7000-year human legacy of elevation-dependent European fire regimes

Vannière, Boris; Blarquez, Olivier; Rius, Damien; Doyen, Élise; Brücher, Tim; Colombaroli, Danièle; Connor, Simon; Feurdean, Angelica; Hickler, Thomas; Kaltenrieder, Petra; Lemmen, Carsten; Leys, Bérangère; Massa, Charly; Olofsson, Jörgen

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.11.012

Cited by 86 publications

(87 citation statements)

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“…on the treeline is almost omnipresent ( [5]). Yet, land-use history, both intensity and longevity, vary locally and regionally and, thus, can be assessed at regional/local scales only (e.g., [47,85,118,119]). …”

Section: Treeline Dynamics At Different Spatial and Temporal Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treelines—Approaches at Different Scales

Holtmeier

Broll

2017

Sustainability

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Scales in treeline research depend on the objectives and must match the underlying natural processes. Factors and processes at one scale may not be as important at another scale. In the global view, the number of factors influencing climatic treeline position can be reduced to the effects of heat deficiency. Emphasis, however, should be laid on differentiation of the treeline by their regionally and locally varying physiognomy, diversity, spatial and temporal features, and heterogeneity. An assessment of the relative importance of the factors shaping regional/local treeline physiognomy, spatial patterns, and dynamics should have priority. This can be achieved only by syndisciplinary research. Such studies are indispensable for assessing treeline response to climate change at the regional and landscape scales.

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Section: Treeline Dynamics At Different Spatial and Temporal Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Treelines—Approaches at Different Scales

Holtmeier

Broll

2017

Sustainability

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“…Until now, assessment of disturbance regimes in postglacial palaeoecological research has focused mainly on disturbances namely by human activities (Birks, Birks, Kaland, & Moe, ; Poschlod, ), although there are abundant well‐documented examples of natural disturbances, such as fire, pathogens and herbivory (including insect outbreaks, Bradshaw & Sykes, ; Morris et al., ), many of which could be driven by climate. In particular, past fire studies were successful in identifying the dynamics of burning biomass, fire frequency and its effect on ecosystems up to global scale, thanks to the collection of charcoal sequences and their straightforward interpretation (Power et al., ; Vannière et al., ). However, closer examination of more recent natural disturbances in temperate forests shows a number of other important factors, such as herbivory of large mammals (Vera, ), insect outbreaks (Schelhaas, Nabuurs, & Schuck, ) and wind‐throws (Zielonka, Holeksa, Fleischer, & Kapusta, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing disturbance‐diversity relationships in temperate ecosystems over the past 12000 years

2019

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Disturbances such as fires and grazing have major impacts on biodiversity. While it has been suggested that species richness is highest with intermediate levels of disturbance, currently there is no consensus due to an absence of data covering large temporal and spatial scales. We developed a new method to examine disturbance‐diversity relationships (DDR) using sedimentary pollen data linked with species’ disturbance ecology. We reconstructed disturbance and diversity dynamics in the region of the European temperate zone over the last 12,000 years and calculated DDR for 900‐year sequential temporal windows. Disturbance frequency was highest in the early and late Holocene, while remaining low in the mid‐Holocene. Diversity increased continuously from the start of the Holocene. Our results demonstrate that over the past 12,000 years DDR changed from hump‐shaped into monotonic increasing pattern. While both highly disturbed and undisturbed sites were strongly impoverished in the early Holocene, as species migrated, biodiversity levels have subsequently affected disturbance regimes with highly disturbed sites now being the highest in species richness. Synthesis. Land‐use changes in the last 4,000 years created an increasingly patchy landscape, allowing invasive species adapted to high‐frequency disturbance to migrate across the landscape. The link between high diversity and disturbed areas is relatively recent and may anticipate even greater disturbance frequencies in future. Our findings also support a hypothesis that species migration, and the structure of the species pool critically determines the response of biota to external factors such as disturbance.

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“…During the last decade, a significant increase in the number of charcoal-based paleofire publications ( Figure 1a) has substantially improved our understanding of (1) key drivers for different fire-climate conditions [14], (2) anthropogenic fire regime alteration [15], and (3) new perspectives on long-term fire ecology paradigms [16]. Moreover, charcoal-based paleofire science has evolved recently toward improved information about other fire-regime parameters, including the possibility to explore area burned [17], fire severity metrics [18], and fuel types [19].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Cyr et al [29] have successfully used paleofire data to re-orientate timber management target in the boreal forests of Québec. Other case studies in Québec and Europe documented new insights into the degree of human-shaped landscape with fire [15,30], providing unique information that would help set conservation strategies. The GPWG 2 represents an emerging group of engaged scientists that aim to strengthen the linkages among conservation practitioners, ecosystem managers, and a range of environmental stakeholders.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%