How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2015 The Dendroclimatological Potential of Willamette Valley Quercus garryana
Stevie Gildehaus, Karen Arabas, Evan Larson, Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We develop a 341-year Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Dougl.) tree-ring chronology in Oregon's Willamette Valley to evaluate climate-growth relationships and determine the species' dendroclimatological potential at our site and in the surrounding region. The standardized and residual chronologies exhibit significant positive correlations with previous-year April and May temperatures, inverse correlations with previous-year spring precipitation and summer PDSI, a positive correlation with current-year July precipitation and summer PDSI, and inverse correlations with current-year June temperatures. The strength of these relationships varies over time. Significant shifts in the chronologies' mean and variance align with phase changes in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), with lower and more variable growth during the warmer, drier positive phase of the PDO over the instrumental record. The absence of similar shifts prior to the 1900s, suggests a lack of temporal consistency in the expression of PDO variability at our site. The strong crossdating at our site reflects a cohesive climate signal, and the climate analysis illustrates the potential to develop proxy data over multiple centuries. Together, these results indicate a potential to expand the network of currently available climate proxy data by utilizing Q. garryana in dendroclimatological research.

The Tree-Ring Society
Stevie Gildehaus, Karen Arabas, Evan Larson, and Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz "The Dendroclimatological Potential of Willamette Valley Quercus garryana," Tree-Ring Research 71(1), 13-23, (1 January 2015). https://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-71.1.13
Received: 26 November 2013; Accepted: 1 June 2014; Published: 1 January 2015
KEYWORDS
dendroclimatology
Oregon
Pacific Decadal Oscillation
Quercus garryana
Willamette Valley
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top