French Alps, 969 - 2007 AD, tree ring width, Larch, PAGES Euro-Med 2k Version Büntgen, U.; Frank, D.C.; Neuenschwander, T.; Esper, J. Büntgen, U. Frank, D.C. Neuenschwander, T. Esper, J. PAGES 2k Network PAGES Euro-Med 2k LADE Larix decidua Mill. European larch earth science/paleoclimate/tree-ring (Maritime French Alps>LATITUDE 44>LONGITUDE 7.5) A millennium-long tree-ring width chronology of living and dead larch (Larix decidua Mill.) specimens from the Maritime French Alps was introduced 35 years ago. This record has been included in various large-scale temperature reconstructions, though recent analyses revealed only weak associations with regional summer temperatures. Calibration and verification trials against instrumental measurements were, however, limited by the original record’s early ending in 1974. Here we introduce an update of this widely considered chronology until 2007 and back into medieval times. A total of 297 new larch samples from high-elevation settings in the southern French Alps were included, and the combined 398 measurement series allowed effects of tree-ring detrending and chronology development to be explored. Comparisons with meteorological temperature, precipitation and drought indices revealed weak and temporally inconsistent climate sensitivity. To further place these local findings in a biogeographic context, we used >3,000 larch trees from 61 locations across the Alpine arc. This unique network approach confirmed fading temperature sensitivity with decreasing latitude, and thus questioned the overall reliability of ring width-based temperature reconstructions in the Mediterranean region. Our results further emphasize the pending need to develop chronologies from maximum latewood densities and stable isotope ratios across the lower latitudes, and to carefully evaluate ecological site conditions and methodological data restrictions prior to compiling local data into global networks. STUDY NOTES: Increment cores from a total of 297 living and dead European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees were newly collected at three sites (1, 2, 3) within the same ecological context as the original site 4 (Serre 1978). A unique network >3000 TRW series from 61 locations distributed over the Austrian, Swiss, Slovenian, Italian, and French Alps (see Büntgen et al. 2008a for details) was utilized for an Alpine-wide comparison of larch growth responses to variations in summer temperature. The geographical mean of this exceptional Alpine-wide collection is centered over the Italian Dolomites (46.63 °N, 11.86 °E and 1,667 m asl). NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Büntgen, U. Investigator : Frank, D.C. Investigator : Neuenschwander, T. Investigator : Esper, J. 2013-05-15 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003400 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_CC_2012.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_CC_2012.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003400 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_CC_2012.txt Büntgen, U., D. Frank, T. Neuenschwander and J. Esper2012Fading temperature sensitivity of Alpine tree growth at its Mediterranean margin and associated effects on large-scale climate reconstructionsClimatic Change114651-66610.1007/s10584-012-0450-4 START YEAR: 969 AD * END YEAR: 2007 AD 7.5 44 7.5 44