The Dendrochronological Potential of Populus Balsamifera in Northern Alaska

• Main Authors: Dunwiddie, Peter W., Edwards, Mary E.
• Other Authors: Lost Farm, Hummock Pond Road, Nantucket, Massachusetts, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Tree-Ring Society 1984
• Subjects: Dendrochronology; Tree Rings; Broadleaves; Dendroclimatology; Trees; Woody Plants; Arctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/261299

Populus balsamifera grows farther north than any other tree in North America. In northern Alaska, these trees have clear annual growth rings, and reach ages over 230 years. High year-to-year variability in ring widths permitted ready crossdating. A chronology prepared using paired cores from 16 trees exhibits mean sensitivity (0.48) and standard deviation (0.50) values much higher than those obtained from most conifer species in the Arctic. First order autocorrelation (0.43) is also lower than most Arctic species. A strong correlation (r =0.47) with June temperature suggests balsam poplar may provide a good record of growing season temperature. This item is part of the Tree-Ring Research (formerly Tree-Ring Bulletin) archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the Laboratory of Tree-Ring research at The University of Arizona. For more information about this peer-reviewed scholarly journal, please email the Editor of Tree-Ring Research at [e-mail].