Oak Savannas in Western New York State, Circa 1795: Synthesizing Predictive Spatial Models and Historical Accounts to Understand Environmental and Native American Influences

Tulowiecki, Stephen J.; Robertson, David P.; Larsen, C. T.

doi:10.1080/24694452.2019.1629871

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Results initially appear to challenge the findings of previous studies that tout the high importance of NAVs relative to environmental variables in predicting the distribution of trees favoured by Native Americans (Black et al, 2006; Fern et al, 2020; Tulowiecki & Larsen, 2015; Tulowiecki, Robertson, & Larsen, 2020). However, such differences can be attributed to differing geographic extents, resolutions of analysis and measures of taxon distributions.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

“…NAVs implicitly treated all Native American cultures and associated land use practices as having equal impact on forest ecosystems, but cultures in the north‐eastern US utilized varying practices (Cronon, 1983; Doolittle, 2002) that may have resulted in varying degrees of impact upon forests. Following other studies (Tulowiecki, Robertson, & Larsen, 2020), this study used simple proxies of Native American land use (i.e. distance to nearest site or settlement area), but other representations of Native American land use, including representations of land use prior to 1500, could be more predictive of tree taxon distributions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Localized Native American impacts on past forest composition across a regional extent in north‐easternUnited States

Tulowiecki

Ranney

Keenan

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim:Researchers have debated impacts of past Native American land use on forests including upon tree species composition in north-eastern United States (US), with estimates of impacts ranging from local to regional extent. This study examines tree relative abundances to assess whether Native Americans influenced geographic distributions prior to Euro-American settlement.Location: North-eastern United States (approx. 420,000 km 2 ).Taxon: Ash (Fraxinus spp.), basswood (Tilia americana), beech (Fagus grandifolia), birch (Betula spp.), cherry (Prunus spp.), chestnut (Castanea dentata), dogwood (Cornus spp.), elm (Ulmus spp.), fir (Abies balsamea), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), hickory (Carya spp.), ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana and Ostrya virginiana), maple (Acer spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), pine (Pinus spp.), spruce (Picea spp.), tamarack (Larix laricina) and walnut (Juglans spp.), Methods:We used boosted regression trees to model abundance patterns and to assess the importance of distance-based proxies of Native American land use versus environmental variables. We trained models that included and excluded distance-based proxies. Abundance estimates from original land survey records (1650-1850 CE) were acquired for taxa at 8 km spatial resolution, and related to Native American settlement locations (1500-1800 CE) and 27 environmental variables.Results: When evaluated upon test data, regional-scale models of relative abundance that included distance-based proxies performed only slightly better than models that excluded them, with mean improvements in RMSE of 0.1 percentage points. Models suggest that Native American land use modestly altered the relative abundance of taxa locally, extending no more than 50 km from settlement. Models also suggest slight increases near settlement of a few percentage points in relative abundance for fire-tolerant and/or dietary taxa (e.g. oak, hickory and pine), and for early-successional taxa (e.g. ash). Main conclusions:Past Native American land use had no detectable effect on forest composition across a regional extent, but increased the abundance of fire-tolerant, shade-intolerant and nut-producing trees locally.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Localized Native American impacts on past forest composition across a regional extent in north‐easternUnited States

Tulowiecki

Ranney

Keenan

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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“…These findings postulate that if fire suppression continues unrestricted, together with other biotic and abiotic factors responsible for the current decline of oak savanna communities, there would be a successional trend away from oak dominance towards a future of red maple dominance. This postulation can be addressed in future field studies, especially ones incorporating restoration techniques such as prescribed burning and mechanical thinning [46] and spatially explicit models [47]. Understanding the degree of impact of competitor species (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Climate on Oak Savanna Tree Species in the Midwestern United States

Hayford

Chhin

2020

IJECC

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Aims: The previously abundant high quality and open canopy oak savanna communities in the Midwest have been reduced by more than 98% of their pre-settlement (pre-1840) area because of changing land use and represent some of the most threatened ecosystems in North America. Prior knowledge of oak savanna communities’ climatic resilience to potential impact of climate change and competition is critical to restoration success. This study examined sensitivity to climatic stress, and effects of competition, which are important considerations during oak savanna restoration. Methodology: Dendrochronological methods were used to sample oak savanna communities located in MacCready Reserve (MR) situated in southern Michigan, U.S.A. The influence of climate (mainly temperature and precipitation) on white oak (Quercus alba L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L), and black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh) were correlated using dendroclimatic techniques. The effect of competitor species (A. rubrum and P. serotina) on Q. alba were examined using competitor ratio chronologies and examining correlations with climatic variables. Results: Findings indicate that precipitation in winter, spring, and summer is beneficial for radial growth of white oak. White oak is more resilient to drought stress than red maple and black cherry due to its ecophysiological adaptations but tends to grow rather slower when in competition with shade tolerant and fire sensitive competitor species. Conclusion: Overall, this study has shown that temperature and precipitation play key roles in tree productivity and thus climatic sensitivity should be incorporated in the restoration of oak savanna ecosystems.

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“…When geographers think of Nevin Fenneman (1865-1945 (Figure 1), they are likely doing so as they cite one of the divisions, provinces, or sections he meticulously described and organized in his numerous works on the physiography of the conterminous United States (US). For example, Tulowiecki et al (2020), in their work on modeling the historical (ca. 1795) distribution of oak savannas in upper New York state, identified their study region as located within the Allegheny Plateau and Erie-Ontario Lowlands, citing Fenneman's 1938 volume on the Physiography of the Eastern United States.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The lasting impact of N.M. Fenneman’s works physiography of the western and eastern United States

Sawyer

2021

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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The publication of Fenneman’s two volumes on physiography: The Physiography of Western United States and the Physiography of Eastern United States, was the culmination of over 20 years of work toward formalization of the physiographic regions in the United States. This paper details the relevant works that predate these volumes, the two volumes themselves, as well as briefly describing Fenneman’s career and the continued use of the works 80 plus years post-publication.

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Oak Savannas in Western New York State, Circa 1795: Synthesizing Predictive Spatial Models and Historical Accounts to Understand Environmental and Native American Influences

Cited by 8 publications

References 35 publications

Localized Native American impacts on past forest composition across a regional extent in north‐easternUnited States

Localized Native American impacts on past forest composition across a regional extent in north‐easternUnited States

Influence of Climate on Oak Savanna Tree Species in the Midwestern United States

The lasting impact of N.M. Fenneman’s works physiography of the western and eastern United States

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