Reconstructing temperature from tree rings of Pacific silver fir in coastal British Columbia

We used ring-width (RW) and maximum latewood density (MLD) chronologies for high-elevation Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis Dougl. ex Forbes) from the Coastal Western Hemlock zone near Vancouver, British Columbia to reconstruct April to September mean temperatures for the 1770 -1990 period. The reconstruction was based on a calibration and verification procedure. The best reconstruction result was achieved when both RW and MLD chronologies were utilized. The reconstruction agreed with that produced for interior British Columbia from densitometric data. We suggest that rings of Pacific silver fit, growing under the influence of a perhumid maritime cool mesothermal and subalpine boreal climates in the Pacific Northwest, can serve as proxy-climate indicators.