University of Pretoria scientists have turned to the giant tree to reconstruct rainfall patterns in the region. Lead researcher Professor Stephan Woodborne said they could date the trees very accurately using radio-carbon dating. And because baobabs can grow for more than 1000 years, the trees can provide a rainfall record that spans centuries.
Woodborne said most records of rainfall patterns in South Africa date back about 50 years, with few going back 100 years.
"When you look at rainfall variability over 1000 years it is possible to pick out what is driving the rainfall variability and how the rainfall systems respond. We can see the impact of the temperature of the ocean in the Agulhas Current, for example, and the effect of El Niño, and other influences," he said.
Woodborne added that the project started in 2008 when a baobab fell over in the Pafuri area, north of the Kruger National Park, providing researchers with a good sample.
"Subsequently we learnt of a team that was working on baobabs and we partnered them using the cores they removed from baobab trees to procure more samples and get a robust climate pattern from the trees."
Woodborne said the process by which plants take carbon dioxide and water in and out through the leaves and roots was regulated by the availability of moisture. This, and the trees' growth rings, showed how much rainfall there had been since the time it formed.
By measuring the carbon ratio in all the growth rings of a tree, researchers can gather a record of rainfall over the tree's lifespan.
Source: The Times
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