Climate–growth relationships of the dominant tree species from semi-arid savanna woodland in Ethiopia
By A. Gebrekirstos, R. Mitlöhner, Demel Teketay, M. Worbes. Trees, 2008
116 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Long-term climate–growth relationships, were examined in tree rings of four co-occurring tree species from semi-arid Acacia savanna woodlands in Ethiopia. The main purpose of the study was to prove the presence of annual tree rings, evaluate the relationship between radial growth and climate parameters, and evaluate the association of El Niño and drought years in Ethiopia. The results showed that all species studied form distinct growth boundaries, though differences in distinctiveness were revealed among the species. Tree rings of the evergreen Balanites aegyptiaca were separated by vessels surrounding a thin parenchyma band and the growth boundary of the deciduous acacias was characterized by thin parenchyma bands. The mean annual diameter increment ranged from 3.6 to 5.0 mm. Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal showed more enhanced growth than Acacia tortilis and B. aegyptiaca. High positive correlations were found between the tree-ring width chronologies and precipitation data, and all species showed similar response to external climate forcing, which supports the formation of one tree-ring per year. Strong declines in tree-ring width correlated remarkably well with past El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and drought/famine periods in Ethiopia. Spectral analysis of the master tree-ring chronology indicated occurrences of periodic drought events, which fall within the spectral peak equivalent to 2–8 years. Our results proved the strong linkage between tree-ring chronologies and climate, which sheds light on the potential of dendrochronological studies developing in Ethiopia. The outcome of this study has important implications for paleoclimatic reconstructions and in restoration of degraded lands.
Subfields: Atmospheric Science, Global and Planetary Change
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/722915a4f7420a2cf23f0c7a2bfe52377984435f
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In Atmospheric Science
Citations in the corpus
- Cambial growth dynamics and climatic control of different tree life forms in tropical mountain forest in Ethiopia (2011, unknown): “For example, several Acacia species from the Ethiopian lowland savannah have been successfully used for dendroclimatological studies (Eshete and Stahl 1999; Gebrekirstos 2006; Gebrekirstos et al. 2008, 2009).”
- Radial stem variations of Tabebuia chrysantha (Bignoniaceae) in different tropical forest ecosystems of southern Ecuador (2011, background): “Available data on tree rings in tropical mountain regions cover Central and South America (e.g. Anchukaitis et al. 2008; Bräuning et al. 2009; Brienen 2005; Soliz et al. 2009; Stahle 1999; Worbes 2002), Africa (e.g. Gebrekirstos et al. 2008), and southeast Asia (e.g. Poussart et al. 2004).”