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Brendan M. Buckley
Lamont Research Professor
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Biology and Paleo Environment
Tree Ring Lab
61 Route 9W - PO Box 1000
Palisades
NY
10964-8000
US
Phone: 
(845) 365-8782
Fax: 
(845) 365-8150
bmb@ldeo.columbia.edu
View Website

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Fields of interest: 
Dendrochronology, Dendroclimatology, Tropical Forest Ecosystems, Arctic Treeline Studies

 

  • I have spent the past several years focused on dendrochronology in the Asian tropics, particularly mainland Southeast Asia.  This work resulted in two long records from north Thailand and north Vietnam, respectively, that appear in Buckley et al. (2007 Climate Dynamics), and Sano, Buckley and Sweda (2009, also in Climate Dynamics) showing that periods of decadal drought occurred during the past 5 centuries and often coincided with societal turmoil.  Most recently, we developed a near-millennial aged tree ring chronology from southern Vietnam, at 12 degrees north latitude, from the rare cypress Fokienia hodginsii.  This record was used to reconstruct the hydroclimate for the region going back 750 years, and highlighted periods of multi-decadal drought that coincided with the collapse of Angkor (These results are now published as Buckley et al. 2010, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).  Furthermore, we show the links between sea surface temperature variability (i.e., ENSO) in the tropical Pacific and hydroclimate over mainland Southeast Asia.  During the course of this research I have found multiple tree species from the mountains of Vietnam and Laos that have annual rings and can be used for developing records similar to that for Fokienia.  This work is ongoing, and ought to make significant contribution to the fields of paleoclimatology and tropical forest ecology.  
  • Prior to the work in Southeast Asia I spent years working along the northern treeline in Alaska and Canada, working largely on reconstructing temperature.  I also spent years in the southern hemisphere, studying the long-lived souther conifer Huon pine, of the family Podocarpaceae, as well as New Zealand's ancient Kauri, of the family Auracauriaceae.  In all of these studies I like to look at tree rings as incorporating multiple aspects of the environment, and taking into account the physiology and ecological aspects of how trees grow.  I am currently focused on understanding in far greater detail the physiological and ecological aspects of tree growth in response to climate.  There is much exciting work yet to be done, and along with my colleagues from around the world, I plan to be addressing these important questions for a long time to come.  

 

Education
List of degrees from highest to lowest:
Ph.D.
Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart Australia
1997
M.A.
Dept. of Geography, Arizona State University
1989
B.S.
Dept. of Geography, Plymouth State College, New Hampshire
1986

Lamont Projects:

Tree Ring Research Laboratory

Referenced in the Following News Items:

Translating Nature’s Historians: The Tree Ring Lab Turns 40
Scientists Model More Than Earth’s Climate in 2014
In Log Coffins, First Glimpses of a Mysterious Asian People
Science Education with Trees and Canoes
Study Reconstructs Asia's Most Devastating Droughts
Did Climate Influence Angkor's Collapse?

Featured in the Following Videos:

Tree Rings, Climate Change and the Rainy Season

Selected Publications:

High-resolution palaeoclimatology of the last millennium: a review of current status and future prospects Jones, P. D.; Briffa, K. R.; Osborn, T. J.; Lough, J. M.; van Ommen, T. D.; Vinther, B. M.; Lutherbacher, J.; Wahl, E. R.; Zwiers, F. W.; Mann, M. E.; Schmidt, G. A.; Ammann, C. M.; Buckley, B. M.; Cobb, K. M.; Esper, J.; Goosse, H.; Graham, N.; Jansen, E Holocene Feb Volume: 19 Issue: 1 p.: 3-49 (2009) Doi 10.1177/0959683608098952
Tree-ring based hydroclimate reconstruction over northern Vietnam from Fokienia hodginsii: eighteenth century mega-drought and tropical Pacific influence Sano, M.; Buckley, B. M.; Sweda, T. Climate Dynamics Aug Volume: 33 Issue: 2-3 p.: 331-340 (2009) DOI 10.1007/s00382-008-0454-y
Analyses of growth rings of Pinus merkusii from Lao PDR Buckley, B. M.; Duangsathaporn, K.; Palakit, K.; Butler, S.; Syhapanya, V.; Xaybouangeun, N. Forest Ecology and Management Dec 15 Volume: 253 Issue: 1-3 p.: 120-127 (2007) DOI 10.1016/j.foreco.2007.07.018
Arsenic in tree rings at a highly contaminated site Cheng, Z. Q.; Buckley, B. M.; Katz, B.; Wright, W.; Bailey, R.; Smith, K. T.; Li, J. B.; Curtis, A.; van Geen, A. Science of the Total Environment Apr 15 Volume: 376 Issue: 1-3 p.: 324-334 (2007) DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.01.074
Decadal scale droughts over northwestern Thailand over the past 448 years: links to the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean sectors Buckley, B. M.; Palakit, K.; Duangsathaporn, K.; Sanguantham, P.; Prasomsin, P. Climate Dynamics Jul Volume: 29 Issue: 1 p.: 63-71 (2007) DOI 10.1007/s00382-007-0225-1
Millennia-long tree-ring records from Tasmania and New Zealand: a basis for modelling climate variability and forcing, past, present and future Cook, E. R.; Buckley, B. M.; Palmer, J. G.; Fenwick, P.; Peterson, M. J.; Boswijk, G.; Fowler, A. Journal of Quaternary Science Oct Volume: 21 Issue: 7 p.: 689-699 (2006) Doi 10.1002/Jqs.1071
Global surface temperature signals in pine ring-width chronologies from southern monsoon Asia Buckley, B. M.; Cook, B. I.; Bhattacharyya, A.; Dukpa, D.; Chaudhary, V. Geophysical Research Letters Oct 19 Volume: 32 Issue: 20 p.: - (2005) Doi 10.1029/2005gl023745
Inferred summer precipitation for southern Ontario back to AD 610, as reconstructed from ring widths of Thuja occidentalis Buckley, B. M.; Wilson, R. J. S.; Kelly, P. E.; Larson, D. W.; Cook, E. R. Canadian Journal of Forest Research-Revue Canadienne De Recherche Forestiere Dec Volume: 34 Issue: 12 p.: 2541-2553 (2004) Doi 10.1139/X04-129
Interannual to multidecadal modes of Labrador climate variability inferred from tree rings D'Arrigo, R.; Buckley, B.; Kaplan, S.; Woollett, J. Climate Dynamics Jan Volume: 20 Issue: 2-3 p.: 219-228 (2003) DOI 10.1007/s00382-002-0275-3
A changing temperature response with elevation for Lagarostrobos franklinii in Tasmania, Australia Buckley, B. M.; Cook, E. R.; Peterson, M. J.; Barbetti, M. Climatic Change Jul-Aug Volume: 36 Issue: 3-4 p.: 477-498 (1997)