Reconstruction of precipitation using the chronology of juniper trees (Juniperus polycarpus) in North Khorasan Province, Iran

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Prof., Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari - Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

2 Assistant Prof., Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

3 Ph.D. Graduate, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

4 Corresponding author, Ph.D. Graduate, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

10.22092/ijfpr.2023.361515.2089

Abstract

One of the most important challenges of climate studies in Iran is the lack of access to long-term climate data. Tree climatology, by examining the effects of climate on the annual rings of trees, provides the possibility of reconstructing the temperature and precipitation of past periods. The main goal of this study is to reconstruct precipitation from the width of annual circles of juniper trees (Juniperus polycarpus K.Koch) in the Garkhod region, located in the northwest of Khorasan province in Iran. The samples were prepared from the juniper trees with a chronometer drill and after initial preparation, they were read by LINTAB device and their time agreement was checked with TSAPWIN software. The final chronology was prepared using ARSTAN software and based on reconstructing the precipitation in the period 1850-2020. The results showed that the widths of juniper annual circles were not affected by temperature fluctuations. Still, the total precipitation of January-May showed the maximum positive and significant correlation coefficient with the growth of these trees. Between the months of the year, February, March, April, and May had the most positive and significant correlation with the width of the annual circles. In general, during the period of 1850-2020, 8 years except for positive symbolic years and 9 years were reconstructed as negative years. The highest precipitation occurred in 1864 and the lowest in 1917. It can be said that the precipitation influences the growth of juniper trees in the region. In this way, suitable conditions for the activity of cambiums are provided with the increase in precipitation.

Keywords

References

- Abedini, R., Pourtahmasi, K., Ghazanfari, H. and Karimi, A.N., 2010. Effect of severe lopping on radial growth of Lebanon oak (Quercus libani Oliv.) trees in Baneh adjacent forests. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research, 18(4): 556-568 (In Persian with English summary).
- Alipoor, M., Raeini Sarajaz, M., Pourtahmasi, K. and Nadi, M., 2018. The effect of climatic variables on annual tree-rings width of Persian juniper trees in Kyguran habitat of Lorestan province. Forest and Wood Products, 70(4): 599-608 (In Persian with English summary).
- Azizi, Gh., Arslani, M. and Yamani, M., 2012. Reconstruction of October-May precipitation variations based on tree rings in Kermanshah city over the 1705-2010 periods. Physical Geography Research, 44(1): 37-53 (In Persian with English summary).
- Azizi, G., Robertson, I., Karimi, M. and Abadijou Ravari, M.M., 2020. Relationship between altitude and Juniper genus tree-rings width Case study: Juniperus habitats in north of Kerman province. Ecology of Iranian Forests, 8(15): 115-127 (In Persian with English summary).
- Balapour, S. and Kazemi, S.M., 2012. Effects of climate variables (temperature and precipitation) on annual growth of Zelkova carpinifolia. Iranian Journal of Wood and Paper Science Research, 27(1): 69-80 (In Persian with English summary).
- Brázdil, R., Stepánková, P., Kyncl, T. and Kyncl, J., 2002. Fir tree-ring reconstruction of March – July precipitation in southern Moravia (Czech Republic), 1376 – 1996. Climate Research, 20: 223-239.
- Cedro, A., 2007. Tree-ring chronologies of downy oak (Quercus pubescens), pedunculate oak (Q. robur) and sessile oak (Q. petraea) in the Bielinek Nature Reserve: Comparison of the climatic determinants of tree-ring width. Geochronometria, 26: 39-45.
- Cook, E.R. and Holmes, R.L., 1999. User Manual for Program ARSTAN. Adapted from: Holmes, R.I., Adams, R.K. and Fritts, H.C., 1986. User Manual for Program ARSTAN. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA, 50-65.
- Du, S., Yamanaka, N., Yamamoto, F., Otsuki, K., Wang, S. and Hou, Q., 2007. The effect of climate on radial growth of Quercus liaotungensis forest trees in Loess Plateau, China. Dendrochronologia, 25: 29-36.
- Fallah, A., Balapour, B., Yekekhani, M. and Jalilvand, H., 2014. Dendrochronological studies of Juniperus polycarpos in Alborz mountains (case study: Shahkuh of Shahrood). Iranian Journal of Wood and Paper Science Research, 29(1): 94-105 (In Persian with English summary).
- Fisher, M. and Gardner, A.S., 1995. The status and ecology of a Juniperus excelsa subsp. polycarpos woodland in the northern mountains of Oman. Vegetation, 119: 33-51.
- Frank, D. and Esper, J., 2005. Temperature reconstructions and comparisons with instrumental data from a tree-ring network for the European Alps. International Journal of Climatology, 25: 1437-1454.
- Fritts, H.C., 1976. Tree Ring and Climate. Academic Press, London, England, 567p.
- Gervais, B.R., 2006. A three-century record of precipitation and blue oak recruitment from the Tehachapi Mountains, Southern California, USA. Dendrochronologia, 24: 29-37.
- Hamidi, S.K., de Luis, M., Bourque, C.P.A., Bayat, M. and Serrano‑Notivoli, R., 2022. Projected biodiversity in the Hyrcanian mountain forest of Iran: an investigation based on two climate scenarios. Biodiversity and Conservation, 18p. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02470-1.
- Hamidi, S.K., Weiskittel, A., Bayat M. and Fallah, A., 2021. Development of individual tree growth and yield model across multiple contrasting species using nonparametric and parametric methods in the Hyrcanian forests of northern Iran. European Journal of Forest Research, 140: 423-434.
- Jalilvand, H. and Balapour, Sh., 2014. The effect of climate on tree-ring chronologies of oak (Quercus macranthera) on tree line of Hyrcanian forest. Journal of Wood & Forest Science and Technology, 20(4): 1-19 (In Persian with English summary).
- Liphschitz, N., Waisel, Y. and Lev-Yadun, S., 1979. Dendrochronological investigation in Iran. Tree-Ring Bulletin, 39: 39-45.
- Liu, J., Yang, B. and Qin, C., 2011. Tree-ring based annual precipitation reconstruction since AD 1480 in south central Tibet. Quaternary International, 236(1-2): 75-81.
- Nadi, M., Khalili, A., Pourtahmasi, K. and Bazrafshan, J., 2013. Comparing the various interpolation techniques of climatic data for determining the most important factors affecting the trees growth in the elevated areas of Chaharbagh, Gorgan. Journal of Forest and Wood Products, 66(1): 83-95 (In Persian with English summary).
- Nadi, M. and Pourtahmasbi, K., 2017. Tree ring based precipitation reconstruction of northeast Iran using juniper tree chronology of Lain region. Journal of Geography and Environmental Hazards, 5(3): 1-16 (In Persian with English summary).
- Parsapajouh, D., Faezipour, M. and Taqi Yari, H., 2002. Multilingual Glossary of Dendrochronology Terms Definitions in English, German, French and Persian (translation). University of Tehran Press, Tehran, Iran, 308p.
- Pourtahmasi, K., Parsapajouh, D., Bräuning, A., Esper, J. and Schweingruber, H.F., 2007. Climatic analysis of pointer years in tree-ring chronologies from northern Iran and neighboring high mountain areas. GEOÖKO, 28: 27-42.
- Pourtahmasi, K., Poursartip, L., Bräuning, A. and Parsapajouh, D., 2009. Comparison between the radial growth of Juniper (Juniperus polycarpos) and oak (Quercus macranthera) trees in two sides of the Alborz mountains in Chaharbagh region of Gorgan. Journal of Forest and Wood Products, 62(2): 159-169 (In Persian with English summary).
- Radmehr, A., Soosani, J., Balapour, Sh., Hosseini Ghaleh Bahmani, S.M. and Sepahvand, A., 2015. Effects of climate variables (temperature and precipitation) on the width of rings-growth in Persian coppice oak in the central Zagros (Case study: Khoramabad). Journal of Wood & Forest Science and Technology, 22(1): 93-110 (In Persian with English summary).
- Rinn, F., 1996. TSAP: Time Series Analysis and Presentation, Version 3. Reference Manua1, Heidelberg, Germany, 262p.
- Shao, X., Huang, L., Liu, H., Liang, E., Fang, X. and Wang, L., 2005. Reconstruction of precipitation variation from tree rings in recent 1000 years in Delingha, Qinghai. Science in China Ser. D Earth Sciences, 48(7): 939-949.
- Wang, Y., Feng, Q. and Kang, X., 2016. Tree-ring-based reconstruction of temperature variability (1445–2011) for the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China. Journal of Arid Land, 8(1): 60-76.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics