Ocean–atmosphere interaction identified in tree-ring time series from southern Brazil using cross-wavelet analysis

Tropical dendrochronology has gained significant attention in recent years, particularly with the dendrochronological study of new species that produce annual growth rings and are responsive to environmental changes. Despite the progress, the extent to which ocean–atmosphere interactions influence regional climate and, consequently, tree growth, is not fully understood. Among the new species, Ocotea porosa (Nees & Mart.) Barroso (also known as Imbuia ) has shown excellent potential for climate research. This study investigates the climatic and solar influences on a chronology of 41 Imbuia tree samples. Pearson’s correlation was used alongside Wavelet transform to evaluate periodicities between the tree-ring chronology and climatic parameters such as the southern-oscillation index (SOI), annual precipitation, El Niño 3.4 (PACE), and the South Atlantic Index (ATLS). Our analysis revealed evidence of the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (SOI) on rainfall variability in the region, the Hale and Gleissberg solar cycles causing precipitation variation, likely due to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, and the Brückner-Egeson-Lockyer climatic cycle, which is correlated with sunspot activity. Furthermore, our wavelet analysis identified possible connections to the Eastern Pacific-type El Niño events during five specific periods: 1911–1912, 1918–1919, 1976–1977, 1982–1983, and 1986–1987. The results indicate that southern Brazil is affected by several climatic and geophysical parameters from both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which directly affect the growth of Imbuia trees as their tree-ring series display sensitivity to these parameters.