Expanding the network of crossdated tree-ring chronologies for Sequoia sempervirens

Abstract

Crossdated tree-ring chronologies for the Arcata Community Forest (ACF) and Muir Woods National Monument (Muir Woods) expand the spatial coverage of dated coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) series. Crossdating relies on the common pattern of ring-width variation among tree populations, and dated chronologies have many applications, including climate analysis, growth analysis, tree age calculations, reconstructing fire histories, and archeological dating. While coast redwood poses many challenges to crossdating (e.g., ring wedging, locally-absent rings, and discontinuous rings), recent work established a network of chronologies at eight locations along the species’ latitudinal distribution upon which we build. Here we used a combination of methods including coring standing live trees at multiple heights, cutting cross-sections from already exposed ends of downed trees along trail crossings, coring downed trees, and removing wedges from stumps using chainsaws. The ACF chronology is currently composed of six standing second-growth trees (1882-2015) and three stumps (1273-1714). We crossdated the stumps using existing chronologies > 36 km away as references (r = 0.40, p < 0.001, with the composite northern redwood chronology). The Muir Woods chronology is preliminary with only three trees sampled but spanned 1318-2013 and captured the oldest extent of any crossdated coast redwood south of Mendocino County. The ACF and Muir Woods chronologies showed synchrony with other chronologies in their sub-regions of the range, reflecting a shared climate signal. ACF correlated strongest with Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (r = 0.47), Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (r = 0.47), and Humboldt Redwoods State Park (r = 0.46), and Muir Woods correlated strongest with Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve (r = 0.50) and Samuel P. Taylor State Park (r = 0.48) (common period 1882–2009; p < 0.001). These chronologies add to an increasing inventory of dated redwood tree-ring series for use in research and management.

Parent Publication

• Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction

Citation

Carroll, Allyson L.; Sillett, Stephen C.; Coonen, Ethan J.; Iberle, Benjamin G. 2017. Expanding the network of crossdated tree-ring chronologies for Sequoia sempervirens. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Valachovic, Yana, tech cords. Coast redwood science symposium—2016: Past successes and future direction. Proceedings of a workshop. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-258. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station: 25-33.