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Lecturer(s)
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Doležal Jiří, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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Content of lectures: 1. Introduction of dendrochronology as a scientific method of dating tree age using tree rings and reconstruction of growth rate variability. 2. Comparative anatomy and xylogeny of temperate woody species. 2. Dendroclimatology as a scientific discipline for the study of climatic and atmospheric conditions during various historical periods. 3. Study of year-to-year variability of growth in relation to variability of temperatures, precipitation and extreme events such as droughts, floods, avalanches, insect calamities. 3. Seasonal growth dynamics. Diurnal growth changes. Dendrometers. 4. Comparative anatomy and growth analysis of tropical tree species. 5. Dendroarcheology. 5. Tree growth and competition. 6. Comparative anatomy of herbs and grasses 7. Herbochronology, growth analysis of herbs. 8. Use of dendrochronology in the study of reconstruction of natural or anthropogenic disturbances such as tropical cyclones, forest fires or forest management. 9. Dendrochronology of stable isotopes. 10. Practice in dendrochronological laboratory: measurement of age of trees, shrubs and herbs. 11. Practice in anatomical laboratories: preparation of permanent slides for the study of wood anatomy in trees, shrubs and herbs. 12. Statistical analyses of anatomical and dendrochronological data. Content of practices: Part of the course will be a practice in dendrochronological laboratories of the Institute of Botany ASCR in Trebon. Students will learn various dendrochronological methods. Laboratory provides ring width measurement and other advanced densitometric analyzes, anatomical analyzes and complete sample samples for isotopes. Main equipment includes more than 30 Pressler augers of various lengths (20-80 cm), SmartBorer for fast data collection, microtoms, several stereomicroscopes, two complete Lintab measuring sets including TSAP, measuring system Timetable, Dendrocut - double saw on densitometry, densitometric tree scanner (model QTRS-01X).
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Work with text (with textbook, with book), Demonstration, Laboratory, Practical training
- Class attendance
- 26 hours per semester
- Field trip
- 40 hours per semester
- Preparation for credit
- 20 hours per semester
- Preparation for exam
- 20 hours per semester
- Semestral paper
- 20 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of dendrochronology course is to introduce the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed and reconstructing their growth histories. As well as learning of dating trees the course will introduce other subdisciplines such as dendroclimatology, dendroarchaeology and herbchronology or art history. Dendroclimatology is the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from wood. Dendroclimatology is the science of determining past climates from trees primarily from the properties of the annual tree rings. Other properties of the annual rings, such as earlywood and latewood ring width or maximum latewood density (MXD) have been shown to be better proxies than simple ring width. Dendroarchaeology is the term for the application of dendrochronology in archaeology for example for the dating of buildings with wooden structures and components. Dendrochronology has become important to art historians in the dating of panel paintings and for providing information as to the source of the panel. Herbchronology is the analysis of annual growth rings (or simply annual rings) in the secondary root xylem of perennial herbaceous plants. The course will also introduce how dendrochronological methods can be used in reconstructions of tropical cyclone activity, impact of climate change on forest growth and long-term forest dynamics, for detection of forest disturbances and past forest management. The practicals will be conducted in dendrochronology lab of the Institute of Botany in Trebon (23 km east of Ceske Budejovice). The lab has modern equipment for sample collection, basic tree-ring width measurement as well as more developed density measurement, anatomical analyses and full sample preparation for isotope analyses. It is equiped with more than 30 increment borers of different lengths (20-80 cm), SmartBorer for effective sampling, core and lab microtome for sample preparation, several binocular microscopes, two Lintab measuring systems with TSAP software, TimeTable measuring systems with Past 5 software, Dendrocut - twin blade saw for sample preparation for densitometric analysis, densitometer Tree Ring Scanner (Model QTRS-01X).
We assume basic knowledge of plant taxonomy and morphology, vegetation ecology and biostatistics.
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Prerequisites
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The lecture does not strictly require specific input knowledge. We assume basic knowledge of plant taxonomy and morphology, vegetation ecology and biostatistics.
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Oral examination, Student performance assessment, Seminar work
Students are obliged to attend lectures (80%), practices (100%), prepare presentations (ca 30 min) and research summary from three scientific articles on recommended literature.
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Recommended literature
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Cook ER, Holmes RL 1996. Users Manual for Program ARSTAN. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
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Doležal, Dvorský, Borner A, Wild J, Schweingruber F. 2018. Anatomy, age and ecology of high-mountain plants in Ladakh, the Western Himalaya. Springer, 616 p..
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Gärtner H & Schweingruber FH. 2013. Microscopic Preparation Techniques for Plant Stem Analysis. (78 p.), Remagen, Verlag Dr. Kessel..
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Grissino-Mayer, Henri D. (n.d.). The Science of Tree Rings: Principles of Dendrochronology, Department of Geography, The University of Tennessee, archived from the original on November 4, 2016, retrieved October 23, 2016.
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Lynn, Chris (2003). Navan Fort: Archaeology and Myth. Spain: Wordwell Books..
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Schweingruber F., Kucerova A, Adamec L, Dolezal J. 2019. Anatomic Atlas of Aquatic and Wetland Plant Stems. Springer. Berlin, 2019. ISBN 978-3-030-33419-2.
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Šťastná P, Klimešová J, Doležal J. 2012. Altitudinal changes in growth performance and allometry of Rumex alpinus. Alpine Botany 122: 35-44.. 2012.
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