Independent evidence from Europe and Asia shows that tree-ring stable isotopes can reveal persistent long-term hydroclimate trends that are generally not captured by more traditional dendroclimatic studies using tree-ring width or density. Since the recently observed long-term discrepancy between flatter “growth-dependent” and more varying “growth-independent” climate proxy data is unrelated to possible biases of statistical age-trend removal, I call for a conceptual rethinking of the predictive power of different tree-ring parameters for reconstructing climate variability on interannual to multimillennial timescales. I describe why traditional “growth-dependent” tree-ring width and wood density measurements usually lack abiotic signals on ultra-long timescales, whereas “growth-independent” carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios from tree-ring cellulose can capture environmental variation well beyond the segment length of individual tree-ring samples. Caution is therefore advised when information from diverse tree-ring parameters is combined in multiproxy reconstructions of Holocene climate that aim to reflect the full range of interannual to multimillennial variability. This Perspective not only emphasizes the paleoclimatic value that can be obtained from tree-ring stable isotopes in living and relict wood. It also stresses the need for developing new high-resolution isotopic datasets from different species and regions in both hemispheres to supplement the existing tree-ring record.

中文翻译：

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审查全新世气候重建的年轮参数

来自欧洲和亚洲的独立证据表明，年轮稳定同位素可以揭示持续的长期水文气候趋势，而使用年轮宽度或密度的更传统的树木气候研究通常无法捕捉到这些趋势。由于最近观察到的较平坦的“依赖于增长”和更多变化的“依赖于增长”的气候代理数据之间的长期差异与统计年龄趋势消除的可能偏差无关，我呼吁对不同的预测能力进行概念性重新思考用于重建年际到千年时间尺度上的气候变率的树木年轮参数。我描述了为什么传统的“依赖于生长”的树木年轮宽度和木材密度测量通常缺乏超长时间尺度上的非生物信号，而来自年轮纤维素的“与生长无关”的碳和氧同位素比可以捕捉到远远超出单个年轮样本片段长度的环境变化。因此，当将来自不同树木年轮参数的信息结合到全新世气候的多重代理重建中时，建议谨慎行事，以反映年际到千年变率的全部范围。这个透视不仅强调可以从活木和残木中的年轮稳定同位素中获得的古气候价值。它还强调需要从两个半球的不同物种和地区开发新的高分辨率同位素数据集，以补充现有的年轮记录。