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Regional tree growth and inferred summer climate in the Winnipeg River basin, Canada, since AD 1783

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott St. George ,
David M. Meko  and
Michael N. Evans
Scott St. George*
Affiliation:
GSC Northern Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
David M. Meko
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Michael N. Evans
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA. Fax: +1 520 621 8229. E-mail address:sstgeorg@nrcan.gc.ca (S. St. George).
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Abstract

A network of 54 ring-width chronologies is used to estimate changes in summer climate within the Winnipeg River basin, Canada, since AD 1783. The basin drains parts of northwestern Ontario, northern Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and is a key area for hydroelectric power production. Most chronologies were developed from Pinus resinosa and P. strobus, with a limited number of Thuja occidentalis, Picea glauca and Pinus banksiana. The dominant pattern of regional tree growth can be recovered using only the nine longest chronologies, and is not affected by the method used to remove variability related to age or stand dynamics from individual trees. Tree growth is significantly, but weakly, correlated with both temperature (negatively) and precipitation (positively) during summer. Simulated ring-width chronologies produced by a process model of tree-ring growth exhibit similar relationships with summer climate. High and low growth across the region is associated with cool/wet and warm/dry summers, respectively; this relationship is supported by comparisons with archival records from early 19th century fur-trading posts. The tree-ring record indicates that summer droughts were more persistent in the 19th and late 18th century, but there is no evidence that drought was more extreme prior to the onset of direct monitoring.

Keywords

CanadaDendrochronologyNorthwestern OntarioVaganov–Shashkin modelWinnipeg River
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , September 2008 , pp. 158 - 172
Copyright
University of Washington

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