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Abstract
This study uses dendrochronological analysis to measure the difference in tree growth
between the Colorado College (CC) campus and Red Rock Canyon Open Space Section 16 trail. Dendrochronology involves the technique of dating environmental change using a tree’s annual growth rings. Tree growth is dependent on a variety of factors, including temperature, precipitation, and soil nutrients. Anthropogenic warming has caused global temperature to increase over the last half-century, thereby impacting the growth of many tree species uniquely. However, the varying impact of anthropogenic warming on tree growth in urban and rural tree locations is still being studied. In the past 50 years, tree growth has been enhanced by warmer spring and summer temperatures, both on the CC campus and the Section 16 trail. When looking at the standard deviation of yearly ring data, tree growth on the Colorado College campus was found to be more sensitive to growth limiting variables than tree growth at Section 16. These results demonstrate that human behavior does impact tree growth within social-ecological systems, altering limiting factors and overall tree growth sensitivity. This can be seen on a broad scale through anthropogenic warming and a local scale through hypothesized fluctuating landscaping and watering processes. This work is only a starting point for broader dendrochronological analyses, which have the potential to determine how human behavior will continue to impact tree growth and resiliency into the future.