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Advances towards improved low-frequency tree-ring reconstructions, using an updated Pinus sylvestris L. MXD network from the Scandinavian Mountains

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Abstract

The dendrochronological use of the parameter maximum density (MXD) in Pinus Sylvestris L., at high latitudes, has provided valuable insights into past summer temperature variations. Few long MXD chronologies, from climatically coherent regions, exist today, with the exception being in northern Europe. Five, 500-year-long, Fennoscandian, MXD chronologies were compared with regard to their common variability and climate sensitivity. They were used to test Signal-free standardization techniques, to improve inferences of low-frequency temperature variations. Climate analysis showed that, in accordance with previous studies on MXD in Fennoscandia, the summer temperature signal is robust (R 2 > 50 %) and reliable over this climatically coherent region. A combination of Individual standardization and regional curve standardization is recommended to refine long-term variability from these MXD chronologies and relieve problems arising from low replication and standardization end-effects.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Regional County Board of Norrbotten for permission to conduct field work in Ammarnäs and Tjeggelvas NR, and the regional county board of Västerbotten, Tomas Stavfjord, and Anna Wenngren for permission to conduct field work in Kittelfjäll. We also thank Kristina Seftigen and Petter Stridbeck for valuable discussions. We thank B. Helamb at Arctic Air for helicopter transportation. This work was supported by Vetenskapsrådet and Formas (grants to Hans W Linderholm), Bert Bolin Climate Center (BBCC) and the Centre for Environmental Research (CMF) in Umeå. The paper contributes to the Swedish strategic research areas Modeling the Regional and Global Earth system (MERGE), and Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate (BECC). This is contribution # 14 from the Sino–Swedish Centre for Tree ring Research (SISTRR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Guldhedsgatan 5a, 41320, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Jesper A. Björklund

  2. Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden

    Björn E. Gunnarson, Paul J. Krusic & Håkan Grudd

  3. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183, Umeå, Sweden

    Björn E. Gunnarson & Lars Östlund

  4. Navarino Environmental Observatory, Messinia, Greece

    Paul J. Krusic

  5. Landscape Ecology Group, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Torbjörn Josefsson

  6. Regional Climate Group, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Guldhedsgatan 5a, 41320, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Hans W. Linderholm

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  1. Jesper A. Björklund
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  2. Björn E. Gunnarson
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Correspondence to Jesper A. Björklund.

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Björklund, J.A., Gunnarson, B.E., Krusic, P.J. et al. Advances towards improved low-frequency tree-ring reconstructions, using an updated Pinus sylvestris L. MXD network from the Scandinavian Mountains. Theor Appl Climatol 113, 697–710 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-012-0787-7

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