Alaska Gateway Project Update

Five Gateway Program students joined Greg Wiles (Wooster) in Juneau for a dendrochronological study of Yellow Cedar in Juneau, Alaska.  Their work supports the hypothesis that the trees are experiencing widespread mortality as a result of warmer springs, which promotes earlier melting of the insulating snowpack over the shallow root systems, making the trees susceptible to frost damage. Our study also provides well-replicated ring-width and BI records for further research on how trees respond to rapid climate change.  The “dendro” team also visited the Alaska State Museum and interacted with geoscientists from the University of Alaska.

Abstract submitted to Fall GSA Meeting:

Charlton, J., A. J. Cruz, M. M. Lummus, K. Loadholt, C. Messerich, G. Wiles, B. Burma, J. Krapek (2017). Yellow cedar growth response decadal climatic shifts at Cedar Lake, Juneau, Alaska. GSA Abstracts with Programs 49(6), dos: 10.1130/abs/2017AM-298740.