Aquatic Large Wood
The importance and role of aquatic
large wood (or carbon) has only recently been recognized in scientific
research. We have dated large wood
ranging from modern to over a 1000 years B.P. (before present) in Ontario lakes and up to 12,230 years B.P. in North Missouri streams.
One of the most common species of ancient wood in Missouri streams is oak (Quercus). Ancient wood in lakes and streams is a
newly realized resource for studies on the quality of invertebrate habitat,
aquatic carbon budgets, stream geomorphology, climate change, and climate information. Dated ancient wood in stream sediments
can yield information on the origins of soil surfaces and timing of fluvial
processes. The abundance of ancient oak in streams will lead to the development
of millennial length oak tree-ring chronologies and climate reconstructions
in an important agricultural region. Furthermore, identification of botanical remnants will allow
documentation of changes in riparian vegetation throughout the Holocene
that can be related to climate and anthropogenic change.
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