communicated by M. Zwieniecki.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ohashi, S., Okada, N., Nobuchi, T. et al. Detecting invisible growth rings of trees in seasonally dry forests in Thailand: isotopic and wood anatomical approaches. Trees 23, 813–822 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0322-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-009-0322-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation