Process models and model-data fusion in dendroecology

Abstract

Dendrochronology (i.e., the study of annually dated tree-ring time series) has proved to be a powerful technique to understand tree-growth. This paper intends to show the interest of using ecophysiological modeling not only to understand and predict tree-growth (dendroecology) but also to reconstruct past climates (dendroclimatology). Process models have been used for several decades in dendroclimatology, but it is only recently that methods of model-data fusion have led to significant progress in modeling tree-growth as a function of climate and in reconstructing past climates. These model-data fusion (MDF) methods, mainly based on the Bayesian paradigm, have been shown to be powerful for both model calibration and model inversion. After a rapid survey of tree-growth modeling, we illustrate MDF with examples based on series of Southern France Aleppo pines and Central France oaks. These examples show that if plants experienced CO 2 fertilization, this would have a significant effect on tree-growth which in turn would bias the climate reconstructions. This bias could be extended to other environmental non-climatic factors directly or indirectly affecting annual ring formation and not taken into account in classical empirical models, which supports the use of more complex process-based models. Finally, we conclude by showing the interest of the data assimilation methods applied in climatology to produce climate re-analyses.