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Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in tree rings show physiological responses of Pericopsis elata to precipitation in the Congo Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Daniele Colombaroli ,
Paolo Cherubini ,
Maaike De Ridder ,
Matthias Saurer ,
Benjamin Toirambe ,
Noëmi Zweifel  and
Hans Beeckman
Daniele Colombaroli*
Affiliation:
Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Paolo Cherubini
Affiliation:
WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Maaike De Ridder
Affiliation:
Wood Biology Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium Laboratory for Wood Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Matthias Saurer
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland
Benjamin Toirambe
Affiliation:
Wood Biology Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Noëmi Zweifel
Affiliation:
Institute of Plant Sciences and Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Hans Beeckman
Affiliation:
Wood Biology Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
*
1Corresponding author. Email: daniele.colombaroli@ips.unibe.ch
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Abstract:

In equatorial regions, where tree rings are less distinct or even absent, the response of forests to high-frequency climate variability is poorly understood. We measured stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in anatomically distinct, annual growth rings of four Pericopsis elata trees from a plantation in the Congo Basin, to assess their sensitivity to recorded changes in precipitation over the last 50 y. Our results suggest that oxygen isotopes have high common signal strength (EPS = 0.74), and respond to multi-annual precipitation variability at the regional scale, with low δ18O values (28–29‰) during wetter conditions (1960–1970). Conversely, δ13C are mostly related to growth variation, which in a light-demanding species are driven by competition for light. Differences in δ13C values between fast- and slow-growing trees (c. 2‰), result in low common signal strength (EPS = 0.37) and are driven by micro-site conditions rather than by climate. This study highlights the potential for understanding the causes of growth variation in P. elata as well as past hydroclimatic changes, in a climatically complex region characterized by a bimodal distribution in precipitation.

Keywords

AfricaCongostable isotopestree ringstropical rain forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 213 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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References

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