A dendroclimatological study of long-term growth patterns of yellow-cedar trees in Southeast Alaska

Abstract

Yellow-cedar is a very long-lived, commercially important tree species found along the coasts of Southeast Alaska and also in small populations in Prince William Sound. However, this is the first study of the tree's annual ring growth patterns in the region. Tree cores were collected from over 400 trees across a large latitudinal gradient and cross-dated using standard dendrochronological techniques. Radial tree-ring growth was measured and compared to reconstructed weather station data to gain a better understanding of the climatic conditions favoring yellow-cedar growth. We found consistent, significant positive correlations between ring widths and mean monthly temperatures in August, previous January, and previous December, and negative relationships with May and December precipitation. Climate indices we created using these variables explain approximately 25% of growth variability in five distinct yellow-cedar populations. Long-term growth patterns in tree populations going back three centuries were similar across all sites, specifically the sustained below mean growth during the 1800s. Yellow-cedar at the northern limits of its distribution shows a common growth signal which may indicate the influence of larger pressure anomalies, such as EI Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), on the climate factors affecting the trees.