Abstract
Abstract Over recent decades, the southeastern United States (Southeast) has become increasingly well represented by the terrestrial climate proxy record. However, while the paleo proxy records capture the region's hydroclimatic history over the last several centuries, the understanding of near surface air temperature variability is confined to the comparatively shorter observational period (1895‐present). Here, we detail the application of blue intensity (BI) methods on a network of tree‐ring collections and examine their utility for producing robust paleotemperature estimates. Results indicate that maximum latewood BI (LWBI) chronologies exhibit positive and temporally stable correlations ( r = 0.28–0.54, p < 0.01) with summer maximum temperatures. As such, we use a network of LWBI chronologies to reconstruct August‐September average maximum temperatures for the Southeast spanning the period 1760–2010 CE. Our work demonstrates the utility of applying novel dendrochronological techniques to improve the understanding of the multi‐centennial temperature history of the Southeast.
Plain Language Summary Tree‐ring data are important sources of paleoclimate information, which allow for the longer‐term evaluation of modern climate values and trends. Compared to much of North America, the Southeastern United States (Southeast) contains substantially fewer paleoclimate records from tree rings, and no estimates of past temperature variability which extend before the observational period. Employing a recently developed technique, which uses light reflectance properties of wood to obtain a representative metric of tree‐ring density, we develop a network of temperature‐sensitive tree‐ring records across the Southeast. These records enable us to reconstruct late summer maximum temperatures across the region spanning the period 1760–2023 CE. As few ground‐based, pre‐instrumental temperature records previously existed for this region, our reconstruction allows for an improved understanding of the region's multi‐centennial climatic history.
Key Points Maximum latewood blue intensity from tree rings can effectively be used to develop paleotemperature estimates for the southeastern US The fidelity of tree‐ring density parameters for paleoclimate reconstruction are influenced by disturbance regimes and microsite conditions Compared to the last 260 years, regional 20th‐century maximum late summer temperatures are not characterized by unprecedented positive trend