Dendrogeomorphology Working Group
WG Chairs:
Prof. Markus Stoffel
Bern (Switzerland)
Dr. Christophe Corona
Clermont Ferrand (France)
Introduction to WG activity
A major key to the assessment of hazards and risks is the documentation of geomorphic processes and natural disasters. The significant contribution of tree rings to these endeavors lies in their capacity to preserve evidence of past (hydro-)geomorphic activity and to provide critical information on their dating with (sub-)annual resolution. Therefore, in many climates, the tree-ring record may represent one of the most precise natural archives for the reconstruction and understanding of processes and for time periods of several hundred years. The initial employment of tree rings in geomorphic studies was simply as a dating tool. However, as many geomorphic processes are also significant natural hazards, understanding their distribution, timing and controls provides valuable information that can assist in the development of mitigation and defence against these hazards and their effects on society. Despite the ever increasing popularity of dendrogeomorphology, a common understanding of parameters to be used and a weighting of indicators to distinguish signal from noise is still largely missing, and the reconstruction of time series of events is still being based on largely varying criteria. The suggested working group thus aims at developing protocols and guidelines on how to use growth disturbances, how to assess their intensity and on what minimum requirements these disturbances need to fulfill in terms of numbers and intensity to be considered as evidence of geomorphic events. Through the organizing of (at least) two workshops we would like to establish a range of techniques and approaches that may become standard practice in the analysis of specific geomorphic, geologic and hydrologic processes in the future.
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Forthcomings Thematic session at AmeriDendro 2015 www.treeringsociety.org/Ameridendro1stCircular.pdf
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NEWS Workshop on new techniques, approaches and statistics in dendrogeomorphology scheduled for July 2016 in Berne (Switzerland)
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