Students, Researchers Study Tree Ring Dating in Acadia, WABI Reports
WABI (Channel 5) reported that University of Maine students and researchers are studying the science of tree ring dating during the 25th annual North American Dendroecological Fieldweek (NADEF) in Acadia National Park. NADEF is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and aims to train students in dendrochronology, or the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of tree ring patterns, during an intensive week of fieldwork, laboratory exercises and lectures. The program, which has been run by Indiana State University since 2003, offers six lab groups led by 13 instructors from institutions across the country, each representing a specialty within the field of dendrochronology. Shawn Fraver, an assistant professor of forest ecosystems science in UMaine’s School of Forest Resources, is co-leading the stand dynamics group. Kara Costanza, a UMaine Ph.D. student working with Fraver, is co-teaching the introductory dendrochronology group. Fraver said researchers view tree ring patterns as a biological archive that contains the history of a tree’s growth. “From that growth pattern we can make inferences about the history of the stand,” Fraver said. Forty students from around the country, as well as Canada and India, are participating in the course. Four of the students are from UMaine.