LONG RECORDS OF CLIMATE FROM TREE RINGS SPANNING THOUSANDS OF YEARS
Tree rings hold an annual (often seasonal) record of the climate conditions in which a tree grew. We combine tree-ring and climate station data to model their relationship and then reconstruct climate records of the past. These records inform multiple aspects of and complex interactions among climate changes, forest changes, and human societies. The records cover periods from the deep past (early Holocene) to the present and contribute to solving problems at local to global scales.
The sample archive at CTRS represents annual tree growth data from over 25 U.S. states and multiple countries. Many tree species are represented, but primarily consist of oaks and pines. Our collection of over 500 samples of sub-fossil oak wood from northern Missouri has provided over 4,000 years of absolutely dated and ‘floating’ ring-width chronologies, with radiocarbon dates extending as far back as 23,000 years ago. The collection has enormous value for climate science, especially as new research technologies and techniques are developed.
