tree rings

There are living trees in the United States that are approaching 5000 years old - and I’m not talking about trees that clone (I’m looking at you, aspen). Imagine if those trees could talk! Well, in a way, they can!

That’s where dendrochronologists like Dr. Grant Harley come in.

And it turns out that the science of dendrochronology is so much more far reaching than I ever imagined. Dr. Harley tells us how he reads the trees, inferring things like climate patterns, wildfire history, and community ecology. But this unique science even allows for dating artifacts, such as coffins, cabins, shipwrecks, and other wooden objects.

We cover all of this and more, including how tree rings are assessed without killing the tree.  And how technology is used to make these assessments. Dr. Harley also answers why trees in the western US make better specimens for assessing historical climate. And just what is the medieval climate anomaly and why is it important to us today?

I feel like Dr. Harley could make a series of podcasts out of dendrochronology, the history it tells us, and the mysteries it helps us solve. Find Dr. Harley on Twitter @dendrotrog.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links To Topics Discussed

Note: links to books are affiliate links

Fundamentals of Tree Ring Research by James Speer

The Fellowship of the Tree Rings RadioLab episode that Dr. Harley appeared on

North American Dendroecological Fieldweek

Thanks for Michelle Balderston for editing help this week
.

Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://brianholtzmusic.com

Support Us On Patreon!

.
Get inspired with the Jumpstart Nature Podcast - entertaining and immersive, it's the nature podcast we all need.

Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests such as Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Gabe Brown. And topics ranging from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats! 

Warming temperatures can exacerbate forest drought stress, reducing defenses to bark beetle outbreaks, wildfire, and tree diseases. Concern about losses within the forests of the Navajo Nation due to these stressors led to a partnership between the Navajo Forestry Department and a diverse group of scientists to assess the vulnerability of Navajo forests to climate change and develop strategies to promote forest resilience to drought and extreme fire behavior. Here we speak with Principal Investigator Dr. Margaret Evans, and forestry consultant Jaime Yazzie, to learn more about this project.

Relevant Links:

Forest Monitoring and Tree Ring Data to Inform Forest Management on the Navajo Nation

CASC Project Explorer: Forest Monitoring and Tree Ring Data to Inform Forest Management on the Navajo Nation 

Building Authentic Collaborations With Tribal Communities: A Living Reference for Climate Practitioners

If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!

Follow us on Twitter @RainShinePod

Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes

Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!

Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ 

Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief Dr. Todd Votteler talks with Benjamin Cook, Adjunct Research Scientist at the Earth Institute’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In addition to his position at Lamont, Cook also serves as a Research Physical Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York where he researches drought, hydroclimate, and interactions between the land surface and climate system. Cook holds a B.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia.

Take a deep dive into the world of water with those making waves.

This week on The Sci-Files, Chelsie and Danny interview Tracy Melvin.

Tracy is a graduate student in the Fisheries and Wildlife program at Michigan State University.

Tracy studies climate-induced ecological transformation. In other words, how climate change is causing ecosystems to change into new ones, really rapidly – and how to manage those transformations with a lens towards global biodiversity conservation. She uses a changing grassland on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, as a case study for stewarding ecological transformation. Specifically, she takes a look at what is living in the grassland using Next Generation Sequencing, and rapid biodiversity plots. She also measures tree rings for native and non-native trees throughout the peninsula (it’s about 6 million acres). Tracy has also taught a study abroad about climate change to Fiji. She is part of the Women in Nature Network and the Nature Conservancy, Michigan Chapter, and she got Masters in Science at MSU studying turtles.

If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter @SciFiles89FM and on Facebook!