Introduction

In 1986 concern for the impacts of air pollution on forest health and demonstrating the usefulness of dendrochronological techniques to detect or measure affects due to human activities, drew 130 people, representing 13 countries, to the first International Tree-Ring Conference in Terrytown, New York. Every four years since the international tree-ring community gets together to familiarize themselves with one another, their work and advances in the science of dendrochronology. These infrequent gatherings provide a valuable infusion of new standards and ideas to our discipline’s scientific growth. In 2010 the organizing committee of the WorldDendro Conference in Rovaniemi, Finland (June 13-18) predict an attendance over 400 participants from more than 30 countries. Our discipline continues to grow.

Despite dendrochornology’s growing popularity there are still few schools in the world where the tool receives more then mere mention. Consequently, it is not surprising that Dendroecological Fieldweeks have become a popular educational supplement. Since 1986 there have been hundreds of graduates from the many Fieldweeks held annually around the world, proof that the program provides a valuable service. If a WorldDendro Conference highlights the latest and greatest achievements from our discipline’s practitioners then a WorldDendro Fieldweek must be equally stellar and provide the best practical educational experience our community can offer.

Announcement

In just under two months time the International Conference on Dendrochronology, Fieldweek we will be convening for the 5th time since 1994. If you have not already registered you should do it soon as the roster is filling up. In this announcement we would like to tell you a little more about the daily schedule of events and some reminders of what to bring.

Schedule

Sunday, June 6th

Participants arrival:
On the evening of June 6th we will have our first evening meal together. After supper we will gather for an informal introduction of all instructors and participants where everyone will briefly introduce themselves to the whole group.

Evening Seminar: The Mekrijärvi Research Station – Taneli Kolström
Following our introductions there will be a short presentation about the Mekrijärvi Research Station and the local ecology, including a review of the activities and studies carried out at Mekrijärvi.

Monday, June 7th

Site visits and group formation:
After breakfast on Monday we will organize ourselves to visit representative examples of the sites each group will be working in. At each stop the appropriate group instructors will give a small presentations of the types of questions and information they hope to ask and collect from the site. This introduction is intended to give everyone an appreciation for what each group will be doing and also to provide some insights on how an experiment can start with one objective then change as real data is acquired.

After the introductory site visit we will break up into our individual groups. For the rest of the afternoon each group will begin to plan their strategy for the remainder of the week.

Evening Seminar: Basics of Dendrochronology – Jim Speer
The first evening, after supper, will be a short lecture on the Basics of Dendrochronology. This lecture will include everything from first principles to care and maintenance of equipment. Most importantly Jim will cover the fundamentals of crossdating, all Dendrochronologists must know what it means and to recognize its advantage.

Tuesday, June 8th

Project work:
From now until Friday June 11th the days and nights are open for each group to proceed on their project work.

Evening Seminar: Tree-Biology – Kevin Smith
What is in a Ring? It helps to understand that a tree is a long life, organism struggling to survive without mobility. There are tradeoffs and advantages to its survival strategy. What are they and how do the effect the records of environmental change we are interested in studying? Photosyntate production and allocation, wound response, soil and atmosphere interaction, elemental absorption and distribution, xylem formation, are all subjects a Dendrochronologist must be aware of. In this lecture Kevin will introduce the topic of tree-biology as it pertains to understanding ring formation

Wednesday, June 9th

Project work:

Evening Seminar: Chronology building – Ed Cook
Standardization, detrending, white noise, red noise RCS. What do these terms mean in Dendrochronology and why must we know something about them? Dendrochronology is built on the detection and replication of similar patterns but there are many ways to produce or express these patterns from a collection of trees. The most common is called a chronology. In this lecture Ed will describe and demonstrate some of the basics in chronology building beginning with a discussion of standardization and concluding with a demonstration of his program ARSTAN.

Thursday, June 10th
Project work:

Evening Seminar: To Be Announced.

Friday, June 11th
Project work:

Saturday, June 12th

Final Presentations:
On the last day of the Fieldweek we will all convene to see and learn what each of the individual groups have discovered over the course of the week. Each group will have one hour to give an oral presentation of their work and entertain questions for the audience. Upon completion of the presentation each group will present a written report of their weeks findings.

Sunday, May 13th

In Sunday morning after breakfast we must all leave the station. A bus will take those continuing on to the WorldDendro Conference in Rovaniemi around 9am.

Preparing for the Fieldweek

To begin with, one should come prepared for cool wet weather. We hope it will be wonderfully warm but you never know. Bring your toothbrush and toothpaste, a water bottle and knapsack. Don’t forget sturdy shoes, sweater, towel and bathing suit along with any other items you need to be comfortable spending days in the field evenings in the lab.

Once you have made your travel arrangements please send them to us so we know when to expect you. When we see there is a critical mass of participants arriving at more or less the same time at the same location we will arrange a pickup. If we do not know when you are coming we cannot help you.

The Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research, through Stockholm University, is offering 1.5 ECTS credits for qualified student participants. If you would like to be considered to receive academic credit for your participation in this course please let us know by sending an email to paul.krusic@natgeo.su.se

Hope to see you in Mekrijärvi

-pjk

May 12, 2010