Introduction
In the northern hemisphere, many oak trees deriving from hundreds of species can be found. Oak trees come from the genus Quercus. The flowers produced on oak trees are known as acorns. The Flowering Dogwood tree can be found in eastern North America, and is known as genus Cornus Florida. The flowering dogwood tree produces loose circular fruit.
In the experiment, the effects of climate on primary tree growth in different genus that originate from the same area were examined. Two different species from Stony Brook University campus were identified and examined for primary growth comparison. Both species are located within 1,039 acres of each other. A scarlet oak tree branch was examined in the laboratory and a dogwood tree was …show more content…
Measurements were initially taken on the apical branch starting from the terminal bud on the very tip of the branch to the top of the bud scar ring most proximal. Starting with the initial bud scar indication on the branch at the top of the ring and then ending the recorded increment measurement at the top of the following proximal bud scar. The process was repeated until the last increment was measured ending at the top of the last bud scar on the apical branch. Next, the lateral branches were selected for measurement based on minimal intertwining between twigs located on the same branch. The lateral branches were measured from the oldest growth to the newest growth using the same method of measuring as used with the apical branch. Branches labeled with letters H, M, O, and V were all measured using the same exact measurement technique as the apical branch, with only a difference in starting point for measurement. The starting point for measurement on the lateral branches was the ring indentation connecting the lateral branch to the apical …show more content…
Then growth gradually decreased from year 2 to year 3. The apical branch of the scarlet oak tree had the longest growth out of all the branches. The scarlet oak tree apical branch was on average taller than the dogwood apical tree branch. The shortest growth between the two trees was found to be on the lateral (H) branch of the scarlet oak tree.
In figure 2, the apical branch of the oak tree continuously increased annually. The scarlet oak tree showed an upward trend in primary growth on average. The climate data from 2009 to 2014 can be viewed on the BNL Climatology excel document. The solar irradiance statistics were not recorded for the years 2009 and 2010. From January of 2011 to January of 2014 the solar irradiance level decreased from 86.2 to 79.9 W/m². July of 2011 had the highest solar irradiance out of the four years. A common trend of each year from 2011 to 2014 was a decrease in solar irradiance as the year progressed.