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Ghost Forest Busters

June 20, 2018

WHOI graduate and guest students collect cross sections from ancient Atlantic white cedar tree stumps in Hundred Acre Cove in Rhode Island. Atlantic white cedars are particularly sensitive to temperature changes, which are recorded in the width and composition of their tree rings, says Jessie Pearl, a WHOI guest student, who leads the project. Using living trees, she is reconstructing a history of regional temperature and climate from the present back to the 1760s. With sub-fossil trees in “ghost forests” exposed in marshes, she hopes to extend the history to 2,000 years ago. From left are Jimmy Bramante, Charmille Dizon, Lizzie Wallace, and Bethany Bowen. (Photo by Jessie Pearl, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)