The Laboratory of Dendrochronology
Research projects
ARBODIAGNOSTIKA: Invazinės grybų rūšys vertingų medžių patogenezėje: pavojingų būklių diagnostika ir prognozė / Invasive fungi species in the pathogenesis of valuable trees: diagnosis and forecast of dangerous states. Project is supported by Reserch Council of Lithuania (LEK-10021).
August 2010 – December 2011
The main task was to investigate the sensitivity of valuable greeneries to invasions of the pathogenic fungi and to improve the detecting methods for new Phytophthora genus and other fungi causing damage in tree stems by applying the spatial diagnostic structure of internal damages.
The goals:
- To assess the disturbance symptoms of fungi from the Phytophthora genus investigating by a non-destructive impulsometric device Arbotom® 3D.
- To explore the differences in the symptoms from the other decay-causing fungi.
- To evaluate the diagnostic possibility of decay symptoms assessed by a non-destructive technique and to compare them to the results obtained using wood cores.
- To investigate the spread, variety and harm caused by pathogens of the Phytophthora genus injuring ornamental woody plants in Lithuania and to estimate the adaptation of the hosts.
- To ascertain the interaction between the vitality of trees and pathogen species and to develop the prediction models.
- To elaborate recommendations and publicize the information on the non-destructive diagnostic methods of the dangerous states of trees and the control of new pathogenic species.
ISONET (Variability using a High Resolution Isotopic Network): 400 years of Annual Reconstructions of European Climate. Project is supported by European commission within the 5th framework.
2003–2006
Main tasks:
- To establish a network for stable isotopes (C, H, O) ISONET in Europe, using oak and pine tree-ring chronologies for the last 400 years of climate spatiotemporal reconstruction.
- To investigate a potential indicator for climate change - seasonal signal accumulated in the tree ring series.
- To construct new models for non-linear transfer functions and processes, improving of meteorological and isotopic data usage.
- To ascertain information on natural processes change, characteristics of extreme events and present climate change, valuable for the independent verification and improvement of climate models and more effective policy. For this purpose, compiled models will be applied.
- To perform a computer-based image modelling of European climate change in 1601–2000 using constructed time series.
INTAS project 2001-0550: The Solar-terrestrial climate link in the past millennia and its influence on future climate
2002–2005
Main tasks:
- To reconstruct different parameters describing Solar activity over time scales of 1000 years, using available proxies as direct observations, historical data, records of cosmogenic isotopes and nitrate concentration in terrestrial archives and ice cores.
- To reconstruct summer temperatures in northern Fennoscandia during the last few thousand years.
- To reconstruct solar irradiance during the last 300–400 years.
- To measure the concentration of stable isotope 13C in tree rings from northern Finland during the last 500 years.
- To develop mathematical methods for statistical processing of long non-stationary time series corrupted by coloured and non-additive noises and irregularly distributed gaps.
- To perform statistical analyses on all the available data (both direct measurements and proxies, including the data obtained in the framework of the project) in order to identify factors that have influenced the terrestrial climate in the past few thousands of years.
- To investigate the solar-terrestrial climate link, its character, extent, and time evolution over time intervals from the last decades up to the last few millennia.
- To investigate the mechanisms of solar-climate interrelation.
- To prepare a forecast for climatic changes for the future one-two centuries.
Lithuanian State Sciences and Studies Foundation – Research on genetic biodiversity and growth heterogeneity of Scots pine
2005
Main tasks:
- To evaluate the role of genotype on the effect of extreme climatic conditions and climate change on the radial growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.).
- To estimate the dependence of genetic biodiversity on environmental pollution and to develop economically based growing recommendations for Scots pine in heavily polluted regions.
- To estimate the role of pine genotype on survival in the heavy anthropogenic regions.
- To develop economically based growing recommendations of Scots pine for Lithuanian foresters, taking into account results on genetic biodiversity.
- To improve the research methods on tree genetic biodiversity.
Lithuanian State Sciences and Studies Foundation – Complex investigation of Stone Age pile dwelling settlements
2001–2004
Responsible for the research work – Lithuanian Historical Institute. Leader Dr A. Girininkas.
Main tasks:
- To perform a comprehensive analysis of wooden construction remnants from Stone Age pile-dwelling settlements.
- To establish tree species, technological processing and age structure of trees used for house building by inhabitants.
- Dendrochronological dating of building and repairing wooden post constructions has been expected for the first time in Lithuania.
- To estimate the felling time of trees and seasonal building activity by inhabitants using anatomical analysis of the last tree cell structure.
- To reconstruct possible sites of trees used in constructions comparing radial growth dynamics of trees used in constructions with growth curves of living trees from the same species and different sites.
- Compiled tree radial growth chronologies would be valuable in analysing and dating other pile-dwelling settlements from the same period.
©Adomas Vitas