Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at black river, North Carolina

D. W. Stahle; J. R. Edmondson; I. M. Howard; C. R. Robbins; R. D. Griffin; A. Carl; C. B. Hall; D. K. Stahle; M. C.A. Torbenson

doi:10.1088/2515-7620/ab0c4a

Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at black river, North Carolina

D. W. Stahle, J. R. Edmondson, I. M. Howard, C. R. Robbins, R. D. Griffin, A. Carl, C. B. Hall, D. K. Stahle, M. C.A. Torbenson

Geography

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Abstract

Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth. The annual ring-width chronology developed from the ancient Black River bald cypress trees is positively correlated with growing season precipitation totals over the southeastern United States and with atmospheric circulation over the Northern Hemisphere, providing the longest exactly-dated climate proxy yet developed in eastern North America. The Nature Conservancy owns 6,400 ha in their Black River Preserve and the North Carolina legislature is considering establishment of a Black River State Park, but ancient forested wetlands are found along most of this 106 km stream and remain threatened by logging, water pollution, and sea level rise.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	041002
Journal	Environmental Research Communications
Volume	1
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ab0c4a
State	Published - 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer.

Funding Information:
Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer. The tree-ring data described in this article are available from the corresponding author (dstahle@uark.edu) and from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank, NOAA Paleoclimatology Program (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/ paleoclimatology-data/datasets/tree-ring).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

Keywords

Ancient bald cypress
Climate proxy
Dendrochronology
Radiocarbon dating
Wetland conservation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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@article{e6408edd9b024063a167a919f8a50a54,

title = "Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at black river, North Carolina",

abstract = "Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth. The annual ring-width chronology developed from the ancient Black River bald cypress trees is positively correlated with growing season precipitation totals over the southeastern United States and with atmospheric circulation over the Northern Hemisphere, providing the longest exactly-dated climate proxy yet developed in eastern North America. The Nature Conservancy owns 6,400 ha in their Black River Preserve and the North Carolina legislature is considering establishment of a Black River State Park, but ancient forested wetlands are found along most of this 106 km stream and remain threatened by logging, water pollution, and sea level rise.",

keywords = "Ancient bald cypress, Climate proxy, Dendrochronology, Radiocarbon dating, Wetland conservation",

author = "Stahle, {D. W.} and Edmondson, {J. R.} and Howard, {I. M.} and Robbins, {C. R.} and Griffin, {R. D.} and A. Carl and Hall, {C. B.} and Stahle, {D. K.} and Torbenson, {M. C.A.}",

note = "Funding Information: Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer. Funding Information: Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer. The tree-ring data described in this article are available from the corresponding author (dstahle@uark.edu) and from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank, NOAA Paleoclimatology Program (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/ paleoclimatology-data/datasets/tree-ring). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.",

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T1 - Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at black river, North Carolina

AU - Stahle, D. W.

AU - Edmondson, J. R.

AU - Howard, I. M.

AU - Robbins, C. R.

AU - Griffin, R. D.

AU - Carl, A.

AU - Hall, C. B.

AU - Stahle, D. K.

AU - Torbenson, M. C.A.

N1 - Funding Information: Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer. Funding Information: Funded in part by the National Science Foundation (AGS-1266014), The Nature Conservancy, and private donations to the Ancient Bald Cypress Consortium. We thank John and Maggie DeCuevas, Kemp Burdette, Jordan Burns, Graham Hawks, Hervey McIver, Julie Moore, Zack West, and Katherine P Wolff. We appreciate the helpful editorial suggestions of Neil Pederson and an anonymous reviewer. The tree-ring data described in this article are available from the corresponding author (dstahle@uark.edu) and from the International Tree-Ring Data Bank, NOAA Paleoclimatology Program (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/ paleoclimatology-data/datasets/tree-ring). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.

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N2 - Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth. The annual ring-width chronology developed from the ancient Black River bald cypress trees is positively correlated with growing season precipitation totals over the southeastern United States and with atmospheric circulation over the Northern Hemisphere, providing the longest exactly-dated climate proxy yet developed in eastern North America. The Nature Conservancy owns 6,400 ha in their Black River Preserve and the North Carolina legislature is considering establishment of a Black River State Park, but ancient forested wetlands are found along most of this 106 km stream and remain threatened by logging, water pollution, and sea level rise.

AB - Bald cypress trees over 2,000-years old have been discovered in the forested wetlands along Black River using dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. The oldest bald cypress yet documented is at least 2,624-years old, making Taxodium distichum the oldest-known wetland tree species, the oldest living trees in eastern North America, and the fifth oldest known non-clonal tree species on earth. The annual ring-width chronology developed from the ancient Black River bald cypress trees is positively correlated with growing season precipitation totals over the southeastern United States and with atmospheric circulation over the Northern Hemisphere, providing the longest exactly-dated climate proxy yet developed in eastern North America. The Nature Conservancy owns 6,400 ha in their Black River Preserve and the North Carolina legislature is considering establishment of a Black River State Park, but ancient forested wetlands are found along most of this 106 km stream and remain threatened by logging, water pollution, and sea level rise.

KW - Ancient bald cypress

KW - Climate proxy

KW - Dendrochronology

KW - Radiocarbon dating

KW - Wetland conservation

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DO - 10.1088/2515-7620/ab0c4a

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AN - SCOPUS:85076059530

SN - 2515-7620

VL - 1

JO - Environmental Research Communications

JF - Environmental Research Communications

IS - 4

M1 - 041002

ER -

Longevity, climate sensitivity, and conservation status of wetland trees at black river, North Carolina

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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