X-ray densitometry for identifying and measuring tree-rings in semi-arid species

• Grant number: 19/27110-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2020
• End date: January 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Agreement: NSF and NSF's Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE)
• Principal Investigator: Mario Tommasiello Filho
• Grantee: Cláudia Fontana
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/50085-3 - PIRE: climate research education in the Americas using tree-ring speleothem examples (PIRE-CREATE), AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/03585-1 - Dendrochronology of Cedrela fissilis (VELL.) (Meliaceae) in the subtropical region of Brazil, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The presence of annual rings in tropical trees may allow the application of dendrochronological methods to determining age, growth rates and climate-growth relationships. In semi-arid tropical trees, annual rings are visible when the cambial dormancy is induced by annually climatic events, such as drought. However, seasonally and monthly variation in water availability may cause the formation of indistinct, narrow and irregular rings with ill- or non-defined annual rings, hindering tree dating and construction of tree-ring chronologies. X-ray densitometry is a method that can be very useful to identify the boundaries of the tree-rings and to build chronologies. In this study, we will apply the X-ray densitometry technique to build long tree-ring chronologies for species of the Brazilian flora. For this, we will use usual methods for sample preparation and analysis in wood anatomy analysis and X-ray densitometry. To build the chronology, density values will be tested between species using a linear mixed model (LMM) with type (maximum, mean and minimum values), species, and the interactions between them as fixed factors, and tree as random factor. This chronology will be used for climate reconstruction, contributing to the understanding of the climate of the Americas. (AU)

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ZUIDEMA, PIETER A.; BABST, FLURIN; GROENENDIJK, PETER; TROUET, VALERIE; ABIYU, ABRHAM; ACUNA-SOTO, RODOLFO; ADENESKY-FILHO, EDUARDO; ALFARO-SANCHEZ, RAQUEL; VIEIRA ARAGAO, JOSE ROBERTO; ASSIS-PEREIRA, GABRIEL; et al. Tropical tree growth driven by dry-season climate variability. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, v. 15, n. 4, p. 21-pg., 2022-03-31. (18/01847-0, 09/53951-7, 18/24514-7, 19/08783-0, 18/50080-4, 17/50085-3, 19/27110-7, 12/50457-4)

DOS PASSOS, MANUELA GAZZONI; DO PRADO, GEISA PERCIO; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; ZONTA, EDILVANE INES; BIANCHINI, EDMILSON. Natural regeneration in a mixed ombrophilous forest remnant in southern Brazil. NEOTROPICAL BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 16, n. 1, p. 17-pg., 2021-01-01. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7)

PORTAL-CAHUANA, LEIF ARMANDO; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; ASSIS-PEREIRA, GABRIEL; GROENENDIJK, PETER; ROIG, FIDEL A.; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO. Thirty-four years of dendrochronological studies in Per?: A review of advances and challenges. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 78, p. 13-pg., 2023-01-22. (19/27110-7, 18/01847-0, 17/50085-3)

SCIPIONI, MARCELO CALLEGARI; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; OLIVEIRA, JULIANO MORALES; JUNIOR, LUIZ SANTINI; ROIG, FIDEL A.; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO. Effects of cold conditions on the growth rates of a subtropical conifer. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 68, AUG 2021. (19/27110-7, 17/50085-3, 09/53951-7)

MANUELA GAZZONI DOS PASSOS; GEISA PERCIO DO PRADO; CLÁUDIA FONTANA; EDMILSON BIANCHINI. Structure and Tree Diversity in a Mixed Ombrophilous Forest Remnant, Southern Brazil. Floresta e Ambiente, v. 28, n. 2, 2021-01-29. (19/27110-7, 17/50085-3)

OLMEDO, GABRIELA MORAIS; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; OLIVEIRA, JULIANO MORALES. Primary and secondary growth phenology of Schizolobium parahyba (Vell.) Blake at different time scales. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 72, p. 10-pg., 2022-01-17. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7)