Elemental composition in dendrochronology as a prospective approach for biogeochemical studies.

Abstract

In this paper we present for the first time the changes in biologically important elements (P,K,Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba, Cl, Si) from 1300 to 2000 AD in the annual rings of larch (Larix gmelinii Rupr.) from the Taimyr Peninsula (polar boundary of forest vegetation, 72° N). In this study we only consider selected elements that are considered most informative, although the method 1 The article was translated by the authors. a Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk b V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk c University of Arizona, Tucson, USA d Limnological Institute of the Siberain Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk allowed us to determine the concentration of a total of 40 elements. There are many publications dedicated to the elemental composition of tree rings over short time intervals, however the potential of using the signal of the elements for making long reconstructions of the paleoenvironmental conditions remains unfulfilled.The analysis shows that the different chemical ele���� ments (even the ones that perform similar functions in the life cycle of the cell) have different temporal vari���� ability, and hence potentially contain valuable infor���� mation about the processes that determined their inclusion in the cell walls of the xylem. The approach to the analysis of tree rings based on the detailed study of their elemental composition substantially expands the theoretical and methodological possibilities of dendrochronology, employing data (for analysis of direct action and reconstructions) on the bio���� geochemical conditions of tree growth on the one hand, and exploring in more detail the role of macro ���� and micronutrients in the seasonal cycle of growth and in the formation of woody plant tissues, on the other hand. The observed patterns of change in the concen���� trations of chemical elements in tree rings suggest promise of this approach for studying the evolution of biogeochemical cycles and highlight a promising research area at the intersection of dendrochronology and biogeochemistry.