Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The influence of elevational differences in absolute maximum density values on regional climate reconstructions

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

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

Key message

We found that indiscriminately using tree-ring MXD data with inhomogeneous temporal distribution from different elevations might cause biased chronologies. A mean-adjusting method was developed to overcome this bias.

Abstract

Here we analyse maximum latewood density (MXD) of Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine), from deadwood (dry) and subfossil wood (from lakes) collected along an elevation gradient in and close to the central Scandinavian Mountains, in the province of Jämtland, Sweden. Focusing on two common time periods (900–1150 CE and 1300–1550 CE), the mean absolute MXD of deadwood samples showed an inverse relationship with elevation, i.e. the absolute MXD decreases with elevation. However, the MXD values of the subfossil samples did not show such a consistent relationship with elevation. It was also noted that the differences in mean absolute MXD values among sites of different elevations in a given period were larger than among sites of similar elevation between the two time periods, where the former was assumed to be warmer than the latter. Using a theoretical model and a real example, it was shown that indiscriminately using MXD data with inhomogeneous temporal distribution from different elevations may cause biased chronologies, which can have significant effects on subsequent interpretations of past climate variability. A mean-adjusting method was developed to overcome this bias, and its usefulness was demonstrated by comparing two chronologies built on mean-adjusted and unadjusted MXD samples. It was concluded that unadjusted samples from different elevations with inhomogeneous temporal distribution can distort the long-term trend in a final chronology, while this bias can be alleviated if mean-adjusted samples are used.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

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
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Björklund JA, Gunnarson BE, Krusic PJ, Grudd H, Josefsson T, Östlund L, Linderholm HW (2013) Advances towards improved low-frequency tree-ring reconstructions, using an updated Pinus sylvestris L. MXD network from the Scandinavian Mountains. Theor Appl Climatol 113(3–4):697–710

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briffa KR, Jones PD, Bartholin TS, Eckstein D, Schweingruber FH, Karlen W, Zetterberg P, Eronen M (1992) Fennoscandian summers from AD 500: temperature changes on short and long timescales. Clim Dyn 7(3):111–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briffa K, Schweingruber F, Jones PD, Osborn T, Shiyatov S, Vaganov E (1998) Reduced sensitivity of recent tree-growth to temperature at high northern latitudes. Nature 391(6668):678–682

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Briffa KR, Osborn TJ, Schweingruber FH, Jones PD, Shiyatov SG, Vaganov EA (2002) Tree-ring width and density data around the Northern Hemisphere: Part 2, spatio-temporal variability and associated climate patterns. Holocene 12(6):759–789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Krusic PJ, Anchukaitis KJ, Buckley BM, Nakatsuka T, Sano M (2013) Tree-ring reconstructed summer temperature anomalies for temperate East Asia since 800 CE. Clim Dyn 41(11–12):2957–2972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis BAS, Brewer S, Stevenson AC, Guiot J, Contributors Data (2003) The temperature of Europe during the Holocene reconstructed from pollen data. Quatern Sci Rev 22(2003):1701–1716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Düthorn E, Holzkämper S, Timonen M, Esper J (2013) Influence of micro-site conditions on tree-ring climate signals and trends in central and northern Sweden. Trees 27(5):1395–1404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esper J, Frank DC, Timonen M, Zorita E, Wilson RJ, Luterbacher J, Holzkämper S, Fischer N, Wagner S, Nievergelt D (2012a) Orbital forcing of tree-ring data. Nat Clim Change 2(12):862–866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esper J, Büntgen U, Timonen M, Frank DC (2012b) Variability and extremes of northern Scandinavian summer temperatures over the past two millennia. Glob Planet Change 88–89:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritts H (1976) Tree rings and climate. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gou X, Chen F, Yang M, Li J, Peng J, Jin L (2005) Climatic response of thick leaf spruce (Picea crassifolia) tree-ring width at different elevations over Qilian Mountains, northwestern China. J Arid Environ 61(4):513–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gouirand I, Linderholm HW, Moberg A, Wohlfarth B (2008) On the spatiotemporal characteristics of Fennoscandian tree-ring based summer temperature reconstructions. Theoret Appl Climatol 91(1–4):1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grove JM (2001) The initiation of the “Little Ice Age” in regions round the North Atlantic. Clim Change 48(1):53–82

  • Grove JM, Switsur R (1994) Glacial geological evidence for the medieval warm period. Clim Change 26(2–3):143–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grudd H (2008) Torneträsk tree-ring width and density AD 500–2004: a test of climatic sensitivity and a new 1500-year reconstruction of north Fennoscandian summers. Clim Dyn 31:843–857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guay R, Gagnon R, Morin H (1992) A new automatic and interactive tree ring measurement system based on a line scan camera. For Chron 68(1):138–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guiot J, Nicault A, Rathgeber C, Edouard J, Guibal F, Pichard G, Till C (2005) Last-millennium summer-temperature variations in western Europe based on proxy data. Holocene 15(4):489–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnarson BE (2008) Temporal distribution pattern of subfossil pines in central Sweden: perspective on Holocene humidity fluctuations. Holocene 18(4):569–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnarson BE, Linderholm HW, Moberg A (2011) Improving a tree-ring reconstruction from west-central Scandinavia: 900 years of warm-season temperatures. Clim Dyn 36(1–2):97–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helama S, Lindholm M, Timonen M, Meriläinen J, Eronen M (2002) The supra-long Scots pine tree-ring record for Finnish Lapland: Part 2, interannual to centennial variability in summer temperatures for 7500 years. Holocene 12(6):681–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helama S, Arentoft BW, Collin-Haubensak O, Hyslop MD, Brandstrup CK, Mäkelä HM, Tian Q, Wilson R (2013) Dendroclimatic signals deduced from riparian versus upland forest interior pines in North Karelia Finland. Ecol Res 28(6):1019–1028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King GM, Gugerli F, Fonti P, Frank DC (2013) Tree growth response along an elevational gradient: climate or genetics? Oecologia 173(4):1587–1600

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linderholm HW, Gunnarson BE (2005) Summer temperature variability in central Scandinavia during the last 3600 years. Geografiska Annaler Ser A Phys Geogr 87(1):231–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linderholm HW, Solberg BØ, Lindholm M (2003) Tree-ring records from central Fennoscandia: the relationship between tree growth and climate along a west–east transect. Holocene 13(6):887–895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linderholm H, Björklund J, Seftigen K, Gunnarson B, Fuentes M (2014a) Fennoscandia revisited: a spatially improved tree-ring reconstruction of summer temperatures for the last 900 years. Clim Dyn. doi:10.1007/s00382-014-2328-9

    Google Scholar 

  • Linderholm HW, Zhang P, Gunnarson BE, Björklund J, Farahat E, Fuentes M, Rocha E, Salo R, Seftigen K, Stridbeck P (2014b) Growth dynamics of tree-line and lake-shore Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the central Scandinavian Mountains during the medieval climate anomaly and the early little ice age. Front Ecol Evol. doi:10.3389/fevo.2014.00020

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, An Z, Linderholm HW, Chen D, Song H, Cai Q, Sun J, Tian H (2009) Annual temperatures during the last 2485 years in the mid-eastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from tree rings. Sci China Ser D Earth Sci 52(3):348–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarroll D, Loader NJ, Jalkanen R, Gagen MH, Grudd H, Gunnarson BE, Kirchhefer AJ, Friedrich M, Linderholm HW, Lindholm M (2013) A 1200-year multiproxy record of tree growth and summer temperature at the northern pine forest limit of Europe. Holocene. doi:10.1177/0959683612467483

    Google Scholar 

  • Melvin TM (2004) Historical growth rates and changing climatic sensitivity of boreal conifers. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of East Anglia, Norwich

  • Melvin TM, Briffa KR (2008) A “signal-free” approach to dendroclimatic standardization. Dendrochronologia 26(2):71–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melvin TM, Grudd H, Briffa KR (2013) Potential bias in ‘updating’tree-ring chronologies using regional curve standardisation: re-processing 1500 years of Torneträsk density and ring-width data. Holocene 23(3):364–373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber FH (1996) Tree rings and environment: dendroecology. Paul Haupt AG Bern, Switzerland

    Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber F, Fritts H, Bräker O, Drew L, Schär E (1978) The X-ray technique as applied to dendroclimatology. Tree Ring Bull 38:61–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber FH, Briffa KR, Jones PD (1991) Yearly maps of summer temperatures in western Europe from AD 1750 to 1975 and western North America from 1600 to 1982: results of a radiodensitometrical study on tree rings. Vegetatio 92(1):5–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Splechtna BE, Dobrys J, Klinka K (2000) Tree-ring characteristics of subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) in relation to elevation and climatic fluctuations. Ann For Sci 57(2):89–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swedish National Atlas (1995) Climate, lakes and rivers Lantmäteriet. Gävle, Sweden

    Google Scholar 

  • Tegel W, Vanmoerkerke J, Büntgen U (2010) Updating historical tree-ring records for climate reconstruction. Quat Sci Rev. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.05.018

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author contribution statement

PZ sampled and prepared parts of the data, designed the analysis, visualized the results and contributed to the writing; JB and HL sampled parts of the data, and contributed to the analysis and the writing.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the County Administrative Boards of Jämtland for giving permissions to conduct dendrochronological sampling in the area, and Mauricio Fuentes, Petter Stridbeck, Riikka Salo, Emad Farahat and Eva Rocha for their help in the field. We also thank Björn Gunnarson, Laura McGlynn and Håkan Grudd for assistance with the MXD measurements and Andrea Seim for suggestions on revising the manuscript and helping out with GIS. This work was supported by grants from the two Swedish research councils (Vetenskapsrådet and Formas, grants to Hans Linderholm) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien) (grant to Peng Zhang). This research contributes to the strategic research areas Modelling the Regional and Global Earth system (MERGE), and Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate (BECC). This is contribution # 34 from the Sino-Swedish Centre for Tree-Ring Research (SISTRR).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Peng Zhang & Hans W. Linderholm

  2. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Jesper Björklund

Authors
  1. Peng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jesper Björklund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hans W. Linderholm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peng Zhang.

Additional information

Communicated by G. Wieser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, P., Björklund, J. & Linderholm, H.W. The influence of elevational differences in absolute maximum density values on regional climate reconstructions. Trees 29, 1259–1271 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1205-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1205-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation