The dendrochronological potential of decayed yew wood |
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| Institution: | 1. Tree-Ring Services, Oakraven Field Centre, Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire GL17 0EE, UK;2. Ancient Yew Group, UK;1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, B?dzińska 60, Sosnowiec 41-200, Poland;2. Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wroclaw, Plac Uniwersytecki 1, Wroc?aw 50-137, Poland;1. Tree-ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA;2. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA;3. CREAF, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain;4. ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys, 23, Barcelona, Spain;5. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, CA 95616, USA;6. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia;7. Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA;8. Earth System Science Department, University of California, B321 Croul Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA;9. Department of Geology, National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), CSIC, Madrid, Spain;10. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, CP5500, CC330, Mendoza, Argentina;1. Visser Statistical Research, Arnhem, the Netherlands;2. Chair of Forest Growth and Woody Biomass Production, TU Dresden, Tharandt, Germany |
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| Abstract: | A significant difficulty in the accurate ageing of many of the largest-diameter yew trees (Taxus baccata L.) found in the United Kingdom is their vulnerability to heartwood decay. This has presented a considerable barrier to extending yew chronologies beyond c.330 years into the past. Decayed wood often survives within the sound cylindrical structure of hollow and hollowing yews. Here we present the analysis of such decayed yew wood using a novel wet-scanning technique. Long series for four out of five large hollow yew trees sampled are successfully cross-matched to produce a 374-year-long mean series spanning 1532–1905. These newly dated series extend the previous mean UK yew chronology by 158 years. Although currently undated, the central decayed material from the largest yew at Selborne produces a 196-year series which is likely to include material from the 14th century. Given the number of large hollow yew trees surviving in the UK, this research highlights the potential for using decayed yew wood to improve the ageing of yew trees and extending a regional yew chronology. |
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| Keywords: | Dendrochronology Decayed wood Yew |
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