Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Atlantic and Mediterranean synoptic drivers of central Spanish juniper growth

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Climatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Atlantic and Mediterranean air masses influence the climate over the Iberian System mountain range. The relatively short instrumental records in central Spain though limit any long-term assessment of these synoptic systems. We here evaluate the potential to analyze such changes using ring width data from Juniperus thurifera trees growing in the northwestern and southeastern regions of the Iberian System, exposed to Atlantic and Mediterranean cyclonic activity, respectively. Comparison of tree rings with regional precipitation, temperature, and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) data indicates that juniper trees contain information on late spring and early summer drought conditions. Calibration trials using spatially resolved, gridded climate data reveal that the northwestern sampling site is predominantly controlled by Atlantic weather, while the southeastern site mainly reflects Mediterranean climate patterns. The strength and position of the blocking Azores high during spring to early summer is of particular importance for the distinct growth reactions in the Iberian System. The climate signal is remarkably strong in the southeastern site, where we developed the longest and best-replicated juniper tree ring record of the Iberian Peninsula. Data from this site allowed the reconstruction of May-June PDSI variability back to the early eighteenth century, indicating severe drought (PDSI < −9) in southeastern Spain in 1782, 1828, 1869, 1981, and 2005. The new PDSI record coheres well with historical rogation ceremony data from eastern Spain, indicating that common information on past drought events is inherent in both proxy archives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altava-Ortiz V, Llasat M-C, Ferrari E, Atencia A, Sirangelo B (2011) Monthly rainfall changes in central and western Mediterranean basins, at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. Int J Climatol 31:1943–1958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barriendos M (1997) Climatic variations in the Iberian peninsula during the late Maunder Minimum (AD 1675-1715): an analysis of data from rogation ceremonies. The Holocene 7:105–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camarero JJ, Olano JM, Parras A (2010) Plastic bimodal xylogenesis in conifers from continental Mediterranean climates. New Phytol 185:471–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Camarero JJ, Rozas V, Olano JM (2014) Minimum wood density of Juniperus thurifera is a robust proxy of spring water availability in a continental Mediterranean climate. J Biogeogr. doi:10.1111/jbi.12271

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Kairiukstis L (1990) Methods of dendrochronology: applications in the environmental sciences. Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Peters K (1981) The smoothing spline: a new approach to standardizing forest-interior tree-ring width series for dendroclimatic studies. Tree-Ring Bull 41:45–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Briffa KR, Meko DM, Graybill DA, Funkhouser G (1995) The ‘segment length curse’ in long tree-ring chronology development for palaeoclimatic studies. The Holocene 5:229–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook ER, Woodhouse CA, Eakin CM, Meko DM, Stahle DW (2004) Long-term aridity changes in the western United States. Science 306:1015–1018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dai A, Trenberth KE, Qian T (2004) A global dataset of Palmer Drought Severity Index for 1870–2002: relationship with soil moisture and effects of surface warming. J Hydrometeorol 5:1117–1130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSoto L, de La Cruz M, Fonti P (2011) Intra-annual patterns of tracheid size in the Mediterranean tree Juniperus thurifera as an indicator of seasonal water stress. Can J For Res 41:1280–1294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSoto L, Camarero JJ, Olano JM, Rozas V (2012) Geographically structured and temporally unstable growth responses of Juniperus thurifera to recent climate variability in the Iberian Peninsula. Eur J For Res 131:905–917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSoto L, Varino F, Andrade JP, Gouveia CM, Campelo F, Trigo RM, Nabais C (2014) Different growth sensitivity to climate of the conifer Juniperus thurifera on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. Int J Biometeorol. doi:10.1007/s00484-014-0811-y

    Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Santisteban JI, Barriendos M, Mediavilla R (2008) Reconstruction of drought episodes for central Spain from rogation ceremonies recorded at the Toledo Cathedral from 1506 to 1900: a methodological approach. Glob Planet Chang 63:230–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Ribera P, García-Herrera R, Barriendos M (2010) A shift in the spatial pattern of Iberia droughts during the 17th century. Clim Past 6:553–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domínguez-Castro F, Ribera P, García-Herrera R, Vaquero JM, Barriendos M, Cuadrat JM, Moreno JM (2012) Assessing extreme droughts in Spain during 1750–1850 from rogation ceremonies. Clim Past 8:705–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esper J, Cook ER, Schweingruber FH (2002) Low-frequency signals in long tree-ring chronologies and the reconstruction of past temperature variability. Science 295:2250–2253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esper J, Frank DC, Wilson RJS, Briffa KR (2005) Effect of scaling and regression on reconstructed temperature amplitude for the past millennium. Geophys Res Lett 32, doi: 10.1029/2004GL021236

  • Esper J, Frank DC, Büntgen U, Verstege A, Luterbacher J, Xoplaki E (2007) Long-term drought severity variations in Morocco. Geophys Res Lett 34, doi: 10.1029/2007GL030844

  • Esteban-Parra MJ, Rodrigo FS, Castro-Díez Y (1998) Spatial and temporal patterns of precipitation in Spain for the period 1880–1992. Int J Climatol 18:1557–1574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauquelin T, Bertaudiere V, Montes N, Badri W, Asmode JF (1999) Endangered stands of thuriferous juniper in the western Mediterranean basin: ecological status, conservation and management. Biodiv Conserv 8:1479–1498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giorgi F, Lionello P (2008) Climate change projections for the Mediterranean region. Glob Plan Chang 63:90–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2013) Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Luterbacher J, Xoplaki E, Dietrich D, Rickli R, Jacobeit J, Beck C, Gyalistras D, Schmutz C, Wanner H (2002) Reconstruction of sea level pressure fields over the eastern north Atlantic and Europe back to 1500. Clim Dyn 18:545–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luterbacher J, Garcia-Herrera R, Allan R, et al (2012) A review of 2000 years of paleoclimatic evidence in the Mediterranean. In: Lionello P (ed) The climate of the Mediterranean region: from the past to the future. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 87–185

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Luterbacher J, Werner J, Fleitmann D, Gonzalez-Rouco JF, McCarroll D, Wagner S, Zorita E, Gómez- Navarro J, Büntgen U, Esper J (2014) Hydroclimatic reconstructions over Europe and the Mediterranean. Pages Mag 22:38

    Google Scholar 

  • Martín-Vide J, Barriendos M (1995) The use of rogation ceremony records in climatic reconstruction: a case study from Catalonia (Spain). Clim Chang 30:201–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montesinos D, Villar-Salvador P, García-Fayos P, Verdú M (2012) Genders in Juniperus thurifera have different functional responses to variations in nutrient availability. New Phytol 193:705–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olano JM, Eugenio M, García-Cervigón Morales AI, Folch M, Rozas V (2012) Quantitative tracheid anatomy reveals a complex environmental control of wood structure in continental Mediterranean climate. Int J Plant Sci 173:137–149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer WC (1965) Meteorological drought. Research Paper 45, US Dept. Commerce, Washington

  • Panofsky HA, Brier GW (1958) Some applications of statistics to meteorology. Univ. Park, Pennsylvania

  • Rivas-Martínez S (1983) Pisos bioclimáticos de España. Lazaroa 5:33–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Puebla C, Encinas AH, Nieto S, Garmendia J (1998) Spatial and temporal patterns of annual precipitation variability over the Iberian Peninsula. Int J Climatol 18:299–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozas V, DeSoto L, Olano JM (2009) Sex-specific, age-dependent sensitivity of tree-ring growth to climate in the dioecious tree Juniperus thurifera. New Phytol 182:687–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweingruber FH (1983) Der Jahrring: Standort, Methodik, Zeit und Klima in der Dendrochronologie. Haupt Verlag, Bern

    Google Scholar 

  • Trouet V, Esper J, Graham NE, Baker A, Scourse JD, Frank DC (2009) Persistent positive North Atlantic Oscillation mode dominated the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Science 324:78–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Schrier G, Briffa KR, Jones PD, Osborn TJ (2006) Summer moisture variability across Europe. J Clim 19:2818–2834

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente-Serrano SM, Cuadrat JM (2007) North Atlantic Oscillation control of drought in north-east Spain: evaluation since 1600 A.D. Clim Chang 85:357–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wigley TML, Briffa KR, Jones PD (1984) On the average of correlated time series, with applications in dendroclimatology and hydrometeorology. J Clim Appl Meteorol 23:201–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank G. Sangüesa-Barreda and R. Hernández for the help in the field. This study was supported by the Mainz Geocycles Research Center. JJC received support from ARAID and projects CGL2011-26654 (Spanish Ministry of Economy) and 387-2011 (OAPN). FDC received support from the Prometeo Project, Secretariat of Higher Learning, Science, Technology and Innovation (Ecuador Government). UB received support from the Operational Program of Education for Competitiveness of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Project: Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought, No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Jan Esper & Janine Großjean

  2. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IPE-CSIC), 50080, Zaragoza, Spain

    Jesús Julio Camarero

  3. Dept. d’Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 645, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Jesús Julio Camarero

  4. Laboratorio de Botánica, EUI Agrarias de Soria, Universidad de Valladolid, Los Pajaritos s/n, 42004, Soria, Spain

    Ana I. García-Cervigón & José M. Olano

  5. Departamento Astrofísica y CC de la Atmósfera, IGEO (UCM-CSIC), Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    J. Fidel González-Rouco

  6. Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador

    Fernando Domínguez-Castro

  7. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Ulf Büntgen

  8. Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Ulf Büntgen

  9. Global Change Research Centre AS CR, v.v.i., Bělidla 986/4a, CZ-60300, Brno, Czech Republic

    Ulf Büntgen

Authors
  1. Jan Esper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Janine Großjean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jesús Julio Camarero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ana I. García-Cervigón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. José M. Olano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J. Fidel González-Rouco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Fernando Domínguez-Castro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ulf Büntgen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Esper.

Additional information

Revision submitted to Theoretical and Applied Climatology

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Esper, J., Großjean, J., Camarero, J.J. et al. Atlantic and Mediterranean synoptic drivers of central Spanish juniper growth. Theor Appl Climatol 121, 571–579 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1254-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1254-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation