Dwarf tundra shrubs growth as a proxy for late Holocene climate change
Vol.5,No.2(2015)
The Arctic is the most sensitive zone to climate changes and the impacts are reflected in local ecosystems. In order to extract information of the past from proxy archives the detailed knowledge of such archive is crucial. The paper summarizes modern approaches of tundra dwarf shrub research for the purposes of paleoclimatology. Dwarf tundra shrubs as still relatively untapped archive are believed to contain valuable proxy data in their annual growth increments. Field sampling, and laboratory work are reviewed in detail. Constraints of dwarf tundra shrub research are discussed as well. The relationship between climate and growth is addressed to find a link between them depending on location and species. Majority of investigations found the strongest relationship between summer temperatures and ring widths, although exceptions are not rare. Dwarf tundra shrubs can fully serve as valuable proxy archive only if those are understood. Finally, the factors influencing the length of dwarf tundra shrub life are studied in order to sample the oldest living individuals in the field. Despite the field collection should aim to sample various sizes and ages of plants to make the dataset robust, the longest living individuals which are important to prolong chronologies are usually inhabiting rather nutrient poor and undisturbed sites close to their survival limits. The paper indicates the most suitable dwarf tundra shrub research designs for the purposes of paleoclimatology. As such it can help to harvest the benefits of dendrochronology from the vast and new territories.
climate archive; lifespan; dendroclimatology; wood anatomy; the Arctic
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