The training is part of the implementation of the first dendrochronology laboratory in Amapá. 

Do you know how to calculate the age of trees? One way is to use dendrochronology, a technique based on studying the growth rings of trees. Embrapa Amapá held a course on the method from June 5 to 9, including activities at its Forest Resources Laboratory and collection and analysis of samples from a kapok tree located in front of the Public Ministry Prosecutor’s Office in Amapá, in Macapá, AP. The term dendrochronology comes from the Greek (dendro: tree; chronos: time; logos: study). In other words, it is the science of dating growth rings.

One of the main goals of the course was to help to implement the first Dendrochronology Laboratory in Amapá State, based at the Forestry Resources center at Embrapa Amapá. It was aimed at researchers, graduate students and technicians from science, technology and innovation institutions, command and control bodies, corporations and other interested parties associated with forest policy in Amapá and interested in dendrochronology.

Research funded by CNPq and Amapá State Secretariat of Science and Technology     

The course program covered basic concepts to understand dendrology, field c smple collection , analyzes to define sample dating, practice using a measurement table (Lintab), tree growth ring count, and statistical analysis of data and of the relationships between growth rings and climate variables. The postdoctoral researcher from the University of Arkansas Daniela Granato de Souza worked as an instructor for the course, which was coordinated by Embrapa Amapá researcher Marcelino Guedes and PhD student in the Graduate Program in Biodiversity, Anderson Firmino. The local Environment Prosecutor, Marcelo Moreira, and a technical team from the State Attorney’s Office oversaw the activity of collecting material from the kapok tree for dendrochronology research.  

According to the course materials, the dendrochronology method allows for an annual resolution of the dates attributed to the growth rings, which contributes to the dendrochronology sciences like dendroclimatology, which is the study of past climate through growth rings as climate proxies, or dendroecology, the study of the growth dynamics of the sampled trees; in addition, it also helps in understanding the environmental factors that contribute to forest development and conservation. 

The capacity-building event is part of the project “Estimating Age and Growth of Brazil Nut Trees through Dendrochronology,” approved in a call by the Amapá State Research Support Foundation (Fapeap), implemented using funding from CNPq and the State Secretariat for Science and Technology (Setec), and supported by startup Inova Manejo.