The effects of tracheid dimensions on variations in maximum density of Picea glehnii and relationships to climatic factors

Abstract

An investigation was made of the effects of tracheid dimensions on variations in the maximum density of Picea glehnii Mast., which were associated with climatic changes. Radial cell diameter and the thickness of the tangential cell walls of the last-formed cells in 90 annual rings of nine trees with different annual ring widths were analyzed by image analysis. Correlations between maximum density and tracheid dimensions indicated that changes in maximum density were due mainly to changes in cell wall thickness of the last-formed cells in annual rings and were not due to changes in radial cell diameter. The effects of climatic factors on tracheid dimensions were examined by application of dendroclimatological techniques. A chronology of cell wall thickness that represented common signals among trees was established. Simple correlation and response function analyses of the chronology revealed that cell wall thickness was influenced positively by summer temperature and negatively by precipitation in August, and these responses were similar to those of maximum density. The study demonstrated that variations in maximum density were due to variations in the cell wall thickness of the lastformed cells, which varied depending on the weather in summer.

Tree-Ring-Reconstructed Summer Temperatures from Northwestern North America during the Last Nine Centuries*

“…2). This finding is consistent with other studies of MXD (e.g., Schweingruber 1988;D'Arrigo et al 1992;Davi et al 2003;Frank and Esper 2005;D'Arrigo et al 2009), and is due to the influence of summer climate on the thickness of the cell wall in the latewood of the annual ring (Yasue et al 2000). We select for our reconstruction target the mean monthly July and August temperatures from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP; Hansen et al 2010) 1200-km grid cell associated with the Firth River site, since it is continuous, long, represents a large-scale regional mean, and can be readily compared to climate (Fig.…”

Spruce tree-ring proxy signals during cold and warm periods

“…We found spring precipitation to be negatively correlated with TRW, possibly by delaying snowmelt and therefore shortening the growing season (Kirdyanov et al, 2003). Adverse effects of increased cloudiness on photosynthetic activity are likely the reason for slightly negative correlations between summer precipitation and MXD (Yasue et al, 2000). Interestingly, relative humidity, which at this high elevation site may be considered as a proxy of overcast conditions, shows an even stronger negative connection with MXD.…”

“…Nevertheless, sunshine directly affects wood density and carbon isotopes, and anatomical studies showed that a decrease in light intensity and duration results in a decline in tracheid dimension and lighter latewood (Yasue et al, 2000). Sunshine hours were here identified as the leading climatic factor controlling δ 13 C variability during the recent calibration period.…”

The ?13C of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles: spatial and temporal variations

“…It is plausible that such a reduction could be caused by formation of compression wood on the abaxial side of the branches [1,19]. Compression wood is denser than normal wood [30] and in conifers an increase in wood density is often due to a decrease in tracheid lumen [36]. A decrease in tracheid lumen would also decrease specific conductivity.…”