Welcome to the Home Page of

Harold C. Fritts


Professor Emeritus (Dendrochronology)

Now working on projects of my choice and enjoying life.

Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA


Home Research Office: 5703 North Lady Lane

Tucson, Arizona 85704-3905

Phone: (520) 887 7291

Fax: (520) 887 7291

Email: hfritts@LTRR.arizona.edu


PRIMARY RESEARCH and INTERESTS


1. A NEW PROJECT! "Tales Trees Tell"

A series of stories for young people and grownups interested in what trees and tree rings mean to me, with emphasis on the science of dendrochronology and physiological processes governing the climate and growth relationships. All are in pdf format. The reader for this file type can be downloaded free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The first story: "The Wisdom of the Ancients" featuring the bristlecone pine trees, the oldest known trees in the world. Dendrochronologist can reconstruct both drought and temperature depending upon which trees they sample. This is a 1.3 mb revision of what used to be "The Grandpa Trees" file!

The second story: "A Day with the Giants" featuring the giant sequoias, the largest known trees in the world. Dendrochronologists study the fire history and the effects of fire. This is a 1.4 mb file!

The third story: "A Year in the Life of a Pine Tree" featuring studies on how the trees grow and produce annual rings that can tell us many different tales. This is a 1.3 mb file!

2. Modeling the Physiological Development of Tree-Ring Structure:

with emphasis on physiological processes governing the climate and growth relationships in drought or temperature stressed trees.

Images and More Information on the Cambial Model.

In addition, I manage a LISTSERV on Cambial Activity and Ring Structure to foster discussion and collaboration on this and related modeling efforts. Anyone interested in participating is welcome to subscribe to this list.


3. Modeling the Statistical Relationships between Tree-Ring Variation and Climate.

Program PRECON: (Estimating the climatic variables that Precondition ring widths.).

This is a user friendly program that:

Please note!! Precon Version 5.0 which became available in June 1996 had a bug in it that did not load values of prior growth correctly when generating data while running Response. This problem was corrected by Version 5.1 but there were minor bugs in that some lables and plots related to the Climate Change Option were included in the time series plots even though no Climate Change was generated. If you downloaded either 5.0 or 5.1 that file should be replace with a newer version to correct the bugs. Sorry that I missed it. Version 5.17c is the most recent. Images and more Information on the PRECON Model.

For information on other statistica software, the International Tree-Ring Data Bank and a fabulous biblographic data base on dendrochronology and related subjects visit Henri Grissino-Mayer's Home Page. It is very informative and interesting for both beginners and seasoned professionals.Don't miss it!


4. Dendroclimatology:

with emphasis on reconstructing large-scale patterns in temperature, precipitation, and sea-level pressure. Images and More Information on the Reconstructions and Display Software.


5. Principles of Dendrochronology and Dendroecology:

Developing electronic presentations and stimulating discussion of basic principles.

Would you help?

How about developing an entire Home Page of Principles?

Illustrations of Principles.


5. International Tree-Ring Data Bank and the ITRDB Forum:

I have also been involved with setting up the International Tree-Ring Data Bank Now I am pleased to pass this responsibility to Henri Grissino-Mayer.


List of References and Related Papers

Please send me Comments, Questions, or Suggestions.

This page has been accessed Access Counter times since summer of 1995.


Go to the Cambial Model Images.

Go to the PRECON Model Images.

Go to the Reconstructions and Display Software Images.

Go to Principles Illustrations.

Go to List of References and Related Papers

Return to the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research Home Page


Prepared by Harold C. Fritts hfritts@LTRR.arizona.edu -- Last updated March 29, 2000