Dendroclimatological potential of the Australian red cedar
I. Heinrich A B C and J. C. G. Banks AA School of Resources, Environment & Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
B Present address: Department of Geosciences, Geography, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
C Corresponding author. Email: ingo.heinrich@unifr.ch
Australian Journal of Botany 53(1) 21-32 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT04033
Submitted: 3 March 2004 Accepted: 17 August 2004 Published: 18 February 2005
Abstract
We examined Toona ciliata M.Roemer (Australian red cedar) for its potential to deliver annually resolved tree-ring proxy data. Such proxies are valuable and sought-after sources for reconstructing climate beyond instrumental records, especially in Australia. T. ciliata was chosen because it is one of the few deciduous tree species in Australia experiencing a seasonally dormant period of the cambium. This was confirmed by a preliminary tree-ring analysis which revealed distinct growth rings. Because of initial uncertainties regarding reliable annual growth rings in the wood of T. ciliata, a dendrometer-band study was conducted in addition to the tree-ring analysis. Stem increments revealed a common period of dormancy during winter and the measurements were found to correlate with both precipitation and temperature, depending on the site. For the first time, our tree-ring analysis demonstrated that samples from different individuals can be cross-dated and the resulting site index from Upper Kangaroo Valley (New South Wales) has the potential to reconstruct early season temperatures and late-season rainfall.
Acknowledgments
We thank Theresa Heighes and Hugh and Adele Waring for access to the trees on their properties and for conducting the dendrometer-band measurements. We are also grateful for the support from John Nightingale, Australian National Botanic Gardens. Two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Ingo Heinrich received a PhD scholarship from the Australian National University, the CRC for Greenhouse Accounting and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
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