DendroLab
How do trees grow? How do they respond to climate change? And what can wood and charcoal reveal about forests of the past? At the DendroLab tree-ring laboratory, we investigate such questions using dendrochronological and wood-anatomical methods. We analyse modern, historical and archaeological wood samples as well as charcoal remains.
© Marieke van der Maaten
Tree rings: the archive of trees
Tree rings form a unique archive of the past and provide valuable information for research questions ranging from archaeology to ecology. Tree-ring research, also known as dendrochronology, makes use of the fact that trees record environmental conditions and disturbances in their ring structure. Tree-ring width, for example, varies from year to year depending on the conditions under which a tree grows.
At the DendroLab, we “read” this archive to investigate how environmental processes and site conditions shape tree growth and vitality. The resulting insights help us assess how forests may respond to global change and how forest management can support their resilience. Historical and archaeological wood, together with charcoal remains, also provide insights into past tree-species composition, forest use and growing conditions.