A subfossil pine from the Austrian Alps
Introduction:
Tree-ring-based temperature reconstructions represent the backbone of high-resolution palaeoclimatology by providing useful long-term perspectives on global climate. A recent dispute regarding the potential misdating of ring-width chronologies due to ‘missing rings’1–6, for trees growing near their thermal distribution limit, has raised questions about the reliability of tree-ring chronologies as annually resolved and absolutely dated climate proxy archives. Consequently, the debate introduces doubt about the validity of tree-ring-based temperature reconstructions. The claim of missing tree rings, caused by exceptional summer cooling following large volcanic eruptions, is based on the experimental results of a cambial growth model, driven by simulated climate variations, which estimates tree growth during intervals of low temperatures4. Although this experiment has been substantially critiqued1–3, there has not yet been confirmation of the dating precision in temperature-sensitive ring-width chronologies using non- dendrochronological methods. …