| INDIAN OLD TREES: THE ARCHIVE OF ENVIRONMENT |
| Paper ID : 1072-ADA2013 |
| Authors: |
|
ram ratan yadav * Birbal sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
53 University Road, Lucknow, India |
| Abstract: |
| Tree growth is controlled by ambient environmental conditions. Wood tissue formed in trees due to seasonal activity of cambium gets fixed for the whole life of the tree as compared to any other plant part such as leaves which are periodically shed. The chemical (stable isotope composition) and physical (ring widths and wood density) features of annually formed wood in trees reflect the environmental conditions under which the tree grew. The varying environmental factors over years result in variable physical and chemical properties of growth rings in trees. The properties of growth rings among trees growing over homogeneous ecological settings are similar as growth is affected by common limiting factor. The synchronic growth pattern among trees over a site and different sites of homogeneous ecological settings is the sole key to precisely date the growth rings to exact calendar year of their formation. The measurement of such growth ring features such as widths, density and chemical features spanning over the life of a tree reflect the environmental conditions tree faced. Measurement of growth ring features of trees growing over homogeneous ecological settings are used to reconstruct different environmental variables which affected the growth. In India various tree species such as Tectona grandis, Cedrus deodara, Juniperus polycarpos, Pinus gerardiana, and Taxus baccata growing in varied ecological conditions are known to grow over millennium and more. The chronologies of some of the old tree species of these species have been developed and used to reconstruct environmental variables such as temperature, precipitation, river flow and snowfall spanning over the last millennium. Such long-term reconstructions of environmental variables provide valuable base line data to assess natural variability in climate and attribution of anthropogenic impact. |
| Keywords: |
| growth ring, environment, chronology, natural variability, climate, India |
| Status : Abstract Accepted |
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