• Addendum

      Tree-Ring Society, 2003
    • Andrew Ellicott Douglass and the Giant Sequoias in the Founding of Dendrochronology

      McGraw, Donald J.; University of San Diego, San Diego, CA (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      The Giant Sequoia played several crucial roles in the founding of the modern science of tree-ring dating. These included at least two central theoretical constructs and at least two minor ones; however, historical studies of dendrochronology are actively continuing and this list is expected to expand. Second only to the importance of the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) in the earliest days of the infant science, the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) was at the very center of the establishment of the discipline of dendrochronology. How the sequoia came to be used by A.E. Douglass, and what vital information and how it provided such information is the topic here.
    • Canons for Writing and Editing Manuscripts

      Grissino-Mayer, Henri D.; Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science, Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      Writing is much like any other activity-the more you read and write, the more proficient you become as a scientist. Here, I provide canons for writing and editing scientific papers that should help novice writers avoid common hazards that could render a manuscript unpublishable. Abstracts should be well-written and concise and contain all the major results and conclusions. The manuscript should be well organized. Sentences in all paragraphs should stick to the central theme of the paragraph. Writers should provide Latin names for species analyzed, and should use SI units in all cases. The use of bulleted lists, active voice, and commas after introductory phrases will improve the clarity of the manuscript. Tables and figures should be clear, well-organized, stand-alone accessories to the text, and usually convey data and results that are numerous or complex. Writers should avoid both plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and should have their manuscript proofread before submitting to a journal. Finally, authors should consult primary references (such as Scientific Style and Format, published by the Council of Biology Editors in 1994) to become familiar with troublesome words and phrases.
    • A Chi-Square Test for the Association and Timing of Tree Ring-Daily Weather Relationships: A New Technique for Dendroclimatology

      Caprio, Joseph M.; Fritts, Harold C.; Holmes, Richard L.; Meko, David M.; Hemming, Deborah L.; Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montanta State University, Bozeman, MT; Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      This study introduces a new analytical procedure based on the chi-square (x²) statistic to evaluate tree- ring weather relationships. An iterative x² method, developed previously for relating annual crop production to daily values of meteorological measurements, is applied to tree-ring data and compared to results obtained from correlation and bootstrapped response function analyses. All three analytical procedures use a southern Arizona chronology (Pinus arizonica Engelm.) and the latter two use monthly average meteorological data. The x² analysis revealed most of the relationships exhibited by the correlation and response function analyses as well as new linear and nonlinear associations. In addition, cardinal values were obtained that define daily thresholds of the meteorological variables at which the limitation to growth becomes significant. Some of the associations are plausible from the physical system but require more study to confirm or refute a real cause and effect. A few associations appear to be too late in the season or too early in the previous year to affect ring width. We recommend that this x² technique be added to the existing dendroclimatic procedures because it reveals many more possible cause and effect relationships.
    • Chronology Stripping as a Tool for Enhancing the Statistical Quality of Tree-Ring Chronologies

      Fowler, Anthony; Boswijk, Gretel; School of Geography and Environmental Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      Replication is a key principle in tree-ring research. Dendrochronologists strive to maximise sample size to enhance the "signal" in tree-ring chronologies, often relying on crossdating to provide an effective quality control filter. However, is crossdating alone a sufficient quality test for incorporating a series into a site chronology? We address this question using an objective and automated "chronology stripping" method designed to maximise the chronology's "Expressed Population Signal" (EPS), by iteratively removing series which lower chronology EPS. A 15-site data set of Agathis australis (D. Don) Lindley is used to demonstrate the method. Results suggest that modest benefits may be gained by chronology stripping, but the quality control implicit in crossdating is indeed effective, at least for Agathis australis.
    • A Cool Season Precipitation Reconstruction for Saltillo Mexico

      Pohl, Kelly; Therrell, Matthew D.; Blay, Jorge Santiago; Ayotte, Nicole; Hernandez, Jose Jil Cabrera; Castro, Sara Diaz; Oviedo, Eladio Cornejo; Elvir, Jose A.; Elizondo, Martha Gonzales; Opland, Dawn; et al. (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      Old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees were sampled in the Sierra Madre Oriental of northeastern Mexico and used to develop a 219-year chronology of earlywood width. This chronology is correlated with monthly precipitation totals from January to June recorded at Saltillo some 55 km northwest of the collection site. The chronology was used to reconstruct winter-spring precipitation (January-June total) from 1782-2000. The reconstruction indicates large interannual, decadal, and multidecadal variability in winter-spring precipitation over Saltillo. This variability is vaguely apparent in the short and discontinuous instrumental record from 1950-1998, with January-June totals ranging from 15 to 310 mm, multiyear droughts, and a negative trend in January-June precipitation over the last 50 years. The reconstruction indicates that severe dryness was prevalent over a 24-year period from 1857-1880. This mid-19th century drought exceeds the duration of any droughts witnessed during the 20th century. However, three episodes of winter-spring dryness have prevailed in the Saltillo region after 1950, a much higher frequency of decadal drought than estimated over the past 219 years and aggravating the regional water supply problems associated with this booming manufacturing and ranching center.
    • In Memoriam: Richard L. Holmes, 1934-2003

      Munro, Martin; Swetnam, Tom (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
    • A Manual and Tutorial for the Proper Use of an Increment Borer

      Grissino-Mayer, Henri D.; Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science, Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tn (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      An increment borer is the primary tool used to collect samples for dendrochronological analyses. These are precision instruments and users should be trained in their proper use, care, and maintenance. In this paper, I describe the various parts of an increment borer and how to keep these in working condition. I provide details on how to sharpen an increment borer, properly core a tree, check for core compression ("jamming"), extract the core, and store the core for transport. I provide tips on how to clear a jammed borer and remove a borer stuck in a tree. An important topic concerns the effects of boring on trees. The majority of studies indicate that conifers are minimally affected by both fungal decay and discoloration, whereas certain hardwood species can sustain major internal damage. Plugging the holes created by coring is unnecessary.
    • Survivorship Bias in the Tree-Ring Reconstructions of Forest Tent Caterpillar Outbreaks Using Trembling Aspen

      Cooke, Barry J.; Miller, William E.; Roland, Jens; Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Center; University of Minnesota, Department of Entomology, St. Paul, MN; University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Edmonton, AB (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      When trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) from northern Minnesota, USA, were sampled in 2000, the impact on annual radial growth of a 1951-1954 outbreak of forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria [Hbn.]) was found to be just as strong and clear as it was when estimated from samples taken in 1955. During those 45 intervening years, at least three tent caterpillar outbreaks occurred, yet the statistical distribution of ring-width profiles did not change. This suggests that survivorship bias is not a major impediment to the use of aspen ring widths for inferring the magnitude of past tent caterpillar outbreaks.
    • Tests of the RCS Method for Preserving Low-Frequency Variability in Long Tree-Ring Chronologies

      Esper, Jan; Cook, Edward R.; Krusic, Paul J.; Peters, Kenneth; Schweingruber, Fritz H.; Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland; Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      To preserve multi-centennial length variability in annual tree-ring chronologies, the Regional Curve Standardization (RCS) method calculates anomalies from a regionally common, non-climatic age-trend function. The influence of various factors on the estimation of the regional curve (RC) and resulting RCS- chronology is discussed. These factors are: the method of calculating anomalies from the age-trend function, estimation of the true pith offset, the number of series used, species composition, and site characteristics. By applying RCS to a collection of millennium-length tree-ring data sets, the potential and limitations of the RCS method are investigated. RCS is found to be reasonably robust with respect to tested factors, suggesting the method is a suitable tool for preserving low-frequency variance in long tree-ring chronologies.
    • Tree Rings and Wetland Occupation in Southwest Germany Between 2000 and 500 BC: Dendroarchaeology Beyond Dating in Tribute to F. H. Schweingruber

      Billamboz, A.; Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg, Arbeitstelle Hemmenhofen, Germany (Tree-Ring Society, 2003)
      Within the framework of landscape and settlement archaeology, archaeological tree-ring data may contain information on the interrelation between humans, climate and environment. This study uses data collected through the systematic analysis and dendrochronological dating of timber from prehistoric lakeshore and bog sites in southwestern Germany spanning 2000 to 500 BC (i.e. Bronze and Early Iron Age). Crossdating various tree species associated with different ecosystems permits exploration of two areas: woodland development and human impact based principally on species determination from wood anatomy and dendrotypological analysis of a large sample series, and archaeological tree-ring data from a paleoecological and paleoclimatological perspective.
    • Tree-Ring Society

      Tree-Ring Society, 2003
    • Tree-Ring Society

      Tree-Ring Society, 2003