What are the main factors that either inhibit or promote growth in trees? Traditionally, scientists primarily looked at temperature and precipitation.
However, Cameron C. Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of Geography at 麻豆视频最新最全 University, and the members of his take a different approach to biometeorological research.
They believe that living organisms are not just impacted by temperature, or just by humidity, or just by wind, but rather by the combined impacts of all of these things simultaneously. To examine these relationships, they use air masses, which are atmospheric bodies thousands of kilometers in size.
Lee and his co-author, , Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Iowa, in the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, recently published their results in the after examining the tree rings of 130 different tree species and over 900 different locations throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They found that for the majority of species they examined, it is the air masses that impact tree growth even more-so than temperature and precipitation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the synergistic combination of all the weather鈥檚 elements 鈥 these air masses 鈥 that are just better indicators in many instances,鈥 Lee said. 鈥淎ir masses are sort of like taking all the components of the atmosphere 鈥 like temperature, humidity, pressure, cloud cover, winds, etc. 鈥 and the near-infinite possible combinations of them, and then merging them into about a dozen typical weather 鈥渢ypes鈥 for a location.鈥
The researchers also found that a tree ring鈥檚 width was related to air mass occurrences dating all the way back to the summer prior to the year the ring grew.
鈥淭his means that these air masses have the potential to help predict things like tree health and tree death,鈥 Lee said. 鈥淎nd, on the larger scale, perhaps even help forecast the potential for wildfire.鈥
This research was recently the focus of a spotlight feature on Eos, the science news magazine of the American Geophysical Union. To see the Eos article, visit: .
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Media Contacts:
Jim Maxwell, jmaxwel2@kent.edu, 330-672-8028
Dr. Cameron C. Lee, cclee@kent.edu, 330-672-0360