Page 8 - Ring Research News Today

For a long period, ecologists supposed tree rings were not present in tropical trees due to a lack of temperature and rain variations in the trees' surroundings.

UArizona researchers were leaders in a world-wide effort to understand topical trees and their futures under climate change. They found that heat and drought slow the growth of tropical trees, a major absorber of carbon dioxide.

To address extensively changed forest successional circumstances, 20th- and 21st-century climatic shifts, and quickly shifting wildfire regimes in the present age, scientists suggest landscape-level adaptation.

Researchers at the University of Arizona predict a staggering 56 to 91% decline in individual tree growth in the future.

"The growth declines we're forecasting will mean less uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future by Arizona's forests."

Future forests will likely have smaller trees due to global warming, meaning a reduced absorption of carbon dioxide from the air.

University of Arizona-led team of scientists may have developed the next best thing to a crystal ball to inform ecologists how forests of the future will react to the changing climate.

By combining tree-ring data with U.S. Forest Service inventory data on Arizona's ponderosa pines, researchers captured a more complete picture than traditional models have provided of what drives future tree growth under climate change. The researchers predict a 56 to 91% decline in individual tree growth, according to a new University of Arizona-led study, meaning less

A global perspective on environmental issues. Our mission is to inform, educate, enable and create a platform for global environmental action.

There is no crystal ball to tell ecologists how forests of the future will respond to the changing climate, but researchers have an idea.