Present State and Prospects of Research on Tree-ring Analysis in Japan

Abstract

In this paper, I have introduced the current status and outlook for the fi eld of tree ring analysis research in Japan, including dendrochronology, dendroclimatology and environmentology. There was a time when the application of dendrochronology techniques, which are commonly used in research of tree ring analysis, was considered diffi cult due to the warm climate and high volume of precipitation in Japan. In recent years, there have been growing ex p ectations for the application of these techniques, such as proposals for new concepts of dating in the area of archaeological age determination. In order to establish tree ring analysis research in Japan, it is essential that we investigate standardization functions applied to eliminating trend variations occurring with age from the tree ring time series, and functions applied to the calculation of minute variations resulting from environmental factors. In conjunction with this, the following examples have been proposed as potential projects for the future. 1 ） Comparative study of proposed functions. 2 ） Construction of a cross-check system for dated samples obtained with these techniques. 3 ） V erifi cation of the contribution ratio of environmental factors contributing to auxetic growth. 4 ） Construction of a database for accumulating information related to tree ring disk samples, measurement data and living-tree sites