Tree-Ring Talk

Reconstructing past marine variability using the longest-lived animals on Earth

Variability in the North Atlantic Ocean plays a significant role in moderating atmospheric climate variability over large portions of the Northern Hemisphere. However, there remain large uncertainties in our understanding of how the North Atlantic Ocean has varied in the past and the role of external forcings and internal mechanisms in driving this variability. These uncertainties largely stem from the short temporal and spatially heterogeneous nature of direct observations, that are typically constrained to the past 50 years.

Recent methodological advances of isotope dendroclimatology in Japan

In this talk, I would like to introduce four topics, (1) how we sample increment cores by using cordless impact wrench, (2) how to estimate the geographic origin of wood using tree-ring carbon and oxygen isotopes, (3) how to make the cellulose extraction process for tree-ring isotope analysis more efficient, and (4) how spring, summer and autumn photoassimilates are used for tree-ring formation.

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How Mountain Topography Structured Forests by Influencing Human Fire Use

In a world where energetic efficiency is the currency of life, mountains present landscapes with varying costs for motile organisms. However, the consequences of topographic costs are not always direct or obvious. Montane topography produces cascading effects on biotic landscapes indirectly through its impacts on human movement patterns. This work presents a case study on whether topographic costs have shaped human fire use for centuries while leaving noticeable effects on regional biota, such as variations in forest age structure.

Last Millennium temperature variability and onset of industrial-era warming in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau (TP), also named the “Third Pole”, plays an important role in the Asian Monsoon system and atmospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere. How unprecedented is the recent warming in the TP when we place it in the last millennium context? Did abnormal climate change periods, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA), occur in TP? If so, when did the MCA-LIA transition occur? When did the onset of significant and sustained industrial-era warming occur? In this talk, I will introduce my work progress in this year.

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