Dendrohydrologic Collections in the Jemez Mountains Region
Touchan R, Meko DM, Woodhouse C. 2009. Dendrohydrologic Collections in the Jemez Mountains Region
The goal of this project is to increase understanding of the long-term natural variability of this region by developing tree-ring based reconstructions of hydro-climatic variability for the Jemez Mountains. Our new reconstruction of cool-season (October-June) precipitation documents 1181 years of climate and drought variability that can be used to place current and 20th century wet and dry events into a long-term context. Records of past hydro-climatic variability can be used to guide expectations of future variability, aid sustainable management, provide scenarios for drought planning and as inputs for hydrologic models to test systems under a broader range of conditions than those provided by the historical climate records. The outcome of this research will furnish planners, managers, and decision-makers with the knowledge and tools necessary to employ ex-ante planning processes in future management of northern New Mexico water resources. In addition, this reconstruction will help to assess the associations between fire regimes and environmental factors.