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Drought stress signals in modern and subfossil Quercus laurifolia (Fagaceae) leaves reflect winter precipitation in southern Florida tied to El Niño–Southern Oscillation activity
Author(s) -
WagnerCremer Friederike,
Donders Timme H.,
Visscher Henk
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.3732/ajb.0900196
Subject(s) - subfossil , herbarium , precipitation , quercus serrata , subtropics , peat , biology , fagaceae , botany , ecology , holocene , geography , paleontology , meteorology
In the present study, structural xeromorphic features in modern and subfossil Quercus laurifolia leaves from southern Florida were quantified to reconstruct past precipitation changes in sensitive terrestrial settings. Absolute cell numbers/mm 2 , quantified as epidermal cell density (ED) have been analyzed on leaves from herbarium collections as well as the leaves accumulated during the past 125 years in peat deposits. The results reveal a common principal correlation between the measured ED and winter precipitation (November through March, NDJFM: Herbarium r = −0.74; peat profiles FAK98 r = −0.72, FAK02 r = −0.53) providing a measure of seasonal drought stress. In Florida, the amount of winter precipitation depends on El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity, where El Niño years produce wet and cold winters, while La Niña winters are dry and warm. The negative correlation between cell numbers and winter precipitation has the potential to record precipitation variability from subfossil leaves on near‐annual to decadal time scales. In subtropical, terrestrial environments, where traditional paleo‐proxies are limited, systematic analysis of leaf morphological characteristics can provide important information on precipitation changes through time.