Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2205-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-2205-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
13 Nov 2025
Research article |
| 13 Nov 2025
| 13 Nov 2025
A five-century tree-ring record from Spain reveals recent intensification of western Mediterranean precipitation extremes
Marcos Marín-Martín
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geology, National Museum of Natural Sciences-Spanish National Research Council (MNCN-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Ernesto Tejedor
Department of Geology, National Museum of Natural Sciences-Spanish National Research Council (MNCN-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Gerardo Benito
Department of Geology, National Museum of Natural Sciences-Spanish National Research Council (MNCN-CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Miguel A. Saz
Departamento de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Mariano Barriendos
Instituto de Diagnóstico Ambiental y Estudios del Agua (IDAEA-CSIC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Edurne Martínez del Castillo
Department of Geography, Johannes Gutemberg University, Mainz, Germany
Jan Esper
Department of Geography, Johannes Gutemberg University, Mainz, Germany
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
Martín de Luis
Departamento de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Related authors
No articles found.
Tamir Grodek and Gerardo Benito
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4343–4360, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-4343-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-4343-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Protecting urbanized alluvial fan canals and levees from flooding requires effective sediment retention measures, such as check dams, terraces, and trees on steep basins. However, their effectiveness declines over time due to sedimentation and aging, increasing the risk of catastrophic breaching floods. To enhance urban resilience, we propose preserving natural mountain basins and allocating about 35 % of the alluvial fan to channel migration and sediment deposition corridors.
Alba Sanmiguel-Vallelado, Max C. A. Torbenson, Jan Esper, Gabriel Sangüesa-Barreda, Carlos Prado-López, and José Miguel Olano
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4494, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4494, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
We studied centuries-old, traditionally pollarded oak trees in Spanish open woodlands to see if they record past rainfall. By analyzing tree rings from 102 trees, we reconstructed 375 years of precipitation. The trees captured long wet and dry periods, including extreme droughts in historical records, providing reliable, high-resolution climate information for the previously overlooked Mediterranean lowlands.
Kelly Patricia Sandoval-Rincón, Julio Garrote-Revilla, Daniel Vázquez-Tarrío, Silvia Cervel, Jose Hernández-Manchado, Juan López-Vinielles, Rosa María Mateos, Juan Antonio Ballesteros-Cánovas, Gerardo Benito, and Andrés Díez-Herrero
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-549, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-549, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
Most published palaeoflood databases are outdated, lack hydrological data, and are difficult to access, especially for non-research communities such as flood risk managers. PaleoRiada, the first open palaeoflood database for Spain, addresses these issues by compiling data from 299 palaeoflood records, accessible via ArcGIS Online. This database aims to support the revision of Potential Significant Flood Risk Areas, providing insights for regions not included in current national flood maps.
Rose Oelkers, Laia Andreu-Hayles, Rosanne D'Arrigo, Arturo Pacheco Solana, Milagros Rodriguez-Caton, M. Eugenia Ferrero, Ernesto Tejedor, Alfredo F. Fuentes, Carla Maldonado, and Daniel Ruiz-Carrascal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2032, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2032, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Alpine treelines are situated at the extreme biogeographic limits of Earth's forests and are sensitive to global environmental change. We analyzed annual ring-widths from Polylpeis pepei trees from the Andes Mountains and found reduced growth since the 1990s. Smaller rings occurred if the prior-year wet season was hotter and drier. Our findings provide a long-term context of forest growth near the Andes-Amazon and suggest regional drought may be driving this decline at a tropical treeline.
Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist, Bo Christiansen, Jan Esper, Heli Huhtamaa, Lotta Leijonhufvud, Christian Pfister, Andrea Seim, Martin Karl Skoglund, and Peter Thejll
Clim. Past, 19, 2463–2491, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2463-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-2463-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We study the climate signal in long harvest series from across Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. The climate–harvest yield relationship is found to be relatively weak but regionally consistent and similar in strength and sign to modern climate–harvest yield relationships. The strongest climate–harvest yield patterns are a significant summer soil moisture signal in Sweden, a winter temperature and precipitation signal in Switzerland, and spring temperature signals in Spain.
Duncan Pappert, Mariano Barriendos, Yuri Brugnara, Noemi Imfeld, Sylvie Jourdain, Rajmund Przybylak, Christian Rohr, and Stefan Brönnimann
Clim. Past, 18, 2545–2565, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2545-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2545-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present daily temperature and sea level pressure fields for Europe for the severe winter 1788/1789 based on historical meteorological measurements and an analogue reconstruction approach. The resulting reconstruction skilfully reproduces temperature and pressure variations over central and western Europe. We find intense blocking systems over northern Europe and several abrupt, strong cold air outbreaks, demonstrating that quantitative weather reconstruction of past extremes is possible.
Anna Wieland, Markus Greule, Philipp Roemer, Jan Esper, and Frank Keppler
Clim. Past, 18, 1849–1866, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1849-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1849-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We examined annually resolved stable carbon and hydrogen isotope ratios of wood lignin methoxy groups of beech trees growing in temperate, low elevation environments. Here, carbon isotope ratios reveal highest correlations with regional summer temperatures while hydrogen isotope ratios correlate more strongly with large-scale temperature changes. By combining the dual isotope ratios of wood lignin methoxy groups, a proxy for regional- to subcontinental-scale temperature patterns can be applied.
Gerardo Benito, Olegario Castillo, Juan A. Ballesteros-Cánovas, Maria Machado, and Mariano Barriendos
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6107–6132, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6107-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6107-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is expected to increase the intensity of floods, but changes are difficult to project. We compiled historical and modern flood data of the Rio Duero (Spain) to evaluate flood hazards beyond decadal climate cycles. Historical floods were obtained from documentary sources, identifying 69 floods over 1250–1871 CE. Discharges were calculated from reported flood heights. Flood frequency using historical datasets showed the most robust results, guiding climate change adaptation.
Nina Škrk, Roberto Serrano-Notivoli, Katarina Čufar, Maks Merela, Zalika Črepinšek, Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, and Martín de Luis
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3577–3592, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3577-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3577-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
SLOCLIM is the first climatic reconstruction for Slovenia with a spatial resolution of 1 × 1 km, providing daily data of maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation from 1950 to 2018. This new daily gridded dataset contributes significantly to the climate description of the country and is expected to facilitate research activities in numerous scientific disciplines dealing with climate trends, environment, human and animal populations, agriculture, and forestry.
Santiago Gorostiza, Maria Antònia Martí Escayol, and Mariano Barriendos
Clim. Past, 17, 913–927, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-913-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-913-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
How did cities respond to drought during the 17th century? This article studies the strategies followed by the city government of Barcelona during the severely dry period from 1620 to 1650. Beyond the efforts to expand urban water supply sources and to improve the maintenance of the system, the city government decided to compile knowledge about water infrastructure into a book and to restrict access to it. This management strategy aimed to increase the city's control over water.
Cited articles
Abatzoglou, J. T., Dobrowski, S. Z., Parks, S. A., and Hegewisch, K. C.: TerraClimate, a high-resolution global dataset of monthly climate and climatic water balance from 1958–2015, Sci. Data, 5, 170191, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.191, 2018.
Akkemik, Ü., Dağdeviren, N., and Aras, A.: A preliminary reconstruction (A.D. 1635–2000) of spring precipitation using oak tree rings in the western Black Sea region of Turkey, Int. J. Biometeorol., 49, 297–302, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-004-0249-8, 2005.
Anchukaitis, K. J., Touchan, R., Meko, D. M., Kherchouche, D., Slimani, S., Sivrikaya, F., Ilmen, R., Mitsopoulos, I., Stephan, J., Attieh, J., Hasnaoui, F., Camarero, J. J., Sánchez-Salguero, R., Guibal, F., Piermattei, A., Christou, A., Krcmaric, J., and Cook, B. I.: Enhancing spatiotemporal paleoclimate reconstructions of hydroclimate across the Mediterranean over the last millennium, Clim. Dyn., 62, 5351–5371, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-024-07166-6, 2024.
Arsalani, M., Grießinger, J., Pourtahmasi, K., and Bräuning, A.: Multi-centennial reconstruction of drought events in South-Western Iran using tree rings of Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.), Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 567, 110296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110296, 2021.
Balasch, J. C., Pino, D., Ruiz-Bellet, J. L., Tuset, J., Barriendos, M., Castelltort, X., and Peña, J. C.: The extreme floods in the Ebro River basin since 1600 CE, Sci. Total Environ., 646, 645–660, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.325, 2019.
Barriendos, J., Hernández, M., Gil-Guirado, S., Olcina Cantos, J., and Barriendos, M.: Droughts of the early 19th century (1790–1830) in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula: integration of historical and instrumental data for high-resolution reconstructions of extreme events, Clim. Past, 20, 2595–2616, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-2595-2024, 2024.
Barriendos, M.: Climatic variations in the Iberian Peninsula during the late Maunder Minimum (AD 1675–1715): an analysis of data from rogation ceremonies, The Holocene, 7, 105–111, 1997.
Barriendos, M.: Climate and Culture in Spain, Religious Responses to Extreme Climatic Events in the Hispanic Kingdoms (16th–19th Centuries), in: Cultural Consequences of the Little Ice Age, Göttingen, ISBN 978-3525358641, 2005.
Barriendos, M. and Barriendos, J.: Los inicios de la Pequeña Edad del Hielo en España. Aportaciones de la climatología histórica al clima del siglo XIV., Geographicalia, 55–79, https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_geoph/geoph.2021735224, 2021.
Barriendos, M. and Llasat, M. C.: The case of the “Maldá” anomaly in the western Mediterranean basin (AD 1760–1800): an example of a strong climatic variability, Clim. Change, 61, 191–216, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026327613698, 2003.
Beguería, S. and Vicente-Serrano, S. M.: SPEI: Calculation of the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.SPEI, 2011.
Brázdil, R., Pfister, C., Wanner, H., Storch, H. V., and Luterbacher, J.: Historical Climatology In Europe – The State Of The Art, Clim. Change, 70, 363–430, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-5924-1, 2005.
Brewer, S., Alleaume, S., Guiot, J., and Nicault, A.: Historical droughts in Mediterranean regions during the last 500 years: a data/model approach, Clim. Past, 3, 355–366, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-3-355-2007, 2007.
Briffa, K. R. and Jones, P. D.: Basic chronology statistics and assessment, in: Methods of Dendrochronology: Applications in the Environmental Sciences, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 137–152, ISBN 978-0792305866, 1990.
Bunn, A. G.: A dendrochronology program library in R (dplR), Dendrochronologia, 26, 115–124, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2008.01.002, 2008.
Büntgen, U., Tegel, W., Nicolussi, K., McCormick, M., Frank, D., Trouet, V., Kaplan, J. O., Herzig, F., Heussner, K.-U., Wanner, H., Luterbacher, J., and Esper, J.: 2500 Years of European Climate Variability and Human Susceptibility, Science, 331, 578–582, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197175, 2011.
Büntgen, U., Urban, O., Krusic, P. J., Rybníček, M., Kolář, T., Kyncl, T., Ač, A., Koňasová, E., Čáslavský, J., Esper, J., Wagner, S., Saurer, M., Tegel, W., Dobrovolný, P., Cherubini, P., Reinig, F., and Trnka, M.: Recent European drought extremes beyond Common Era background variability, Nat. Geosci., 14, 190–196, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00698-0, 2021.
Buras, A.: A comment on the expressed population signal, Dendrochronologia, 44, 130–132, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2017.03.005, 2017.
Buras, A., Zang, C., and Menzel, A.: Testing the stability of transfer functions, Dendrochronologia, 42, 56–62, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2017.01.005, 2017.
Camarero, J. J., Guerrero-Campo, J., and Gutierrez, E.: Tree-Ring Growth and Structure of Pinus uncinata and Pinus sylvestris in the Central Spanish Pyrenees, Arct. Alp. Res., 30, 1, https://doi.org/10.2307/1551739, 1998.
Camarero, J. J., Manzanedo, R. D., Sanchez-Salguero, R., and Navarro-Cerrillo, R. M.: Growth response to climate and drought change along an aridity gradient in the southernmost Pinus nigra relict forests, Ann. For. Sci., 70, 769–780, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-013-0321-9, 2013.
Castro, M. de, Martín-Vide, J., and Alonso Oroza, S.: El clima de España: Pasado, presente y escenarios de clima para el siglo XXI, Eval. Prelim. Los Impactos En Esp. Por Ef. Cambio Climático, 1–64, ISBN 978-8483203033, 2005.
Cook, E. R. and Kairiukstis, L. A. (Eds.): Methods of Dendrochronology, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, ISBN 978-0792305866, 1990.
Cook, E. R., Meko, D. M., Stahle, D. W., and Cleaveland, M. K.: Drought Reconstructions for the Continental United States, J. Clim., 12, 1145–1162, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1999)012<1145:DRFTCU>2.0.CO;2, 1999.
Cook, E. R., Seager, R., Kushnir, Y., Briffa, K. R., Büntgen, U., Frank, D., Krusic, P. J., Tegel, W., Van Der Schrier, G., Andreu-Hayles, L., Baillie, M., Baittinger, C., Bleicher, N., Bonde, N., Brown, D., Carrer, M., Cooper, R., Čufar, K., Dittmar, C., Esper, J., Griggs, C., Gunnarson, B., Günther, B., Gutierrez, E., Haneca, K., Helama, S., Herzig, F., Heussner, K.-U., Hofmann, J., Janda, P., Kontic, R., Köse, N., Kyncl, T., Levanič, T., Linderholm, H., Manning, S., Melvin, T. M., Miles, D., Neuwirth, B., Nicolussi, K., Nola, P., Panayotov, M., Popa, I., Rothe, A., Seftigen, K., Seim, A., Svarva, H., Svoboda, M., Thun, T., Timonen, M., Touchan, R., Trotsiuk, V., Trouet, V., Walder, F., Ważny, T., Wilson, R., and Zang, C.: Old World megadroughts and pluvials during the Common Era, Sci. Adv., 1, e1500561, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500561, 2015.
Cornes, R. C., Van Der Schrier, G., Van Den Besselaar, E. J. M., and Jones, P. D.: An Ensemble Version of the E-OBS Temperature and Precipitation Data Sets, J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 123, 9391–9409, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD028200, 2018.
De Luis, M., Čufar, K., Di Filippo, A., Novak, K., Papadopoulos, A., Piovesan, G., Rathgeber, C. B. K., Raventós, J., Saz, M. A., and Smith, K. T.: Plasticity in Dendroclimatic Response across the Distribution Range of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis), PLoS ONE, 8, e83550, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083550, 2013.
Dominguez-Castro, F. and García-Herrera, R.: Documentary sources to investigate multidecadal variability of droughts, Cuad. Investig. Geográfica, 42, 13–27, https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.2936, 2016.
Dorado-Liñán, I., Piovesan, G., Martínez-Sancho, E., Gea-Izquierdo, G., Zang, C., Cañellas, I., Castagneri, D., Di Filippo, A., Gutiérrez, E., Ewald, J., Fernández-de-Uña, L., Hornstein, D., Jantsch, M. C., Levanič, T., Mellert, K. H., Vacchiano, G., Zlatanov, T., and Menzel, A.: Geographical adaptation prevails over species-specific determinism in trees' vulnerability to climate change at Mediterranean rear-edge forests, Glob. Change Biol., 25, 1296–1314, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14544, 2019.
Esper, J., Frank, D., Büntgen, U., Verstege, A., Luterbacher, J., and Xoplaki, E.: Long-term drought severity variations in Morocco, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, 2007GL030844, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030844, 2007.
Esper, J., Großjean, J., Camarero, J. J., García-Cervigón, A. I., Olano, J. M., González-Rouco, J. F., Domínguez-Castro, F., and Büntgen, U.: Atlantic and Mediterranean synoptic drivers of central Spanish juniper growth, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 121, 571–579, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1254-4, 2015.
Fosu, B. O., Cook, E. R., Biasutti, M., Buckley, B. M., and Nicholson, S. E.: The feasibility of reconstructing hydroclimate over West Africa using tree-ring chronologies in the Mediterranean region, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 074025, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac79c0, 2022.
Frank, D., Esper, J., and Cook, E. R.: Adjustment for proxy number and coherence in a large-scale temperature reconstruction, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, 2007GL030571, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030571, 2007.
Fritts, H. C.: Tree rings and climate, Academic Press, London New York, ISBN 9780323145282, 1976.
Griggs, C., DeGaetano, A., Kuniholm, P., and Newton, M.: A regional high-frequency reconstruction of May–June precipitation in the north Aegean from oak tree rings, A.D. 1089–1989, Int. J. Climatol., 27, 1075–1089, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1459, 2007.
Grissino-Mayer, H. D.: Evaluating Crossdating Accuracy: A Manual and Tutorial for the Computer Program COFECHA, Tree-Ring Res., http://hdl.handle.net/10150/251654 (last access: 31 October 2025), 2001.
Harris, I., Osborn, T. J., Jones, P., and Lister, D.: Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset, Sci. Data, 7, 109, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0453-3, 2020.
Herrera, S., Fernández, J., and Gutiérrez, J. M.: Update of the Spain02 gridded observational dataset for EURO-CORDEX evaluation: assessing the effect of the interpolation methodology, Int. J. Climatol., 36, 900–908, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4391, 2016.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P., Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., De Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D., Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková, M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., De Rosnay, P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., and Thépaut, J.: The ERA5 global reanalysis, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 146, 1999–2049, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803, 2020.
Hoerling, M., Eischeid, J., Perlwitz, J., Quan, X., Zhang, T., and Pegion, P.: On the Increased Frequency of Mediterranean Drought, J. Clim., 25, 2146–2161, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00296.1, 2012.
Holmes, R. L.: Computer-Assisted Quality Control in Tree-Ring Dating and Measurement, Tree-Ring Bull., 43, 51–67, 1983.
IPCC: Climate change 2021: the physical science basis: summary for policymakers: working group I contribution to the sixth Assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN 978-9291691586, 2021.
Jevšenak, J. and Levanič, T.: dendroTools: R package for studying linear and nonlinear responses between tree-rings and daily environmental data, Dendrochronologia, 48, 32–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2018.01.005, 2018.
Klippel, L., Krusic, P. J., Brandes, R., Hartl, C., Belmecheri, S., Dienst, M., and Esper, J.: A 1286-year hydro-climate reconstruction for the Balkan Peninsula, Boreas, 47, 1218–1229, https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12320, 2018.
Larsson, L.: CDendro & CooRecorder program package, version 9.8.4, https://www.cybis.se/forfun/dendro (last access: 31 October 2025), 2005.
Linares, J. C. and Tíscar, P. A.: Climate change impacts and vulnerability of the southern populations of Pinus nigra subsp. salzmannii, Tree Physiol., 30, 795–806, https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpq052, 2010.
Lionello, P. (Ed.): The climate of the Mediterranean region: from the past to the future, 1st edn., Elsevier, London, Waltham, MA, 502 pp., ISBN 978-0124160422, 2012.
Machado, M. J., Benito, G., Barriendos, M., and Rodrigo, F. S.: 500 Years of rainfall variability and extreme hydrological events in southeastern Spain drylands, Deserts World Part IV Iber. Southeast, 75, 1244–1253, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.002, 2011.
Manrique, E. and Fernandez-Cancio, Á.: Extreme Climatic Events in Dendroclimatic Reconstructions from Spain, Clim. Change, 44, 123–128, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005458018568, 2000.
Martin-Benito, D., Beeckman, H., and Cañellas, I.: Influence of drought on tree rings and tracheid features of Pinus nigra and Pinus sylvestris in a mesic Mediterranean forest, Eur. J. For. Res., 132, 33–45, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-012-0652-3, 2013.
Martín-Vide, J. and Barriendos, M.: The use of rogation ceremony records in climatic reconstruction: a case study from Catalonia (Spain), Clim. Change, 30, 201–221, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01091842, 1995.
Maxwell, R. S. and Larsson, L.-A.: Measuring tree-ring widths using the CooRecorder software application, Dendrochronologia, 67, 125841, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2021.125841, 2021.
Meko, D.: Dendroclimatic Reconstruction with Time Varying Predictor Subsets of Tree Indices, J. Clim., 10, 687–696, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1997)010<0687:DRWTVP>2.0.CO;2, 1997.
Nash, J. E. and Sutcliffe, J. V.: River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I – A discussion of principles, J. Hydrol., 10, 282–290, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(70)90255-6, 1970.
Navarro-Cerrillo, R. M., Sánchez-Salguero, R., Manzanedo, R. D., Camarero, J. J., and Fernández-Cancio, Á.: Site and Age Condition the Growth Responses to Climate and Drought of Relict Pinus nigra Subsp. salzmannii Populations in Southern Spain, Tree-Ring Res., 70, 145–155, https://doi.org/10.3959/1536-1098-70.2.145, 2014.
Nicault, A., Alleaume, S., Brewer, S., Carrer, M., Nola, P., and Guiot, J.: Mediterranean drought fluctuation during the last 500 years based on tree-ring data, Clim. Dyn., 31, 227–245, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0349-3, 2008.
Pasho, E., Camarero, J. J., De Luis, M., and Vicente-Serrano, S. M.: Impacts of drought at different time scales on forest growth across a wide climatic gradient in north-eastern Spain, Agric. For. Meteorol., 151, 1800–1811, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2011.07.018, 2011a.
Pasho, E., Camarero, J. J., De Luis, M., and Vicente-Serrano, S. M.: Spatial variability in large-scale and regional atmospheric drivers of Pinus halepensis growth in eastern Spain, Agric. For. Meteorol., 151, 1106–1119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2011.03.016, 2011b.
Peinado, M., Aguirre, J. L., and Aparicio, A.: The Iberian Ranges and Highlands, in: The Vegetation of the Iberian Peninsula, vol. 12, edited by: Loidi, J., Springer International Publishing, Cham, 439–512, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54784-8_11, 2017.
Peral García, C., Navascués Fernández-Victorio, B., and Ramos Calzado, P.: Serie de precipitación diaria en rejilla con fines climáticos, https://doi.org/10.31978/014-17-009-5, 2017.
R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, https://www.r-project.org/ (last access: 31 October 2025), 2025.
Rodrigo, F. S. and Barriendos, M.: Reconstruction of seasonal and annual rainfall variability in the Iberian peninsula (16th–20th centuries) from documentary data, Glob. Planet. Change, 63, 243–257, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2007.09.004, 2008.
Royo-Navascues, M., Martinez Del Castillo, E., Serrano-Notivoli, R., Tejedor, E., Novak, K., Longares, L. A., Saz, M. A., and De Luis, M.: When Density Matters: The Spatial Balance between Early and Latewood, Forests, 12, 818, https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070818, 2021.
Royo-Navascues, M., Martínez Del Castillo, E., Tejedor, E., Serrano-Notivoli, R., Longares, L. A., Saz, M. A., Novak, K., and De Luis, M.: The Imprint of Droughts on Mediterranean Pine Forests, Forests, 13, 1396, https://doi.org/10.3390/f13091396, 2022.
Ruiz, R., Carmona, P., and Pérez Cueva, A.: Flood frequency and seasonality of the Jucar and Turia Mediterranean rivers (Spain) during the “Little Ice Age,” Méditerranée Rev. Géographique Pays Méditerranéens, 122, 121–130, https://doi.org/10.4000/mediterranee.7208, 2014.
Serrano-Notivoli, R., Beguería, S., Saz, M. Á., Longares, L. A., and de Luis, M.: SPREAD: a high-resolution daily gridded precipitation dataset for Spain – an extreme events frequency and intensity overview, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 721–738, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-721-2017, 2017.
Serrano-Notivoli, R., Tejedor, E., Sarricolea, P., Meseguer-Ruiz, O., De Luis, M., Saz, M. Á., Longares, L. A., and Olcina, J.: Unprecedented warmth: A look at Spain's exceptional summer of 2022, Atmospheric Res., 293, 106931, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.106931, 2023.
Serrano-Notivoli, R., Saz, M. Á., Longares, L. A., and De Luis, M.: SiCLIMA: High-resolution hydroclimate and temperature dataset for Aragón (northeast Spain), Data Brief, 56, 110876, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2024.110876, 2024.
Stokes, M. A. and Smiley, T. L.: An introduction to tree ring dating, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, ISBN 978-0816516803, 1968.
Sun, Q., Miao, C., Duan, Q., Ashouri, H., Sorooshian, S., and Hsu, K.: A Review of Global Precipitation Data Sets: Data Sources, Estimation, and Intercomparisons, Rev. Geophys., 56, 79–107, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017RG000574, 2018.
Tapiador, F. J., Turk, F. J., Petersen, W., Hou, A. Y., García-Ortega, E., Machado, L. A. T., Angelis, C. F., Salio, P., Kidd, C., Huffman, G. J., and De Castro, M.: Global precipitation measurement: Methods, datasets and applications, Atmospheric Res., 104–105, 70–97, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.10.021, 2012.
Tejedor, E., De Luis, M., Cuadrat, J. M., Esper, J., and Saz, M. Á.: Tree-ring-based drought reconstruction in the Iberian Range (east of Spain) since 1694, Int. J. Biometeorol., 60, 361–372, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-015-1033-7, 2016.
Tejedor, E., Saz, M. A., Esper, J., Cuadrat, J. M., and De Luis, M.: Summer drought reconstruction in northeastern Spain inferred from a tree ring latewood network since 1734, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 8492–8500, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074748, 2017.
Tejedor, E., de Luis, M., Barriendos, M., Cuadrat, J. M., Luterbacher, J., and Saz, M. Á.: Rogation ceremonies: a key to understanding past drought variability in northeastern Spain since 1650, Clim. Past, 15, 1647–1664, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1647-2019, 2019.
Till, C. and Guiot, J.: Reconstruction of Precipitation in Morocco Since 1100 A.D. Based on Cedrus Atlantica Tree-Ring Widths, Quat. Res., 33, 337–351, https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(90)90060-X, 1990.
Torbenson, M. C. A., Stagge, J. H., Chen, F., Ziaco, E., and Esper, J.: Adjusting the significance of daily climate responses in tree-ring proxies, J. For. Res., 36, 3, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-024-01799-3, 2024.
Touchan, R., Garfin, G. M., Meko, D. M., Funkhouser, G., Erkan, N., Hughes, M. K., and Wallin, B. S.: Preliminary reconstructions of spring precipitation in southwestern Turkey from tree-ring width, Int. J. Climatol., 23, 157–171, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.850, 2003.
Touchan, R., Xoplaki, E., Funkhouser, G., Luterbacher, J., Hughes, M. K., Erkan, N., Akkemik, Ü., and Stephan, J.: Reconstructions of spring/summer precipitation for the Eastern Mediterranean from tree-ring widths and its connection to large-scale atmospheric circulation, Clim. Dyn., 25, 75–98, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-005-0016-5, 2005.
Touchan, R., Meko, D. M., and Aloui, A.: Precipitation reconstruction for Northwestern Tunisia from tree rings, J. Arid Environ., 72, 1887–1896, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.05.010, 2008.
Touchan, R., Anchukaitis, K. J., Shishov, V. V., Sivrikaya, F., Attieh, J., Ketmen, M., Stephan, J., Mitsopoulos, I., Christou, A., and Meko, D. M.: Spatial patterns of eastern Mediterranean climate influence on tree growth, The Holocene, 24, 381–392, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683613518594, 2014.
Vaganov, E. A., Hughes, M. K., and Shashkin, A. V.: Growth dynamics of conifer tree rings: images of past and future environments, Springer, Berlin, ISBN 978-3540260868, 2006.
Vergés, J. and Fernàndez, M.: Ranges and basins in the Iberian Peninsula: their contribution to the present topography, Geol. Soc. Lond. Mem., 32, 223–234, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2006.032.01.13, 2006.
Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Lasanta, T., and Gracia, C.: Aridification determines changes in forest growth in Pinus halepensis forests under semiarid Mediterranean climate conditions, Agric. For. Meteorol., 150, 614–628, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2010.02.002, 2010.
Vicente-Serrano, S. M., Tramblay, Y., Reig, F., González-Hidalgo, J. C., Beguería, S., Brunetti, M., Kalin, K. C., Patalen, L., Kržič, A., Lionello, P., Lima, M. M., Trigo, R. M., El-Kenawy, A. M., Eddenjal, A., Türkes, M., Koutroulis, A., Manara, V., Maugeri, M., Badi, W., Mathbout, S., Bertalanič, R., Bocheva, L., Dabanli, I., Dumitrescu, A., Dubuisson, B., Sahabi-Abed, S., Abdulla, F., Fayad, A., Hodzic, S., Ivanov, M., Radevski, I., Peña-Angulo, D., Lorenzo-Lacruz, J., Domínguez-Castro, F., Gimeno-Sotelo, L., García-Herrera, R., Franquesa, M., Halifa-Marín, A., Adell-Michavila, M., Noguera, I., Barriopedro, D., Garrido-Perez, J. M., Azorin-Molina, C., Andres-Martin, M., Gimeno, L., Nieto, R., Llasat, M. C., Markonis, Y., Selmi, R., Ben Rached, S., Radovanović, S., Soubeyroux, J.-M., Ribes, A., Saidi, M. E., Bataineh, S., El Khalki, E. M., Robaa, S., Boucetta, A., Alsafadi, K., Mamassis, N., Mohammed, S., Fernández-Duque, B., Cheval, S., Moutia, S., Stevkov, A., Stevkova, S., Luna, M. Y., and Potopová, V.: High temporal variability not trend dominates Mediterranean precipitation, Nature, 639, 658–666, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08576-6, 2025.
Von Storch, H. and Swiers, F. W.: Statistical analysis in climate research, Cambridge university press, Cambridge, ISBN 978-0521450713, 1999.
Wigley, T. M. L., Briffa, K. R., and Jones, P. D.: On the Average Value of Correlated Time Series, with Applications in Dendroclimatology and Hydrometeorology, J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol., 23, 201–213, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1984)023<0201:OTAVOC>2.0.CO;2, 1984.
Xiang, Y., Chen, J., Li, L., Peng, T., and Yin, Z.: Evaluation of Eight Global Precipitation Datasets in Hydrological Modeling, Remote Sens., 13, 2831, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13142831, 2021.
Zhang, L., Liu, Y., Zheng, J., and Hao, Z.: The summer standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) dataset for six European regions over the past millennium reconstructed by tree-ring chronologies, Big Earth Data, 7, 1146–1168, https://doi.org/10.1080/20964471.2023.2247864, 2023.
Zhang, X., Alexander, L., Hegerl, G. C., Jones, P., Tank, A. K., Peterson, T. C., Trewin, B., and Zwiers, F. W.: Indices for monitoring changes in extremes based on daily temperature and precipitation data, WIREs Clim. Change, 2, 851–870, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.147, 2011.
Short summary
The Mediterranean faces more extreme weather. To understand these changes beyond short modern records, we studied Spanish pine tree rings, reconstructing over 500 years of rainfall. Our findings show that while past centuries had wet and dry periods, recent decades have experienced an unprecedented surge in both severe droughts and extreme wet events. This long-term view helps assess current climate shifts and their impact on ecosystems and water resources, highlighting the need for adaptation.
The Mediterranean faces more extreme weather. To understand these changes beyond short modern...
