Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Multiproxy reconstructions of climate for three sites in the Canadian High Arctic using Cassiope tetragona
Responsible organisation
2012 (English)In: Climatic Change, ISSN 0165-0009, E-ISSN 1573-1480, Vol. 114Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

We developed calibration models and reconstructed climate for sites in the central and eastern Canadian High Arctic using dendroclimatological and stable isotope analysis techniques on the dwarf-shrub, Cassiope tetragona. Our results may suggest complex temporal and spatial patterns of climate change in the region over the past century. For sites on Bathurst and Devon Islands, we reconstructed fall mean and June-July mean temperature using multiple linear regression analysis that explained 54 % and 40 % of the variance, respectively. The predictor variables included annual growth, annual production of leaves, flower buds and annual delta A(1)A(3)C values for the Bathurst Island model, and annual growth and delta A(1)A(3)C values for the Devon Island model. Both models revealed warmer than average temperatures throughout the mid-20th century, followed by a cooling trend from the early 1960s and mid-1970s at the Devon and Bathurst Island sites, respectively. Temperatures remained cool until the early 1980s and then increased until 1998/1999 at both sites. Our models are supported by other paleoclimate proxies and the instrumental record from the Canadian Arctic. For sites on Axel Heiberg and Bathurst Islands, we developed models using multivariate regresssion for February and March total precipitation that explained 44 % and 42 % of the variance, respectively. The Axel Heiberg Island model included annual production of flowers and flower buds, as well as annual delta A(1)A(3)C values as predictor variables, while the Bathurst Island model only included the annual production of flower buds as a predictor. Both models showed lower than average precipitation from the early to mid-1900s, followed by increasing precipitation from the late 1980s to 1998/1999. Our precipitation models, supported by instrumental and proxy data, suggest a trend of increasing late-winter/early spring precipitation in the late 20th century. The lack of a single detectable climate signal across the study sites suggests local climate, topography, genetic variation and/or ecological conditions may dictate, in part, site responses and result in a heterogeneous climatescape over space and time. Yet, like other arctic paleoclimate proxies, chronology error and temporal discrepancies may complicate our interpretations. However, comparisons with other arctic proxies and the meteorological record suggest our models have also registered a regional climate signal.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2012. Vol. 114
Keywords [en]
carbon-isotope ratios north-atlantic oscillation summer temperature reconstruction annually-laminated sediments tree-ring cellulose island ice cap dwarf-shrub baffin-island environmental-change devon island Environmental Sciences & Ecology Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Research subject
SWEDARCTIC 1999, Tundra nordväst 1999
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-1926DOI: 10.1007/s10584-012-0431-7OAI: oai:DiVA.org:polar-1926DiVA, id: diva2:810360
Note

ISI Document Delivery No.: 998NH Times Cited: 3 Cited Reference Count: 150 Rayback, Shelly A. Henry, Gregory H. R. Lini, Andrea Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada; Swedish Polar Secretariat; University of Vermont's College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Fund; College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Support Award The authors wish to thank David Berg, Katie Breen, Anne Gunn, Alan Howard, Maartje Melchoirs, and Michael Svoboda for field, laboratory and data analysis assistance. We also thank the Polar Continental Shelf Project, the Canadian Coast Guard, and the Swedish Polar Secretariat (Tundra Northwest 1999) for logistical support, as well as the Meteorological Service of Canada and Lucie Vincent of the Climate Research Division, contributors to the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology (Boulder, CO, USA), and Niels Schmidt for data used in this study. We gratefully acknowledge project funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada, and the Swedish Polar Secretariat to GHRH, the University of Vermont's College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Fund to SAR and AL, and the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Support Award to SAR. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions that helped to improve this manuscript. 4 Springer Dordrecht Environmental Sciences; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Available from: 2015-05-07 Created: 2015-05-06 Last updated: 2017-12-04

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full texthttp://<Go to ISI>://WOS:000308246300011
In the same journal
Climatic Change

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 50 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf