Fading temperature sensitivity of Alpine tree growth at its Mediterranean margin and associated effects on large-scale climate reconstructions

noaa-tree-1003400 French Alps, 969 - 2007 AD, tree ring width, Larch, PAGES Euro-Med 2k Version Büntgen, U.; Frank, D.C.; Neuenschwander, T.; Esper, J. French Alps, 969 - 2007 AD, tree ring width, Larch, PAGES Euro-Med 2k Version 2013-05-15 NCDC-Paleoclimatology ONLINE Files 10.25921/xagb-9m93 https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003400 Investigator U. Büntgen Investigator D.C. Frank Investigator T. Neuenschwander Investigator J. Esper earth science paleoclimate tree-ring geoscientificInformation PAGES 2k Network PAGES Euro-Med 2k LADE Larix decidua Mill. European larch 969 AD 2007 AD 981 cal yr BP -57 cal yr BP Complete 44 44 7.5 7.5 2100 2100 Continent Europe Western Europe Maritime French Alps>LATITUDE 44>LONGITUDE 7.5 None Please cite original publication, online resource, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, title, online resource, and date accessed. The appearance of external links associated with a dataset does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the Department of Commerce/NOAA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Department of Commerce/NOAA Web site. English DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data DATA Center Contact Bruce Bauer bruce.a.bauer@noaa.gov paleo@noaa.gov 303-497-6280 303-497-6513

325 Broadway, E/NE31

Boulder CO 80305-3328 USA online ASCII Büntgen, U., D. Frank, T. Neuenschwander and J. Esper 2012 Fading temperature sensitivity of Alpine tree growth at its Mediterranean margin and associated effects on large-scale climate reconstructions Climatic Change 114 651-666 10.1007/s10584-012-0450-4

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).

GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_CC_2012.txt USA/NOAA DIF Version 9.8.4 2018-12-11 2018-12-11