TREE-RING RESEARCH, Vol. 73(1), 2017, pp. 53–56 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-73.1.53

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY THE FIRST MILLENNIUM-AGE ARAUCANA IN PATAGONIA

ISABELLA AGUILERA-BETTI1*, ARIEL A. MUÑOZ1,DANIELSTAHLE2, GINO FIGUEROA1,3, FERNANDO DUARTE1, ÁLVARO GONZÁLEZ-REYES4,5, DUNCAN CHRISTIE6, ANTONIO LARA6, MAURO E. GONZÁLEZ6, PAUL R. SHEPPARD7, DAVID SAUCHYN8, ANDRÉS MOREIRA-MUÑOZ9, ISADORA TOLEDO-GUERRERO1, MATÍAS OLEA1, PABLO APAZ1,10, and ALFONSO FERNANDEZ11 1Laboratorio de Dendrocronología y Estudios Ambientales, Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, 2Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA 3Universidad Andrés Bello, Viña del Mar, Chile 4Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile 5Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile 6Laboratorio de Dendrocronología y Cambio Global, Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile 7Laboratory of -Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA 8Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative, University of Regina, Regina, Canada 9Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile 10Paisaje Antofagasta LTDA, Antofagasta, Chile 11Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Keywords: , Pehuén, Llaima Volcano, Parque Nacional Conguillio, , Millennium-old Araucaria.

GENERAL BACKGROUND ON et al. 2013). After a long history of human de- ARAUCARIA ARAUCANA FORESTS struction of A. araucana forests, which reduced its range to half its original distribution, Chile The iconic Araucaria araucana (Arau- and now legally protect this endangered caria), called Pehuén by native people, is an en- species. These ecosystems continue to be threat- demic species of the of northern Patago- ened by logging, fires, and extensive livestock use. nia in Chile and Argentina. Its range encompasses These factors, and the potential threats posed by only three degrees of latitude (37◦20 –40◦20S) climate change, are among the main challenges with a small outlying presence in the coastal moun- to A. araucana conservation (González and Lara tains of Chile (Veblen et al. 1995). The species 2015). is classified as endangeredPremoli ( et al. 2013) because of extensive logging and human-set fires. Araucaria araucana has a long history of ethno- THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING OLD biological importance. For centuries the Pehuén A. ARAUCANA fruits have been a vital sustainable food source for the people () and today the In the mid-1950s, Edmund Schulman was growing industry of ecotourism indirectly serves the first dendrochronologist to carry out sampling to protect these forests (Aagesen 1998; González in Argentina and Chile, and he built the first chronologies of Fitzroya cupressoides and A. arau- cana (Schulman 1956). After Schulman, from 1973 * Corresponding author: [email protected] to 1978 Richard Holmes and Valmore LaMarche

Copyright C 2017 by The Tree-Ring Society 53 54 AGUILERA-BETTI ET AL.

Figure 1. (A) An image of the A. araucana tree-ring collection site at Captrén, Llaima Volcano, Chile. (B) Five of the longest A. araucana tree-ring growth series of individual trees from different sites across the Andes are plotted. Notice that the millennium-age tree from Captrén displays a continuously crossdated growth series over a thousand years in length. (C) A map of northern Patagonia displays the distribution of Araucaria araucana in blue, green triangles indicate the locations of A. araucana tree-ring collection sites, and orange circles indicate the locations of the longest growth series plotted in (B). were the first researchers to extensively collect tree- INFORMATION FROM A. ARAUCANA ring samples of A. araucana, crossdate the tree rings TREE-RING RESEARCH and develop chronologies (Holmes 1978; LaMarche et al. 1979, Suarez et al. 2014). Additional informa- Scientists from Chile, Argentina, and other tion about the first dendrochronological sampling countries have analyzed more than 1780 tree-ring campaigns in the Southern Andes can be found samples of A. araucana, producing more than 37 in Suarez et al. (2014). During these early collec- tree-ring chronologies from sites across its entire tions, some of the oldest individuals of A. arau- distribution (Figure 1). This valuable tree-ring ma- cana were discovered, reaching more than 800 years terial has been used for dendroclimatological stud- old. After more than 50 years of tree-ring research ies reconstructing streamflow variability of Chilean and contrary to the popular belief in Chile and and Argentinean rivers (Holmes et al. 1979; Mundo Argentina of the existence of millennium-aged A. et al. 2012a; Muñoz et al. 2016), temperature (Vil- araucana trees, not a single tree-ring sample reach- lalba et al. 1989), hemispheric-scale variations in ing one thousand years old had been documented. modes of atmospheric circulation (Villalba et al. Over these five decades of tree-ring research in A. 2012), and to fill gaps in century-long instrumen- araucana forests, challenges to building long tree- tal precipitation records from the Chilean Patag- ring chronologies have been (i) the scarcity of vir- onia (González-Reyes and Muñoz 2013). Arau- gin stands of old trees given the high impact of log- caria araucana also has been used in dendroeco- ging and human induced fires, (ii) the difficulty of logical studies of forest dynamics (González et al. finding well-defined growth rings in samples from 2010; Hadad et al. 2015a), tree-growth, climate and sites experiencing growth-limiting conditions such seed production relationships (Hadad et al. 2016), as high elevations or well-drained volcanic sub- spatio-temporal climate-growth analyses (Mundo strate, and (iii) A. araucana decomposes at a et al. 2012b; Muñoz et al. 2014), and fire history re- high rate. Sub-fossil wood quickly degrades on the constructions (González et al. 2005, 2006; Mundo forest floor, although some living trees experience et al. 2013). During the last decade, A. araucana heart-rot, where the core of the stem rots out, mak- tree rings have been used to detect the 14C “Bomb ing it impossible to reach the pith and accurately Peak” corroborated by the annual resolution of its determine the age of the tree. The examination of growth rings (Hadad et al. 2015b), utilized in pre- sub-aquatic wood preserved in Andean lakes could liminary δ13Candδ18O isotopes studies (Tognetti provide a new approach to extending chronologies et al. 2012), and in the analysis of chemical element of the species. markers to detect the occurrence of past volcanic The Oldest Araucaria Tree Documented 55 eruptions (Puchi et al. 2016). Furthermore, the need the effective protection of A. araucana must be se- for developing millennium-long climate reconstruc- cured to preserve one of the world’s most important tions in the Southern Hemisphere has renewed the botanical legacies. This finding serves to commem- interest of the international tree-ring community in orate and recognize the efforts of the many den- the use of A. araucana records from the northern drochronologists who have studied A. araucana and Patagonian Andes (Mundo et al. 2012b). reinforces the importance of future tree-ring stud- ies of this species. Finally, this finding confirms the popular belief of the existence millennium-aged A. THE DISCOVERY araucana individuals. In the summer season of 2015–2016, col- leagues from Chile, United States, and Canada, collected samples from an old-growth stand of A. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS araucana at the Captrén site near Llaima volcano Support was provided by the Chilean Research ◦ ◦ (38 39 S, 71 41 W) in Conguillío National Park, Council (FONDECYT 1151427), the Center for southern Chilean Andes. This collection provides Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2 (FONDAP the first sample of a living, annually crossdated tree 15110009) and Proyectos Internos Pontificia Uni- growing over 1000 years, reaching 1021 years old. versidad Católica de Valparaíso (039.353/2016 and Previous to this campaign, the Captrén chronol- 039.329/2016). This study was completed using the ogy started in the year 1664, but now this chronol- facilities of the Prairie Adaptation Research Col- ogy is the longest of the A. araucana network, be- laborative (PARC) at the University of Regina, ginning in the year 994. The second oldest tree in Canada, where support came from the IDRC spon- this chronology was 975 years old at the time of sored VACEA project. We thank the many re- sampling, implying the existence of more trees of searchers from different countries who have been in- great age at the site. From the complete network volved in Araucaria araucana studies, in particular of A. araucana chronologies, only a few came from we acknowledge; Ignacio Mundo, Martín Hadad, sites located close to volcanoes, probably because Waldo Iglesias, César Pérez, Mauricio Espinoza, the main dendrochronological studies of the species Carlos LeQuesne, Ricardo Villalba, Paulina Puchi, have been related to fire ecology and climatic signals Fidel Roig, Moisés Rojas and Ricardo Moreno. in the growth patterns. In addition, the existence of Special gratitude is extended to the Chilean Forest these old trees on the slopes of Llaima volcano indi- Service (Corporación Nacional Forestal: CONAF) cates the relative stability and moderate severity of for helping with fieldwork and giving us the support the eruptions at the site even though this volcano to develop dendrochronological research in Arau- is one of the most active in the southern Andes. caria ecosystems. 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