Contact Us  |  Search  
 
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine
Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research
Development, Security, and Cooperation
Policy and Global Affairs
Home About Us For Grant Recipients Funded Projects Email Updates

Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) SCIENCE
Cycle 2 (2012 Deadline)

Tree isotope records of past rainfall variability in the Indonesian maritime region

PI: Sri Yudawati Cahyarini with co-PI Intan Suci Nurhati (Indonesian Institute of Science - Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia)
U.S. Partner: Mike Evans (University of Maryland, College Park)
Project Dates: August 2013 to May 2018
 
2-409_Co-PI Dr. Intan Suci Nurhati explaining tree sampling method.bmp
 
Co-PI Dr. Intan Suci Nurhati explaining tree sampling method
Project Overview

This project focused on applying techniques for tree isotope analysis to Indonesian trees to generate rainfall records over the past 300 years, with the ultimate goal being to advance scientific understanding of the evolution of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO modulates monsoonal rainfall variability in Indonesia, causing climate-related disasters. The effects of global warming on ENSO characteristics are still uncertain, and a 300-year high-resolution rainfall record from Indonesia, a region of strong ENSO impacts, is a key to better understanding. The project research also focused on tropical dendroclimatology, as the inference of past rainfall variability via tree-ring widths has been hampered in the region due to indistinct annual growth rings in tropical trees.

This project added to the scientific knowledge base shared by researchers worldwide but also improved the infrastructure at Indonesian institutions and built skills for the project participants. New lab equipment was purchased and installed at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) to allow the researchers and their students to conduct sample preparation work and basic analysis on the tree samples collected. As a state research institution, LIPI also expanded its outreach activities on tropical dendrochronology during the project.
 
Final Summary of Project Activities
Dr. Cahyarini and her co-PI Dr. Intan Suci Nurhati, formerly of Surya University, worked with counterparts at Mulawarman University in East Kalimantan to organize a capacity building workshop on dendroclimatology, which was held at Mulawarman May 24 to June 2, 2014. One day of lectures and one day of technical training in the university’s forest were followed by a week of field work for selected participants to collect tree samples for further tree ring analysis. The goals of the event were (1) to build linkages among Indonesian paleoclimatologists and stakeholders in the local forestry sector to initiate dendroclimate studies at the university and (2) to create interest in paleoclimate studies among forestry undergraduates. As a follow up to this workshop, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) and Mulawarman University was signed on September 10, 2014, with the aim of facilitating expanded collaboration in educational and research activities. The PI Dr. Cahyarini presented a lecture on the use of trees and corals for paleoclimate studies during the visit. Later that year, they sent some tree core samples to the University of Maryland for chemical analysis, and Dr. Nurhati continued supervising her students as they prepared other samples for analysis.

Although they were hampered by various technical and communications difficulties, the researchers undertook analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopic data from 25 years of ring-dated samples from three replicate increment cores from Muna, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The team sent some tree core samples to the University of Maryland for chemical analysis, and a joint paper on their initial findings was presented at the European Geosciences Union annual meeting in 2018. The researchers also presented their work and results at meetings of the Asia Dendrochronological Association and the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, as well as the the Small Islands Research in Tropical Regions conference. The PI Dr. Cahyarini has also presented lectures on paleoclimate using geological archives (such as trees, coral, and sediments) at the Department of Oceanography at the Institut Teknologi Bandung. The team also received a new $30,000 grant from the National Geographic Society to support their further research. Their latest paper on their work appeared in 2024.

Publications

I.S. Nurhati, M.N. Evans, S.Y. Cahyarini, R.D. D'Arrigo, K. Yoshimura, and S.H.S. Herho. 2024. δ18O of marine influenced Tectona grandis L. f. from equatorial Indonesia: A local rainfall amount and remote ENSO indicator. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 39, e2023PA004758. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023PA004758
 
Michael Evans, Intan Nurhati, Sri Yudawati Cahyarini, and Rosanne D’Arrigo. 2018. Pilot study: stable isotopes in teak from marine-influenced equatorial Indonesia as local rainfall amount and remote ENSO indicators. Geophysical Research Abstracts 20, EGU2018-18659. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018EGUGA..2018659E/abstract

 
2-409_Practical training session
PEER Workshop on Dendroclimatology at the University of Mulawarman, May 24-25, 2014 - Practical training session.
 
Back to PEER Cycle 2 Grant Recipients