Tree-ring isotopes capture interannual vegetation productivity dynamics at the biome scale

Mathieu Levesque; Laia Andreu-Hayles; William Kolby Smith; A Park Williams; Martina L Hobi; Brady W Allred; Neil Pederson

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-08634-y

Tree-ring isotopes capture interannual vegetation productivity dynamics at the biome scale

Nat Commun. 2019 Feb 14;10(1):742. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08634-y.

Authors

Mathieu Levesque^{1

2}, Laia Andreu-Hayles³, William Kolby Smith⁴, A Park Williams⁵, Martina L Hobi^{6

7}, Brady W Allred^{8

9}, Neil Pederson¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Forest Management Group, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland. mathieu.levesque@usys.ethz.ch.
² Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA. mathieu.levesque@usys.ethz.ch.
³ Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA. lah@ldeo.columbia.edu.
⁴ School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
⁵ Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA.
⁶ SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
⁷ WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
⁸ W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA.
⁹ Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA.
¹⁰ Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, 01366, USA.

Abstract

Historical and future trends in net primary productivity (NPP) and its sensitivity to global change are largely unknown because of the lack of long-term, high-resolution data. Here we test whether annually resolved tree-ring stable carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotopes can be used as proxies for reconstructing past NPP. Stable isotope chronologies from four sites within three distinct hydroclimatic environments in the eastern United States (US) were compared in time and space against satellite-derived NPP products, including the long-term Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS3g) NPP (1982-2011), the newest high-resolution Landsat NPP (1986-2015), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, 2001-2015) NPP. We show that tree-ring isotopes, in particular δ¹⁸O, correlate strongly with satellite NPP estimates at both local and large geographical scales in the eastern US. These findings represent an important breakthrough for estimating interannual variability and long-term changes in terrestrial productivity at the biome scale.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Algorithms
Carbon Isotopes / metabolism*
Conservation of Natural Resources / methods
Ecosystem*
Geography
Models, Biological
Oxygen Isotopes / metabolism*
Satellite Imagery / methods
Seasons*
Trees / growth & development
Trees / metabolism*
United States

Substances

Carbon Isotopes
Oxygen Isotopes