The Salt Lake City, Utah, region has a climate record dating from the mid-1800s that can be used to calibrate a tree ring record to climate and streamflows. A number of good candidate species for tree ring analysis include indigenous coniferous species that are signature species in tree ring analysis because their growth is sensitive to drought. However, these species represent different habitats.
We will conduct controlled field studies to define the relationship between a suite of tree species native to the Wasatch range and drought stress and air temperature as well as to use tree ring data to understand and explain paleoclimate drought cycles and reconstruct streamflows in an innovative way.
The research will help increase prediction accuracy and extract nuanced climate information such as air temperature and counterintuitive weather patterns such as dry winters combined with cool, wet summers.
