Harvard Forest Tree Ring Chronology for Paleoclimate Reconstruction

111 years of tree ring data from the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, covering the period from 53 to -58 calendar years before present. The dataset was archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and provides parameters for climate reconstruction. It was last updated in 2008.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past temperature or precipitation anomalies using the tree ring width chronology.
• Calibrate climate models by comparing the tree ring proxy record with instrumental data for the region.
• Analyze growth trends and extreme climate events within the 111-year time series from Massachusetts.
• Study forest resilience and response to historical climate conditions documented in the ITRDB series MA022.

Strengths

• Covers a 111-year time period for climate analysis.
• Part of the authoritative International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends at -58 BP, providing no data for recent centuries.
• Sample size and replication statistics for the tree ring series are unknown.
• Data has not been updated since 2008.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Collection Method

Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology).

Time Range

53 to -58 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

Last updated in 2008.

Geography

Harvard Forest, Petersham, Massachusetts, United States.