Stradivari's violins represent the pinnacle of classical instrument making, yet the origins of the wood used to construct their soundboards have long remained unclear. By analysing 314 tree-ring series from 284 authenticated instruments, we show that the majority of soundboards were crafted from Norway spruce (Picea abies) that grew at very high elevations during the severe climatic conditions of the Maunder Minimum. Our data reveal that Stradivari frequently used wood from the same tree for multiple instruments and that its sources can be traced to the Eastern Alps. Comparison with 197 reference chronologies indicates that Stradivari's early work drew on diverse and less easily localised sources. During his "golden age" of production from the early eighteenth century onwards, he consistently selected spruce from high-altitude forests in Trentino, Italy, and most likely from the Val di Fiemme in particular. These findings provide the first large-scale dendrochronological evidence for the geographic and environmental origins of Stradivari's wood and offer new insights into both historical instrument making and the interplay between climate, materials, and musical heritage.

Radial growth is a fitness related trait that is expected to vary among forest tree populations when habitat conditions change. Yet, the genetic variability of ring-width and radial growth–climate relationships among geographic origins within species is rarely investigated. This is what we analyzed in the European black pine, Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold (1785), a forest tree species widely but patchily distributed. Using four partially replicated common gardens in France, we show that late spring minimum temperatures affect radial growth negatively and early summer precipitations positively across all provenances. In contrast, there was a strong provenance effect on mean ring-widths, as well as high phenotypic plasticity and significant genotype by environment interactions in most provenances and all subspecies. Provenances of the subspecies P.n. subsp. salzmannii often displayed the smallest mean ring widths except in the least fertile common garden. A few provenances of P.n. subsp. pallasiana, P.n. subsp. laricio and P.n. subsp. nigra performed equally well in all common gardens. Climate smart forestry should consider provenance and not just subspecies recommendations for plantations where black pine is not native, either for ecological restoration or timber production. Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold (1785), the European black pine, is a forest tree species widely but patchily distributed throughout southern Europe, from isolated locations in North Africa to the Black Sea and Western Asia. While it has been widely used as a plantation species since the mid-nineteenth century because of its rapid growth even on rather poor soils, the effect of geographic origin within genetic lineage on radial growth and climate sensitivity has not yet been assessed. We analyze the effects of geographic origin on radial growth variability and radial growth–climate relationships within four subspecies of the European black pine. Using a tree-ring to climate relationship approach and a 40-year-long chronology, we first estimated how variable the effect of monthly climate was on radial growth, among 16 provenances within four subspecies, in four bioclimatically contrasted common gardens in France. We then used the tree-ring data to estimate genetic and plasticity effects and to test for the existence of genotype by environment interactions. Lastly, we ranked the growth performance of the different subspecies and provenances measured in each common garden. There were few differences in climate effects among provenances and subspecies. Late spring minimum temperatures affect radial growth negatively and early summer precipitations positively. The provenance effect on ring-widths was stronger than the subspecies effect. Radial growth phenotypic plasticity was high across the four common gardens and so were genotype by environment interactions in most subspecies. Provenances of the subspecies P.n. subsp. salzmannii often displayed the smallest mean ring widths except in the least fertile test site. Provenance, in addition to subspecies variability should be considered in climate-smart forestry practice, whether for ecological restoration and timber production.

Paleoseismic studies are essential to improve earthquake hazard mitigation, a challenging task in the Tian Shan mountains characterized by numerous active faults, frequent strong earthquakes, and abundant triggered landslides. Here, we date the debated formation of Kaindy Lake, the famous landslide-dammed lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, included in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Our dendrochronological study compares ring-width patterns from dead trees (Picea schrenkiana) still standing in the lake with living trees growing on surrounding slopes and other trees on the landslide debris. Our results place the formation of the lake to just after 1888 A.D. (the last ring of sunken trees) and before 1898 A.D. (the first established trees on the landslide), a period for which only the 1889 A.D. Chilik earthquake (M 8.2) has been reported and caused extensive damages in the region (surface ruptures, landslides). Thus, we propose that the landslide was triggered during this historical earthquake, questioning the previously preferred date of 1911 A.D., and the local common belief. Furthermore, our results indirectly complement previous paleoseismic studies at 8.5 km away, for which the most recent event in the region was poorly defined by geochronological dating, but suggested a surface rupture associated with the 1889 A.D. earthquake. The proximity of the landslide to the surface rupture would place it in the epicentral zone of the Chilik earthquake.

With global changes, disturbances including wildfires are expected to change, with consequences for ecosystems. The chief fire control policy of "fire suppression" aims to limit their numbers and areas. Mediterranean forest ecosystems have coevolved with fires, despite millennia of land use. Biota, climate and humans have long interacted to establish fire regimes in these socio-ecosystems. Sustainable fire stewardship should reconcile the protection of resources and people, while being realistic about the ability to limit all fires and preserving the ecological functions they provided. The past fire regime must be known and compared to the suppression objectives. We hypothesised that fires were infrequent and smaller, but with global changes in recent decades, they would be more frequent, and the burned areas would have increased. We addressed the fire regime (intervals, areas, season) in Corsican black pine forests, western Mediterranean, by reconstructing fire regime from geolocated fire scars dated by dendrochronology. The results show that fire intervals are currently long (40 years), whereas they have fluctuated several times over the past 300 years. Intervals were shorter (10 years) in 1719-1848 and 1923-1970. Burned areas also fluctuated, with larger areas occurring in 1849-1916. Fire seasons have not varied for at least 300 years. We highlighted a non-stochastic regime of fire intervals uncorrelated with burned areas. The fire regime targeted by public policies is not aligned with the historical regimes. We argue for new policies to prevent large fires, which could be more destructive than the frequent and low intensity observed over centuries.

With global warming, understanding the tree resilience to fire is still a scalding topic in ecology. Tree resilience would depend on fire intervals, and on interactions with atmospheric conditions, including temperature, precipitation, drought, and CO₂. These interactions would be exacerbated in Mediterranean ecosystems. We test this hypothesis by analysing variations in tree-ring widths following fires, using growth outside fire periods as reference. The study focused on black pine in Corsica as a model species to investigate long-term ecological responses to fire, based on fires spanning the past 300 years. Tree resistance and resilience to fire have progressively declined over the past three centuries, regardless of fire intervals and CO₂. Since the mid-19th century, recovery times have lengthened while resistance has weakened, correlating with precipitation and drought intensity. These results indicate that the combined effects of drought intensity and fires endanger tree survival by compounding their impacts on post-fire recovery.

European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) holds significant importance as a forest tree species throughout the Alps and in certain regions of central Europe. Its extensive use as construction timber has made it a subject of substantial interest in dendroarchaeological studies aimed at understanding the long-term interactions between human societies and forests. Precise dating of felling phases, accurate estimation of the age of harvested wood, and information on the geographical origin of wood play a crucial role when it comes to characterize these interactions. In this study, we compiled a large dataset of L. decidua samples from across the European Alps to provide a robust statistical model that predicts the cambial age of L. decidua trees based on the number of heartwood rings. By extension, this model can be used to estimate the number of sapwood rings so as to approximate the felling date and to more precise date archaeological larch timber. The model requires almost complete heartwood sequences (<5 missing rings) to achieve accurate estimations. Our results also evidence that the ratio between the number of sapwood and heartwood rings varies across the Alps. At the same time, the indicator developed in this work is not suitable for a determination of wood origin, raising doubts about the effectiveness of attempts aimed at dendroprovenancing L. decidua based on sapwood.

The Mediterranean region is projected to experience severe drying trends and more extreme hydroclimate events as a consequence of anthropogenic climate change over the next century. In some places this signal may have already emerged from natural variability, but uncertainty in long-term paleoclimate reconstructions can be a significant challenge to the detection of the influence of rising CO_2 on droughts. Here we provide expanded context for recent and future hydroclimate changes with a new high-resolution (0.5 ^o ) spatial reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) using a tree-ring network that spans much of the last millennium. This network provides new perspective on the existing Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA) and allows us to characterize differences between OWDA and our reconstruction. In light of the uncertainties we identify, we also reexamine previous conclusions about the severity of recent droughts in the context of earlier centuries. We find that, in both the western Mediterranean and the Levant, recent dry periods remain the worst in at least the last 500 years, but our assessment of the significance and confidence in this finding is affected by differences in the tree-ring networks used for the reconstructions. Long millennium-length hydroclimate reconstructions in the Mediterranean do provide the opportunity to understand variability and trends in the hydroclimate of the region, but extant uncertainties arising from the existing tree-ring chronology network and methodological choices call attention to locations that require further proxy collection, chronology updates, and statistical scrutiny.

The ability of forests to adapt to drought is an important issue. Planting species or provenances adapted to drought conditions requires a good understanding of physiological behavior. This study examined the water-deficit responses of 19 black pine provenances planted in a common garden at the southern edge of its range. Gas exchange and hydraulic characteristics were measured. Some provenances tend to avoid water deficit by early stomatal control. An increase in specific hydraulic conductivity of sapwood and leaves was noted in other provenances. However, other provenances showed a very late transpiration control. Thus, the results showed significant differences between provenances in coping with drought conditions among black pine provenances, indicating genetic control of these parameters.

Wildfires are critical socio-ecological features in the Mediterranean basin. In a context of global changes (climate, land use), we questioned whether the wildfire regime was altered in the mountains of Corsica, France. Using tree-ring analysis of fire-scarred trees, we tested for changes in frequency, seasonality, and area. We hypothesized that the fire regime changed during the middle-20th century due to human activities, as observed elsewhere in the Mediterranean. We sampled fire-scarred trees, geolocated for mapping fire areas, in a forest of black pine (Pinus nigra laricio). The oldest fire was in 1684 but the fire chronology with adequate sample depth for analysis covered 202 years [1820–1921]. Between 1820–2012, 15 fires were recorded, 8 of which scarred at least 25% of the sampled trees. The mean fire interval was 14 years, corresponding to a high fire frequency with 4 major fires per century. Most fires occurred between 1931–1970. On average, about 50% of trees were scarred by fires before 1931, but this percentage decreased thereafter. The exception was the 2000 fire that impacted 100% of living trees. Mapping showed spatially heterogenous fire areas. These results match other Mediterranean studies showing longer fire intervals since the late-20th century, and wildfires generally occurred during the period of late-earlywood or latewood formation, i.e., summer or early autumn, which is the season of contemporary fires. Although fires were recurrent for more than 200 years with no change in the fire season, the regime changed twice in frequency. These changes likely result from a combination of land use and warmer summer conditions. While pines survived most past fires of low intensity through the last large fire in the 1970's, the severe fire of 2000, following ca 30 years of fire suppression, killed large patches of mature trees. Such chronology provides rational arguments for black pine ecosystem management, notably to consider seeking to recover the sustainable fire regime of the 19th century, for instance by using prescribed fires to manage surface fuel.

Severe droughts limit tree growth and forest productivity worldwide, a phenomenon which is expected to aggravate over the next decades. However, how drought intensity and climatic conditions before and after countries across the Mediterranean basin, representing the entire geographic and bioclimatic range of the species. For each site and year of the period 1950-2020, we quantified tree-growth resilience and its two components, resistance and recovery, to account for the impact of drought and the capacity to recover from it. Relative climatic water deficit index. Generalized additive mixed models were used to explore the non-linear relationships post-drought conditions. In contrast to our expectations, drought intensity only slightly affected resilience, which Resilience and its components are highly dependent on preceding and following years climatic conditions, which should always be taken into account when studying growth response to drought. With the observed and may become rare, thus threatening the future acclimation capacity of P. halepensis in its current distribution.

Abstract The Mediterranean region is projected to experience severe drying trends and more extreme hydroclimate events as a consequence of anthropogenic climate change over the next century. In some places this signal may have already emerged from natural variability. Here we provide context for recent and future changes with a new high-resolution (0.5$^o$) spatial reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) using a tree-ring network that spans much of the last millennium. This network provides new information that extends and enhances the existing Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA), and we identify and attribute the differences between the OWDA and our reconstruction. We also reexamine previous conclusions about the severity of recent drought in the context of earlier centuries. We find that, in both the western Mediterranean and the Levant, recent dry periods are indeed the worst in at least the last 500 years, but our assessment of the significance and uncertainty of this finding is affected by differences in the tree-ring networks used for the reconstructions. Long millennium-length hydroclimate reconstructions in the Mediterranean provide the opportunity to understand variability and trends in the hydroclimate of the region, while extant uncertainties arising from the existing tree-ring chronology network and methodological choices call attention to locations that require further proxy collection and statistical scrutiny.

This study aimed to provide insights on intraspecific variability of photosynthesis performance of 19 provenances of black pine planted in a common garden. The experiment was conducted in an experimental trial located at Souiniet (the southern limit of its range) Photosynthetic capacity char­acterized by light-saturated net photosynthetic rates, associated light compensation points and apparent quantum yield was monitored by measuring the response of leaf gas exchange to light levels. Amax was the highest in provenances Puget Theniers (nigra ssp), Saint-Guilhem (salzmanni ssp), Marghese and les barres (laricio ssp). The lowest value was recorded in Olette of the subspecies salzmanni. Needles from two provenances Crimea (pallasiana ssp) and Les Barres (ssp laricio) revealed the highest apparent quantum yield (ɸ), followed by Brougatlès Ales (salzmanni ssp), Trenta Coste (ssp laricio), Les barres and Puget Theniers (nigra ssp). The lowest apparent quantum Yield was recorded in Laricio subspecies (Cosenza; Les barres and Bois frerot). The highest value of dark respiration (Rd) was shown in provenance Les barres (laricio ssp), while Grancia and Tavola of the laricio subspecies reported the lowest one. Provenances Tavola (laricio ssp) and Puget Theniers (nigra ssp) exhibited the highest LCP. The provenance Crimée (pallasiana ssp) and Aspromonto (laricio ssp) recorded the lowest values. The maximum values of photosynthesis are positively correlated with the total chlorophyll contents and Leaf Mass area. Our study illustrates that Photosynthesis performance showed a difference between 19 provenances of black pine; it seems that black pine photosynthetic performance is eco-typical independent.

The remains of the sewn boat known as Pore & ccaron; 1, dating to the beginning of the 1st century BC, which was discovered, documented in situ and recovered in 2020, and then re-examined in 2021 prior to conservation treatment, adds new information to the already rich archaeological corpus of sewn boats from the northern Adriatic, providing valuable new data for defining local shipbuilding traditions. This article presents the results of the recent archaeological research, interdisciplinary study and preliminary reconstruction.

We present new C-14 results measured on subfossil Scots Pines recovered in the eroded banks of the Drouzet watercourse in the Southern French Alps. About 400 new C-14 ages have been analysed on 15 trees sampled at annual resolution. The resulting Delta C-14 record exhibits an abrupt spike occurring in a single year at 14 300-14 299 cal yr BP and a century-long event between 14 and 13.9 cal kyr BP. In order to identify the causes of these events, we compare the Drouzet Delta C-14 record with simulations of Delta C-14 based on the Be-10 record in Greenland ice used as an input of a carbon cycle model. The correspondence with Be-10 anomalies allows us to propose the 14.3 cal kyr BP event as a solar energetic particle event. By contrast, the 14 cal kyr BP event lasted about a century and is most probably a common Maunder-type solar minimum linked to the modulation of galactic cosmic particles by the heliomagnetic field. We also discuss and speculate about the synchroneity and the possible causes of the 14 cal kyr BP event with the brief cold phase called Older Dryas, which separates the Bolling and Allerod millennium-long warm phases of the Late Glacial period. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Radiocarbon in the Anthropocene'.

This study presents a new precise radiocarbon chronology for the World Heritage site of Sarvestan (SW Iran). The monument is a key construction in the history of architecture because it is a typical Sasanian construction built during the late Sasanian or early Islamic period. Previous attempts to date the monument have suggested the ages ranging from the middle Sasanian (fifth century CE) to early Abbasid (ninth century CE) era. These age estimations are based on the analysis of architectural plans and techniques, and a few radiocarbon dates with very large age uncertainties. This paper presents the results of a systematic radiocarbon dating of timbers in the walls and charcoals in plaster mortars used in the main dome of the monument. It further applies wiggle matching technique and R_Combine function to substantially reduce the age uncertainties in wood sections. The results indicate that a major construction work was undertaken sometime between 658 and 683 CE, the century of the invasion of Fars by Muslim Arabs. This finding pushes back the age of Sarvestan for two centuries and suggests that the monument was built at the transitional period between Sasanian to Islamic era. Sarvestan would have been an architectural project designed and possibly initiated during the late Sasanian period but mainly accomplished during the second half of the seventh century CE. It can thus be considered a late Sasanian heritage in early Islamic period. Its construction at a time of political unrest further suggests that some areas of Fars may have benefited from certain socio-political stabilities during the expansion of Islam into the east at mid- to late seventh century CE.