Spatial and temporal variability of stable oxygen isotopes in wood of pine trees on Corsica as indicators of current and past hydroclimate

• Applicant: Dr. Sonja Szymczak
• Subject Area: Physical Geography
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 318144621

A dendroisotopic study shall reveal oxygen isotope variability in wood, needle water and xylem water from pine trees on Corsica in intraannual resolution. The study will be based on two pine species (Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster) along an east-west transect through the Renoso massif in the south of the island. Due to the alignment, the selected sites cover the full range of Corsican climate from coastal locations with mediterranean climate to alpine conditions with continuous snow cover for several months. The overall aim of the study is to enhance our understanding of the physiological control and the environmental forcing of short-term oxygen isotope variability in pine trees in a mediterranean ecosystem. High-resolution hydroclimatic and dendroecologic data collected within the project bundle CorsicArchive will help to interpret the oxygen isotope chronologies and enables us to trace back sources of isotope variability, e.g. different water sources, origin of air masses. The combination of short-term high-resolution chronologies with already existing long-term chronologies in annual resolution enables us to transfer the short-term variability on a longer timescale and to model changes of isotope fractionation processes under different climatic regimes and climate changes scenarios in the Mediterranean area.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Frédéric Huneau