As of 2020, 56% of the world’s population live in urban areas. These individuals benefit from numerous ecosystem services provided by urban forests, including urban heat island mitigation, energy use reduction, stormwater interception, wildlife and pollinator habitat provision, air pollution removal, and carbon sequestration. Urban greenspaces are also often the most accessible avenue for exposure to the natural environment, providing additional aesthetic, recreati...

Dendrochronology can provide a glimpse into past periods that lack long-term ecological and environmental data. With the growing concern of climate change and the need to reach net-zero carbon, contributions of nuclear energy sources to meet net-zero goals continue to be discussed. Ontario obtains a large amount of energy from Canadian Deuterium (CANDU) reactors at the Bruce, Pickering and Darlington nuclear facilities. Conveniently, tree-rings can be used to measure radiocarbon (14C) emis...

Dendrochronology can provide a glimpse into past periods that lack long-term ecological and environmental data. With the growing concern of climate change and the need to reach net-zero carbon, contributions of nuclear energy sources to meet net-zero goals continue to be discussed. Ontario obtains a large amount of energy from Canadian Deuterium (CANDU) reactors at the Bruce, Pickering and Darlington nuclear facilities. Conveniently, tree-rings can be used to measure radiocarbon (14C) emis...

Free, in person and onlineThe stable isotopic compositions of carbon and oxygen (d13C and d18O) measured in tree rings are valuable proxies for reconstructing paleoclimate and are increasingly used as paleophysiological proxies. Applying these proxies in ecophysiology and paleoclimate can be challenging as they rely on complex process-based models and poorly constrained input data. In recent years, h...

Meet colleagues and friends in an informal settingFree drinks for all!  

Africa is faced with a number of challenges including climate change and ecological disturbance due to various anthropogenic activities. These problems adversely affect the forests and also ecosystem services. My appreciation for the forests motivated me to pursure my undergraduate studies in Forestry. I first applied dendrochronology during my PhD research which focused on understanding the climate change vulnerability of the Zambezi teak forests in Zambia. However, lack of research facil...

Dendrochronology is considered one the most precise of all the scientific dating techniques. However, it requires long sequences of tree rings and a master record for both the species and region in question. At the University of Groningen, we have been pioneering a new approach to dating that combines the precision of dendrochronology with the versatility of radiocarbon dating. It relies on the detection of spikes in the annual radiocarbon record, thought to b...

Information garnered from historical timbers and wooden artifacts (e.g. houses, barns, ships) can greatly enhance our understanding of human, ecological, and climate history, especially in regions where few old-growth forests and trees remain, tree longevity is relatively short (less than 300-400 years), and environmental conditions break down wood rather quickly, like in mesic to wet regions. Over the last decade plus, the application of tree-ring techniques on wo...

Presentation of all Ameridendro2022 posters.FREE LUNCH FOR ALL ATTENDEES!

How old are tropical trees? This fundamental question has long driven the curiosity of laymen and scientists. But only recently, a great number of studies conducted by many brave dendrochronologists resulted in a significant tree-ring-based knowledge that allows us to start accurately estimating tree ages across the globe. As science goes, not only knowing the longevity of tropical trees is essential to understanding forest dynamics and its role in biogeochemical cycles, but one must also ...

In their book chapter in 2011 Gagen et al. (2011) highlighted the need for stable isotope dendroclimatology to move beyond studies that simply demonstrate ‘potential’. This symposium, more than a decade since this publication, will focus on dendrogeochemical studies that demonstrate that the field has moved beyond studies focused on ‘potential’. In particular, this session will strive to identify compelling new insights into unique aspect...

A gap of millennial tree-ring data suitable for dendroclimatology has long been evident in the North American boreal forest. In my talk, I will describe the adaptive approach we have developed to build and improve a data network for millennial dendroclimatology in the eastern Canadian taiga. Recurrence of stand replacing wildfires is the most important constrain to the elaboration of long tree ring chronologies, which can only be developed away from regions ...

Treeline ecotones at high latitudes and high elevations are generally temperature-limited environments. However, there is evidence that temperature control on tree growth has recently decreased at treelines due to climate change, while water availability is increasingly reported as a seasonally important growth-limiting factor. Analyzing climate-growth responses at intra-annual (wood cell) level can help unravel these complex patterns, but long time series of wood formation data are often ...

Allies have emerged as key enablers of diversity and inclusivity initiatives in the workplace, in professional associations, and in everyday life. But what is an ally? What skills are required to be an effective ally? How do we hold ourselves and our community members accountable for being effective allies? This symposium will provide a deeper understanding of what it means to be an ally and the skills to help advance allyship as individuals and as a community. Fur...