Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-rkxrd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T11:07:50.913Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Growth Stop Phenomenon Of Baobabs (Adansonia Spp.) Identified By Radiocarbon Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2016

Adrian Patrut ,
Stephan Woodborne ,
Karl F von Reden ,
Grant Hall ,
Roxana T Patrut ,
Laszlo Rakosy ,
Pascal Danthu ,
Jean-Michel Leong Pock-Tsy ,
Daniel A Lowy  and
Dragos Margineanu
Adrian Patrut*
Affiliation:
Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Stephan Woodborne
Affiliation:
iThemba LABS, Private Bag 11, WITS 2050, South Africa
Karl F von Reden
Affiliation:
NOSAMS Facility, Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA
Grant Hall
Affiliation:
Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Roxana T Patrut
Affiliation:
Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Laszlo Rakosy
Affiliation:
Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Biology and Geology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Pascal Danthu
Affiliation:
DP Forêt et Biodiversité, Antananarivo, Madagascar Cirad, UPR BSEF, Montpellier, France
Jean-Michel Leong Pock-Tsy
Affiliation:
Cirad, UPR BSEF, Montpellier, France
Daniel A Lowy
Affiliation:
Nova University, Alexandria Campus, Alexandria, VA, USA
Dragos Margineanu
Affiliation:
Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
*
*Corresponding author. Email: apatrut@gmail.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The article reports the growth stop phenomenon, which was documented only for baobabs, i.e. for trees belonging to the Adansonia genus. The identification of growth stop was enabled by radiocarbon dating, which allows a complex investigation of samples collected from the trunk/stems of baobabs. In several cases, the outermost rings of baobabs, which were close to the bark, were found to be old, with ages of several hundreds of years, instead of being very young. Dating results of samples collected from six baobabs are presented. For multistemmed baobabs, the growth stop may occur only for one or several stems. We identified four factors that may induce the growth stop: (i) stress determined by severe climate conditions, (ii) old age, (iii) the need to keep a stable internal architecture, and (iv) the collapse of stems that survive this trauma. Baobabs and their stems affected by growth stop may survive for several centuries, by continuing to produce leaves, flowers, and fruits. This phenomenon was associated with the capacity of baobabs to store large amounts of water in their trunks/stems in the rainy season. This reservoir of water is used during the dry season and allows the trees to survive prolonged drought periods.

Keywords

radiocarbon datingAMStropical treesage determinationgrowth stop
Type
14C as a Tracer of Past or Present Continental Environment
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 2: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , April 2017 , pp. 435 - 448
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

References

REFERENCES

Baum, DA. 1995. A systematic revision of Adansonia (Bombacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 82:440–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baum, DA. 1996. The ecology and conservation of the baobabs of Madagascar. Primate Report 46:311–327.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapotin, SM, Razanameharizaka, JH, Holbrook, NM. 2006. A biomechanical perspective on the role of large stem volume and high water content in baobab trees (Adansonia spp.; Bombacaceae). American Journal of Botany 93(9):1251–1264.Google Scholar
Guy, GL. 1967. Notes on some historic baobabs. Rhodesiana 16:17–26.Google Scholar
Guy, GL. 1970. Adansonia digitata and its rate of growth in relation to rainfall in south central Africa. Proceedings & Tranasactions, Rhodesia Scientific Association, Salisbury 54(2):68–84.Google Scholar
Hogg, AG, Hua, Q, Blackwell, PG, Niu, M, Buck, CE, Guilderson, TP, Heaton, TJ, Palmer, JG, Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW, Turney, CSM, Zimmerman, SRH. 2013. SHCal13 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1889–1903.Google Scholar
Loader, NJ, Robertson, I, Barker, AC, Switsur, VR, Waterhouse, JS. 1997. An improved technique for the batch processing of small wholewood samples to α-cellulose. Chemical Geology 136(3):313–317.Google Scholar
Olsson, IU. 1986. Radiometric methods. In: Berglung B, editor. Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecolgy and Palaeohydrology. Chichester: Wiley. p 273–312.Google Scholar
Pakenham, T. 2004. The Remarkable Baobab. London: Weidenfield & Nicholson.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Lowy, DA, Alberts, AH, Pohlman, JW, Wittmann, R, Gerlach, D, Xu, L, Mitchell, CS. 2007. Radiocarbon dating of a very large African baobab. Tree Physiology 27:1569–1574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Lowy, DA, Mayne, DH, Elder, KE, Roberts, ML, McNichol, AP. 2010a. Comparative AMS radiocarbon dating of pretreated versus non-pretreated wood samples. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 268(7–8):910–913.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, Mayne, DH, von Reden, KF, Lowy, DA, Van Pelt, R, McNichol, AP, Roberts, ML, Margineanu, D. 2010b. Fire history of a giant African baobab evinced by radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):717–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patrut, A, Mayne, DH, von Reden, KF, Lowy, DA, Venter, S, McNichol, AP, Roberts, ML, Margineanu, D. 2010c. Age and growth rate dynamics of an old African baobab determined by radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):727–734.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Van Pelt, R, Mayne, DH, Lowy, DA, Margineanu, D. 2011. Age determination of large live trees with inner cavities: radiocarbon dating of Platland tree, a large African baobab. Annals of Forest Science 68:993–1003.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Mayne, DH, Lowy, DA, Patrut, RT. 2013. AMS radiocarbon investigation of the African baobab: searching for the oldest tree. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 294:622–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patrut, A, Woodborne, S, von Reden, KF, Hall, G, Hofmeyr, M, Lowy, DA, Patrut, RT. 2015a. African baobabs with false inner cavities: the radiocarbon investigation of the Lebombo Eco Trail baobab. PLoS ONE 10(1):e0117193.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Danthu, P, Leong Pock-Tsy, J-M, Patrut, RT, Lowy, DA. 2015b. Searching for the oldest baobab of Madagascar: radiocarbon investigation of large Adansonia rubrostipa trees. PLoS ONE 10(3):e0121170.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, von Reden, KF, Danthu, P, Leong Pock-Tsy, J-M, Rakosy, L, Patrut, RT, Lowy, DA, Margineanu, D. 2015c. AMS radiocarbon dating of very large Grandidier’s baobabs (Adansonia grandidieri). Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 361:591–598.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, Woodborne, S, Patrut, RT, Hall, G, Rakosy, L, von Reden, KF, Lowy, DA, Margineanu, D. 2015d. Radiocarbon dating of African baobabs with two false inner cavities: the investigation of Luna Tree. Studia UBB Chemia 50(4):7–20.Google Scholar
Patrut, A, Patrut, RT, Danthu, P, Leong Pock-Tsy, J-M, Rakosy, L, Lowy, DA, von Reden, KF. 2016. AMS radiocarbon dating of Large Za baobabs (Adansonia za) of Madagascar. PLoS ONE 11(1):e0146977.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, JD, Bell, LK, Bhagwandin, A, Grinan, E, Jillani, N, Meyer, J, Waybuyele, E, Vickers, CE. 2013. Morphology, ploidy and molecular phylogenetics reveal a new diploid species from Africa in the baobab genus Adansonia (Malvaceae; Bombacoideae). Taxon 61:1240–1250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Povinec, PP, Litherland, AE, von Reden, KF. 2009. Developments in radiocarbon technologies: from the Libby counter to compound-specific AMS analyses. Radiocarbon 51(1):45–78.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Lawrence Edwards, R, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Haflidason, H, Hajdas, I, Hatté, C, Heaton, TJ, Hoffmann, DL, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Niu, M, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Staff, RA, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.Google Scholar
Roberts, ML, Burton, JR, Elder, KL, Longworth, BE, McIntyre, CP, von Reden, KF, Han, BX, Rosenheim, BE, Jenkins, WE, Galutschek, E, McNichol, AP. 2010. A high-performance 14C accelerator mass spectrometry system. Radiocarbon 52(2):228–235.Google Scholar
Robertson, I, Loader, NJ, Froyd, CA, Zambatis, N, Whyte, I, Woodborne, S. 2006. The potential of the baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) as a proxy climate archive. Applied Geochemistry 21(10):1674–1680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stutchbury, R. 2013. The Baobab. Harare: Camera Africa.Google Scholar
Vogel, JS, Southon, JR, Nelson, DE, Brown, TA. 1984. Performance of catalytically condensed carbon for use in accelerator mass-spectrometry. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 5(2):289–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, R. 2007. The African Baobab. Cape Town: Struik.Google Scholar
Wickens, GE. 1983. The baobab: Africa’s upside-down tree. Kew Bulletin 47:173–209.Google Scholar
Wickens, GE, Lowe, P. 2008. The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Woodborne, S, Hall, G, Robertson, I, Patrut, A, Rouault, M, Loader, NJ, Hofmeyr, M. 2015. A 1000-year carbon isotope rainfall proxy record from South African baobab trees (Adansonia digitata L.). PLoS ONE 10(5):e0124202.Google Scholar
Woodborne, S, Gandiwa, P, Hall, G, Patrut, A, Finch, J. 2016. A regional carbon isotope dendro-climatology from the South African summer rainfall area. PLoS ONE 11(7):e0159361.Google Scholar