Page 1 TRACE 2009

Material

REGIONS

• Thethi

• Lura

• Tomor(Cuka Partisan)

MACEDONIA

GREECE

MONTENEGRO

KOSOVO

ALBANIA

ITALY

Tree sites (Pinus heldreichii)Historical material (P. heldreichii, P. nigra)

Thethi

Lura

KorçëTomor

Page 2 TRACE 2009

MaterialMaterial

Replication of the sites

• Thethi 1700-1900 m asl:– MSL 270– Mean age: 281

• Lura 1800-2000 m asl:– MSL 422– Mean age: 394

• C. Partisan 1800-2000 m asl:– MSL 298– Mean age: 308

n=24 radii

n=109 radii

n=60 radii

n=66 radii

n=17 radii

n=14 radii

n=16 radii

Page 3 TRACE 2009

First resultsFirst results

Correlation between sites

AT-AL: r=0.67

AL-AP: r=0.60

AP-AL: r=0.45

common period AD

1405 - 2008

AT1-AT2: r=0.31

AT1-AT3: r=0.43

AT2-AT3: r=0.54

AL1-AL2: r=0.57

AP1-AP2: r=0.61

common period AD

1451 - 2008

Page 4 TRACE 2009

First resultsFirst results

JJA Temperatures

JJA Precipitation

Broader Balkan Region - Climate data

• Temperature is quite homogeneous

• Precipitation is of localcharacter

Page 5 TRACE 2009

First resultsFirst resultsC

orr

elat

ion

Temperature PrecipitationTirana 1951-1980 Tirana 1951-1990

Page 6 TRACE 2009

First resultsFirst results

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

years

ind

ices

bp01

bp02

bp04

AT

AL

AP

Relationship to Bulgaria

r = AL AP AT

bp01 0,63 0,51 0,44

bp02 0,44 0,36 0,35

bp03 0,40 0,41 0,40

Page 7 TRACE 2009

Conclusion and perspectivesConclusion and perspectives

Conclusion

• We have very old material reaching back to 617 AD with the oldest individual counting 1017 tree rings.

• Signal strength within and between sites is rather high, when a good replication is reached.

• The climate signal contained, however, is still weak,but with visible tendency towards winter temperatures and summer drought.

Page 8 TRACE 2009

Conclusion and perspectivesConclusion and perspectives

Needs

Find methods to improve the climate signal, e.g.:

- High-frequency analyses considering extreme years

- Test more detrending procedures

- Measurements of stable isotopes and maximum late wood densities

Increase replication before 1250 AD => potentially including historical material

=> Long-term climate reconstruction for Albania