This award will establish a multi-century network of North African climate records based on tree rings. This will be accomplished by extending existing Moroccan tree ring chronologies geographically and temporally. New tree ring chronologies will be developed for Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. This network will then be used to study interannual to century-scale climate fluctuations in the region, and their links to large-scale patterns of climate variability (NAO, AO, ENSO, etc.). North Africa is an ideal region in which to find moisture-sensitive tree-ring sites most useful for developing mid-latitude climate reconstructions. It is important to utilize this tree-ring resource before population needs and land use changes destroy many of the oldest and most scientifically valuable forests.
A meeting of international collaborators will be held in Tucson prior to the first field season for exchange of methodologies, discussion of mutual research objectives, and detailed field planning with the North African colleagues. A series of seminars and will be conducted in North Africa (one each in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria) in order to present results and to garner feedback from users of the results. The meetings will emphasize dialogue between scientists, resource managers, and policymakers, focusing on the potential of incorporating results into resource management and planning, appropriate means of disseminating results, and future research-operational collaborative opportunities. These interactions should also aid in the development of in-country capacity. University of Arizona undergraduate students will also be an integral part of the project as these students will be trained in research methods, participate in field work, and be given an opportunity to present results at professional meetings.
