Dendroclimatic response of a Multi-species chronology in the wet Miombo woodland of Zambia

Keywords: Zambia, tropical species, Julbenadia paniculata, Brachystegia longifolia, Pericopsis angolensis, Chembe Bird Sanctuary
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Zambia is a tropical landlocked country that lies in the South-Central part of Africa. Its climate features distinct dry and rainy seasons. This is mainly influenced by the north and south movement of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which shifts seasonally. This research focuses on understanding the role of trees in the ecosystem and how climate change affects forest density. A forest owned by African Explosives Limited (AEL) was chosen as the study site because it is undisturbed. It lies 15 km South of Mufulira, Zambia. We have collected tree cores samples of 32 tropical species, among them Julbernadia paniculata, Brachystegia longifolia, and Pericopsis angolensis. This will be the first dendroclimatic evaluation of some of the mentioned species, which will provide valuable information about the climatic factors that limit growth of deciduous trees in Zambia. We plan to build chronologies from the ten most useful species and look at the relationship of tree growth to climate and later share these findings with International Tree Ring DataBank (ITRDB). We used Multiple Variable Area Transect (MVAT) for our sampling methodology and found that P. angolensis had the highest number of trees per hectare, followed by B. longifolia. We constructed a standard multispecies chronology in R. Tree ring width response to climate was also reported and current February and August precipitation showed a strong correlation. Previous January temperature also showed a strong correlation to tree growth.