Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
In their introduction to a special issue on stable isotope dendroclimatology in
isotope tree-ring papers presented at the recent Seventh International Conference
on Dendrochronology (Beijing; June 11-17, 2006) compared to the two delivered
at the Second International Workshop on Global Dendroclimatology in 1980. Of
the 30 papers presented, however, only six were reconstruction based. There are
numerous well-equipped laboratories around the world capable of rapidly producing
long stable isotope-based reconstructions. As a community we need to make the
correct procedural choices to enable this to happen rapidly and to ensure that the
supply of appropriately robust results for climatology begins in earnest.
We believe that the analysis of stable isotopes in tree rings does indeed have
something to offer to the field of climatology. However, there are also many circum-
stances where stable isotope dendroclimatology will produce information that can
be replicated more efficiently by using ring widths or densities. If we are truly to
understand past climate variability and address, as a scientific community, the chal-
lenges of future environmental change, then it is imperative that those working with
stable isotopes do not do so in isolation. To do so is to risk simply replicating exist-
ing tree-ring-based paleoclimate reconstructions by using a more expensive tech-
nique. On the contrary, isotope specialists need to take their place within the broader
discipline and explore the ways in which stable isotopes can add value to a field that
is already providing the best high-resolution reconstructions of past climate.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European Union project 017008-2 GOCE
(MILLENNIUM). MHG was supported by a RCUK Fellowship. NJL was supported by the NERC
NE/B501504/1 and NE/C511805/1. The authors thank our colleagues at the Tree Ring Group at
Swansea University and N. Jones, and A. Ratcliffe (Swansea) for their invaluable assistance.
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