Climatic signals in stable carbon isotope ratios of Juniper and Oak tree rings from northern Iran

Foroozan, Zeynab; Pourtahmasi, Kambiz; Bräuning, Achim

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2018.03.010

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Despite the prominent role of tree rings in investigating past climate variability, dendroclimatological analyses have been only sparsely applied so far in Iran. Few explorations of the relationship between tree-ring variables and various climate factors have unlocked tree rings' considerable potential for climate studies, particularly for the mountain regions in the northern, northeastern, and western parts of Iran [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Nevertheless, only a handful of investigations have utilized dendrochronological methods, using tree-ring width variations, for reconstructions of precipitation variations [5,34,35] in the Zagros Mountains, and of temperature in the north of Iran [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Juniperus polycarpos is considered as a valuable timber tree species in Iran, with positive effects on biodiversity and soil conservation [37]. This frost and drought tolerant tree species can grow in harsh environments like the semi-arid mountain regions [38,39] and shows a high sensitivity towards changes in the environment and climate [28][29][30]36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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501 Years of Spring Precipitation History for the Semi-Arid Northern Iran Derived from Tree-Ring δ18O Data

et al. 2020

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In semi-arid regions of the world, knowledge about the long-term hydroclimate variability is essential to analyze and evaluate the impact of current climate change on ecosystems. We present the first tree-ring δ18O based hydroclimatic reconstruction for northern semi-arid Iran spanning the period 1515–2015. A highly significant correlation between tree-ring δ18O variations of juniper trees and spring (April–June) precipitation reveals a major influence of spring water availability during the early growing season. The driest period of the past 501 years occurred in the 16th century while the 18th century was the wettest, during which the overall highest frequency of wet year events occurred. A gradual decline in spring precipitation is evident from the beginning of the 19th century, pointing to even drier climate conditions. The analysis of dry/wet events indicates that the frequency of years with relatively dry spring increased over the last three centuries, while the number of wet events decreased. Our findings are in accordance with historical Persian disaster records (e.g., the severe droughts of 1870–1872, 1917–1919; severe flooding of 1867, the 1930s, and 1950). Correlation analyses between the reconstruction and different atmospheric circulation indices revealed no significant influence of large-scale drivers on spring precipitation in northern Iran.

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