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

(15)

(The scientific publications listed on this page originate from the Web of Science or SciELO databases. Their authors have cited FAPESP grant or fellowship project numbers awarded to Principal Investigators or Fellowship Recipients, whether or not they are among the authors. This information is collected automatically and retrieved directly from those bibliometric databases.)

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)

FONTANA, CLAUDIA; LOPEZ, LIDIO; SANTOS, GUACIARA M.; VILLALBA, RICARDO; HORNINK, BRUNA; ASSIS-PEREIRA, GABRIEL; ROIG, FIDEL A.; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO. A new chronology of Cedrela fissilis (Meliaceae) for Southern Brazil: Combining classical dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 85, p. 11-pg., 2024-05-23. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7, 23/03585-1)

GROENENDIJK, PETER; BABST, FLURIN; TROUET, VALERIE; FAN, ZE-XIN; GRANATO-SOUZA, DANIELA; LOCOSSELLI, GIULIANO MASELLI; MOKRIA, MULUGETA; PANTHI, SHANKAR; PUMIJUMNONG, NATHSUDA; ABIYU, ABRHAM; et al. The importance of tropical tree-ring chronologies for global change research. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, v. 355, p. 17-pg., 2025-03-06. (09/53951-7, 19/26350-4, 19/09813-0, 17/50085-3, 12/50457-4, 18/22914-8, 18/07632-6, 20/04608-7, 18/50080-4, 19/27110-7, 18/01847-0, 19/08783-0)

LIU, SAINAN; XU, CHENXI; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; AN, WENLING; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO; ZHAO, QINGYU; ZHAO, YARU; LIU, YUCHENG; GUO, ZHENGTANG. Monthly Precipitation Reconstruction in Subtropical South America Using Seasonal Tree-Ring Oxygen Isotopes. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES, v. 128, n. 12, p. 15-pg., 2023-12-01. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7)

CASTOR NETO, THAYANNE CAROLINE; PENETRA CERVEIRA LOUSADA, JOSE LUIS; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; MOREIRA, CAROLINA GOMES; DE FIGUEIREDO LATORRACA, JOAO VICENTE. The Influence of Rainfall and Temperature on Radial Growth of Urban Trees Under the Impact of Steel Industry Pollution. BIORESOURCES, v. 18, n. 3, p. 19-pg., 2023-08-01. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7)

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)

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)

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)

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)

ZUIDEMA, PIETER A.; GROENENDIJK, PETER; RAHMAN, MIZANUR; TROUET, VALERIE; ABIYU, ABRHAM; ACUNA-SOTO, RODOLFO; ADENESKY-FILHO, EDUARDO; ALFARO-SANCHEZ, RAQUEL; ANHOLETTO, CLAUDIO ROBERTO, JR.; ARAGAO, JOSE ROBERTO VIEIRA; et al. Pantropical tree rings show small effects of drought on stem growth. Science, v. 389, n. 6759, p. 7-pg., 2025-07-31. (18/07632-6, 19/27110-7, 17/50085-3, 18/22914-8, 18/24514-7, 20/04608-7, 12/50457-4, 09/53951-7, 18/50080-4, 18/01847-0, 19/08783-0, 19/09813-0)

FONTANA, CLAUDIA; GODOY-VEIGA, MILENA; LOPEZ, LIDIO; PESSENDA, LUIZ CARLOS; HORNINK, BRUNA; ASSIS-PEREIRA, GABRIEL; SCIPIONI, MARCELO CALLEGARI; DA CRUZ, FRANCISCO WILLIAM; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO; VILLALBA, RICARDO. The carbon-14 bomb peak as a turning point in dendrochronology in tropics: A literature review and case study with Araucaria angustifolia. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 91, p. 12-pg., 2025-03-06. (19/27110-7, 24/14406-3, 17/50085-3, 24/02051-6, 23/14668-5)

LOPEZ, LIDIO; FONTANA, CLAUDIA. A cross-biome analysis of Cedrela fissilis Vell: Growth, age, and diameter class transitions. TREES FORESTS AND PEOPLE, v. 18, p. 7-pg., 2024-12-01. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7, 23/03585-1)

OLMEDO, GABRIELA MORAIS; HORNINK, BRUNA; ARENHARDT, BRUNA BORNE; NUNES, ANDERSON JULIANO; DE OLIVEIRA, CARLOS; DO AMARAL, IZIDORO SARMENTO; DOS SANTOS, MARINA REMIAO; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; DE OLIVEIRA, JULIANO MORALES. Growth dynamic and climate signals on abandoned plantation of Pinus elliottii in Southern Brazil: A dendrochronological contribution. DENDROCHRONOLOGIA, v. 82, p. 14-pg., 2023-10-05. (17/50085-3, 19/27110-7)

SCIPIONI, MARCELO CALLEGARI; PACHECO, JOHN FRANCIS; FONTANA, CLAUDIA; OLIVEIRA, JULIANO MORALES; TOMAZELLO-FILHO, MARIO; ROIG, FIDEL A.. DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MOBILE TABLE WITH ATTACHED SCANNER FOR TREE-RING STUDIES. TREE-RING RESEARCH, v. 81, n. 1, p. 9-pg., 2025-01-01. (19/27110-7)