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Stability of Wood Anatomy of Living and Holocene Thuja occidentalis L. Derived from Exposed and Submerged Portions of the Niagara Escarpment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas W. Larson  and
Lewis Melville
Douglas W. Larson
Affiliation:
Cliff Ecology Research Group, Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1
Lewis Melville
Affiliation:
Mycorrhyzae and Root Research Group, Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1
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Abstract

Millennium-long tree-ring chronologies have recently been derived fromThuja occidentalis L. growing on the exposed cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, Canada. Lengthening of these chronologies may be possible by incorporating tree-ring series from subaerially exposed and submerged subfossil wood, provided that its anatomy is not significantly influenced by time or treatment. In order to determine if Holocene-age samples would be suitable for incorporation into very long tree-ring chronologies, a study was undertaken comparing wood structure of living trees, dead trees exposed to the air during the late Holocene, and dead trees submerged since the early Holocene. The results show that the impact of time and environment on wood anatomy is considerably less than expected. The anatomy of annual rings in Holocene trees is similar to that found in modern specimens. High magnification scanning electron micrographs show that tracheid walls lose their rectangular appearance after 8000 yr, but few other signs of deterioration are present. The results mean that Holocene wood can be used to add to the long dendrochronological record that has already been produced from the Niagara Escarpment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , March 1996 , pp. 210 - 215
Copyright
University of Washington

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