A 1052-year tree-ring proxy for Alpine summer temperatures

Büntgen, Ulf; Esper, Jan; Frank, David; Nicolussi, Kurt; Schmidhalter, Martin

doi:10.1007/s00382-005-0028-1

Cited by 222 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The network will also allow for comparisons with millennial-length tree-ring data, where centennial trends in the tree-ring data have been preserved using age-related detrending methods of millennial length composite records (e.g. Büntgen et al, 2005 Statistics for the nested temperature models for the full (1864-1972) calibration period. a&b Number of series available for each time period and the total number of predictors that passed correlation screening and entered into the principal components analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These multi-proxy reconstructions used early instrumental data and hence are quite similar to the early verification data shown herein. More details and comparisons over longer time periods can be found in Büntgen et al (2005).…”

Section: Western and Central Alpine Temperature Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This occurs even though these tree-ring data, as processed here, are inherently limited in the lowest frequency domains. Agerelated standardization approaches tend to 'undershoot' the early instrumental data even more (Büntgen et al, 2005). Noise and uncertainties in the reconstructions, and additional possibilities such as trees responding more to maximum temperatures (Wilson and Luckman, 2003), trends or changes in growing season length, precipitation changes, slow ecological shifts or even anthropogenic influences should also not be discounted.…”

Section: Lower Frequency Patterns In the Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior tree-ring characterizations of temperature variability have relied upon a selection of maximum latewood density data from this region, which have been analyzed as part of larger European-wide or global networks (e.g. Briffa et al, 1988Briffa et al, , 1998Briffa et al, , 2002aBriffa et al, , 2002bSchweingruber et al, 1987;Schweingruber and Briffa, 1996), or more local to subregional reconstructions using ring-width data (SerreBachet et al, 1991;Nicolussi and Schiessling, 2001;Wilson and Topham, 2004;Büntgen et al, 2005). Herein, we consider large networks of both ring-width and density data from high-elevation sites across the central and western Alps to develop June-August (JJA) and April-September (A-S) mean temperature reconstructions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperature reconstructions and comparisons with instrumental data from a tree-ring network for the European Alps

2005

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Ring-width and maximum latewood density data from a network of high-elevation sites distributed across the European Alps are used to reconstruct regional temperatures. The network integrates 53 ring-width and 31 density chronologies from stands of four species all located above 1500 m a.s.l. The development and basic climatic response patterns of this network are described elsewhere . The common temperature signal over the study region allowed regional reconstructions to be developed using principal component regression models for average June-August (1600-1988 and April-September (1650-1987 temperatures from ring-width and density records, respectively. Similar climatic histories are derived for both seasons, but with the ring-width and density-based reconstructions seemingly weighted toward carrying more of their variance in the lower and higher frequency domains, respectively. Distinct warm decades are the 1940s, 1860s, 1800s, 1730s, 1660s and the 1610s, and cold decades, the 1910s, 1810s, 1710s, 1700s and the 1690s. Because of the model fitting and the shorter time spans involved, comparisons between the reconstructions with high-elevation instrumental data during the majority of the 1864-1972 calibration period show good agreement. Yet, prior to this period, from which only a few low elevation temperature records are available, a trend divergence between tree-ring and instrumental records is observed. We present evidence that this divergence may be explained by the ring-width data carrying more of an annual rather than warm-season signal in the lower frequency domain. Other factors such as noise, tree-ring standardization, or the more uncertain nature of low-frequency trends in early instrumental records and their homogenization, might help explain this divergence as well.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Western and Central Alpine Temperature Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lower Frequency Patterns In the Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Temperature reconstructions and comparisons with instrumental data from a tree-ring network for the European Alps

2005

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“…The temperature and precipitation dynamics of central and northern Europe are particularly well known due to the paleoclimatic reconstructions of the last millennium (Büntgen et al 2005;Pauling et al 2006;Büntgen et al 2011;Esper et al 2012 for N-Europe). In southern Europe, recent efforts have increased knowledge on temperature dynamics particularly in the western Mediterranean region (Creus and Puigdefábregas 1982;Büntgen et al 2008;Dorado-Liñan et al 2014).…”

Section: Original Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree-ring-based drought reconstruction in the Iberian Range (east of Spain) since 1694

et al. 2015

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Droughts are a recurrent phenomenon in the Mediterranean basin with negative consequences for society, economic activities, and natural systems. Nevertheless, the study of drought recurrence and severity in Spain has been limited so far due to the relatively short instrumental period. In this work, we present a reconstruction of the standardized precipitation index (SPI) for the Iberian Range. Growth variations and climatic signals within the network are assessed developing a correlation matrix and the data combined to a single chronology integrating 336 samples from 169 trees of five different pine species distributed throughout the province of Teruel. The new chronology, calibrated against regional instrumental climatic data, shows a high and stable correlation with the July SPI integrating moisture conditions over 12 months forming the basis for a 318-year drought reconstruction. The climate signal contained in this reconstruction is highly significant (p<0.05) and spatially robust over the interior areas of Spain located above 1000 meters above sea level (masl). According to our SPI reconstruction, seven substantially dry and five wet periods are identified since the late seventeenth century considering ≥±1.76 standard deviations. Besides these, 36 drought and 28 pluvial years were identified. Some of these years, such as 1725, 1741, 1803, and 1879, are also revealed in other drought reconstructions in Romania and Turkey, suggesting that coherent larger-scale synoptic patterns drove these extreme deviations. Since regional drought deviations are also retained in historical documents, the tree-ringbased reconstruction presented here will allow us to crossvalidate drought frequency and magnitude in a highly vulnerable region.

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A 449 year warm season temperature reconstruction in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and its relation to solar activity

Duan

Zhang

2014

J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.

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There is a close relationship between solar activity and the Earth's surface temperature, but this relationship has weakened with recent global warming. To better understand this puzzle, temperature records need to be extended, and the relationship between long-term variation in temperature and solar activity needs to be examined. In this study, we reconstruct April-September temperature variation back to 1563 using tree ring maximum late wood density (MXD) data from Balfour spruce in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). Spatial correlation analysis indicates that our reconstruction is representative of temperature variability over the large-scale TP. On the 22 year time scale, the reconstructed April-September temperature corresponds generally to solar activity over the past three centuries. Spectral analyses also indicate that the significant periodicities of~11 years, 54 years, and 204 years observed in the MXD chronology correspond to the Schwabe cycle, the fourth harmonic of the Suess cycle, and the Suess solar cycle, respectively. However, disparities between temperature change and solar activity are identified in two periods, the 1880s-1900s and the 1980s-present. These results suggest that solar forcing is the critical driver for long-term temperature variability in the TP, but other factors may uncouple surface temperature and solar activity in some periods. One possible cause of the weak effect of solar activity on temperature during the 1880s-1900s is internal climate variability, while human-activity-induced greenhouse gas emissions have likely superseded solar forcing as the major driver of the rapid warming observed since the 1980s.

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A 1052-year tree-ring proxy for Alpine summer temperatures

Cited by 222 publications

References 63 publications

Temperature reconstructions and comparisons with instrumental data from a tree-ring network for the European Alps

Temperature reconstructions and comparisons with instrumental data from a tree-ring network for the European Alps

Tree-ring-based drought reconstruction in the Iberian Range (east of Spain) since 1694

A 449 year warm season temperature reconstruction in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and its relation to solar activity

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