Botswana und Südafrika: Baobabs und das Königreich Botswana

Abstract

The aim of this project is to find a valid source of high-resolution palaeoclimatic information as a means for predicting the climate change impact on the African continent. The baobab is a common tree in semi-arid Africa that can reach ages of up to 2000 years. The way its tree rings develop has not been fully understood yet. Therefore, by using radius and circumference dendrometers on trees as well as special drilling to obtain wood samples, primary questions concerning dormant and growth periods shall be answered. In a second step, it will be scrutinized how climate signals and stable isotopes are transferred into the tree rings. The first results show a correlation between tree ring growth and the precipitation amount of the same year as well as significant correlations between the δ 13 C and δ 18 O values with climate data.