This award will help expand the temporal and spatial coverage of climate-sensitive tree-ring chronologies in the Gulf of Mexico region. These proxy climate records will be used with existing data to define decadal drought and wetness regimes over North America and examine its connections with climatic events and systems such as the El Nino Northern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and the North American Monsoon System.
Paleoclimate data from Mexico will be examined for decadal climate variability. Tree-ring chronologies will be examined to reconstruct climate and climate related variables such as streamflow and crop yields. These records will be examined to assess the impact of climate extremes on past and current human cultures in the research area.
This research will greatly expand the coverage of climate-sensitive tree-ring chronologies in the Gulf of Mexico region that will help document the existence and extent of many ancient forest remnants. The research will provide science experience and training for undergraduate and graduate students in the United States and Latin America and encourage research partnerships across national borders.
