Exploring Dendromastecology with Longleaf Pine

Longleaf pine is an endangered, long-lived trees species that once dominated the Coastal Plains and Piedmont ecoregions in the southeastern United States. Currently, its range has been reduced by as much as 97% due to various land-use changes and anthropogenic processes. Reaming old-growth stands provide a resource to understand ecological relationships for an ecosystem undergoing restoration. While cone-crop data has been collected by the USFS for >40 years, a paucity of research exists that explores the effects of cone production on radial growth. This research has three objectives. First I am exploring the effects of cone production on radial growth of longleaf pines to determine if cone-crop data strengthens the accuracy of climate reconstructions. Second, I will determine if climate triggers for masting events can be detected. Third, I am exploring if a relationship between masting events and vector-borne illnesses exists for longleaf pine. If the latter objective can be met, my research will serve as the first reconstruction of vector-borne illnesses from tree-ring data, a tree-ring science subfield that I will call dendroepidemiology.