Reproducibility of Holocene atmospheric CO2 records based on stomatal frequency analysis
Publication date
2004
Authors
Wagner, F.
Kouwenberg, L.L.R.
Hoof, T.B. van
Visscher, H.
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Abstract
The majority of the stomatal frequency-based estimates of CO₂ for the Holocene do not support the widely accepted concept of
comparably stable CO₂ concentrations throughout the past 11,500 years. To address the critique that these stomatal frequency
variations result from local environmental change or methodological insufficiencies, multiple stomatal frequency records were
compared for three climatic key periods during the Holocene, namely the Preboreal oscillation, the 8.2 kyr cooling event and the
Little Ice Age. The highly comparable fluctuations in the palaeo-atmospheric CO₂ records, which were obtained from different
continents and plant species (deciduous angiosperms as well as conifers) using varying calibration approaches, provide strong
evidence for the integrity of leaf-based CO₂ quantification.
Keywords
The majority of the stomatal frequency-based estimates of CO₂ for the Holocene do not support the widely accepted concept of
comparably stable CO₂ concentrations throughout the past 11,500 years. To address the critique that these stomatal frequency
variations result from local environmental change or methodological insufficiencies, multiple stomatal frequency records were
compared for three climatic key periods during the Holocene, namely the Preboreal oscillation, the 8.2 kyr cooling event and the
Little Ice Age. The highly comparable fluctuations in the palaeo-atmospheric CO₂ records, which were obtained from different
continents and plant species (deciduous angiosperms as well as conifers) using varying calibration approaches, provide strong
evidence for the integrity of leaf-based CO₂ quantification.