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ForBioSensing - Forest history recorded by trees

Specialists in the ForBioSensing project analyze the history of forests in the Bialowieza Forest written in annual growth rings of trees. The purpose of these activities is to learn about the long-term dynamics and history of the development of stands, made possible by dendrochronology, assigning individual annual growth rings to the relevant calendar years.

As part of the task, the project analyzes material from 100 dendrochronological areas located in selected old trees of the Białowieska Forest. The characteristic pattern recorded in wood created by the different grain rings resembles a bar code found on e.g. food products. The task of ForBioSensing specialists is to decipher such a code that was saved in wood in a natural way as a tree's response to climatic conditions. The process of breaking this code is dendrochronological dating.

For dating it is necessary to reference chronology. It assigns the average annual growth for a given tree species and climate region to individual calendar years. The time of creation of the annual growth sequence of the examined wood sample is determined by comparing the measurement of their width with the local reference chronology of the analyzed species.

Dendrochronological dating of wood samples gives results with an accuracy of one year, i.e. all annual growth rings are clearly assigned to calendar years. Dendrochronological analyzes conducted in the ForBioSensing project will allow, among others recognize the conditions under which trees have been growing in the Białowieża Forest for the last several hundred years.

 

Text. E.Zin, W.Duranowska

Photos. ForBioSensing