Introduction to the Tree Ring Lab:

Dendrochronology is the science that uses tree rings dated to their exact year of formation to analyze temporal and spatial patterns of processes in the physical and cultural sciences.

The Tree Ring Lab of Institute of Earth environment, CAS was established in 1987 by Prof. Liu Yu, under the proposing of Mr. An Zhisheng and the guidance of Mr. Wu Xiangding. The research engaged mainly in the climate variations of the environmental sensitive zone in northern China and the Tibetan Plateau. By analyzing the ring width, density and stable isotopes from the tree rings, the information of climate variations over the past thousand years is extracted and reconstructed. This help to deeper understanding of the East Asian monsoon variations, exploring the characteristics and mechanism of climate change, and providing scientific basis for prediction the natural disasters.

Scientific research achievements since 2013：

Much progress on tree ring research has been made since 2013, for example, precipitation series have been established in central Gansu province. The rainfall reconstructions demonstrated that the tree-ring based precipitation series for the western-central ESZ of north China exhibit highly synchronous variation trends. The precipitation series reflect the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon. The level of precipitation in the 1920s was significantly low, and droughts appeared continually for several years thereafter, which is coincident with other tree-ring studies and historical records throughout all of northern China. Also, temperature variations have been reconstructed in north China and north-central China; drought variations have been reconstructed in the middle Taihang Mountains and the middle Qilian Mountains, as well as runoff reconstruction in the upper Fenhe River in North China.

The papers published are as follows:

1. Yu Liu, Ying Lei, Bo Sun, Huiming Song, Qiang Li. Annual precipitation variability inferred from tree-ring width chronologies in the Changling-Shoulu region, China, during AD 1853—2007. Dendrochronologia, (2013) (in press)

2. Yu Liu, Ying Lei, Bo Sun, Huiming Song, Junyan Sun, Annual precipitation in Liancheng, China, since 1777AD derived from tree rings of Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.), International Journal of Biometeorology, (2013) (in press)

3. Yu Liu，Bo Sun, Huiming Song, Ying Lei，Caiyong Wang，Tree-ring-based precipitation reconstruction for Mt. Xinglong, China, since AD 1679，Quaternary International. (2013) 283, 46-54

4. Qiufang Cai, Yu Liu*. Climatic response of Chinese pine and PDSI variability in the middle Taihang Mountains, north China since 1873. Trees - Structure and Function, (2013), 27: 419-427

5. Qiufang Cai, Yu Liu*. Climatic response of three tree species growing at different elevations in the Lüliang Mountains of Northern China. Dendrochronologia, (2013) (in press)

6. Cai Qiufang, Yu Liu*, Tian Hua. A dendroclimatic reconstruction of May-June mean temperature variation in north China since 1767 AD. Quaternary International, (2013), 283, 3-10

7. Sun Junyan, Yu Liu*. Drought variations in the middle Qilian Mountains, northeast Tibetan Plateau, over the last 450 years as reconstructed from tree rings. Dendrochronologia, (2013) (in press)

8. Sun Junyan, Yu Liu*, Wang Y C, et al., Tree-ring-based runoff reconstruction of the upper Fenhe River in North China since 1799 AD. Quaternary International, (2013), 283, 117-124

9. Song Huiming, Yu Liu*, Li Qiang, Hans Linderholm, Tree-ring derived temperature records in the central Loess Plateau, China. Quaternary International, (2013), 283, 30-35

10. Qiang Li, Yu Liu*. A simple and rapid preparation of pure cellulose confirmed by monosaccharide compositions, 13C, yields and C%. Dendrochronologia, (2013) (in press)

11. Liu Yu*，Cai Qiufang，Song Huiming, seasonal and spatial representativeness of the tree-ring based 2485-year annual mean temperature reconstruction in the northern Tibetan Plateau, Quaternary Sciences, (2013), 33(1), 108–114 (in Chineses).

12. Cai Qiufang, Liu Yu*, The development of a tree-ring width chronology and the May-June mean temperature variability in Wulu Mountain, Shanxi province of north-central China, Quaternary Sciences, (2013), 33(1), 511–517 (in Chineses).