Postglacial vegetational and fire history: pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal records from two Alaskan lakes

Tinner, Willy; Hu, Feng Sheng; Beer, Ruth; Kaltenrieder, Petra; Scheurer, Brigitte; Krähenbühl, Urs

doi:10.1007/s00334-006-0052-z

Cited by 53 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…A probable Picea specimen found at a depth of 7.75-8.0 m has a radiocarbon age of 8150 ± 25 14 C yr BP ($9100 cal yr BP). Picea, therefore, probably has been in the southern Copper River basin for at least the past $9100 cal yr, similar to what has been reported from a sediment core record at Grizzly Lake, $130 km to the north of Chitina (Tinner et al, 2006). There are apparent slight age reversals in three zones (1.0-1.5 m; 3.75-4.25 m; 7.75-8.13 m) between three adjacent pairs of samples.…”

Section: Wrangell Mountainssupporting

confidence: 79%

Loess origin, transport, and deposition over the past 10,000years, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

et al. 2013

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a b s t r a c tContemporary glaciogenic dust has not received much attention, because most research has been on glaciogenic dust of the last glacial period or non-glaciogenic dust of the present interglacial period. Nevertheless, dust from modern glaciogenic sources may be important for Fe inputs to primary producers in the ocean. Adjacent to the subarctic Pacific Ocean, we studied a loess section near Chitina, Alaska along the Copper River in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, where dust has been accumulating over the past $10,000 years. Mass accumulation rates for the fine-grained (<20 lm) fraction of this loess section are among the highest reported for the Holocene of high-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Based on mineralogy and geochemistry, loess at Chitina is derived from glacial sources in the Wrangell Mountains, the Chugach Mountains, and probably the Alaska Range. Concentrations of Fe in the silt-plus-clay fraction of the loess at Chitina are much higher than in all other loess bodies in North America and higher than most loess bodies on other continents. The very fine-grained (<2 lm) portion of this sediment, capable of long-range transport, is dominated by Fe-rich chlorite, which can yield Fe readily to primary producers in the ocean. Examination of satellite imagery shows that dust from the Copper River is transported by wind on a regular basis to the North Pacific Ocean. This Alaskan example shows that high-latitude glaciogenic dust needs to be considered as a significant Fe source to primary producers in the open ocean.Published by Elsevier B.V. IntroductionDust is an integral part of the Earth's environmental systems, including the atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. A number of reviews in the past decade or so have emphasized the importance of dust with its influence on planetary radiation balance, effects on clouds and precipitation, its role in adding nutrients to soils and the biosphere, and the importance of dust as a source of iron to primary producers (such as phytoplankton) in the world's oceans (Kohfeld and Harrison, 2001;Tegen, 2003;Goudie and Middleton, 2006;Mahowald et al., 2005Mahowald et al., , 2006Kohfeld and Tegen, 2007;Maher et al., 2010;Shao et al., 2011;Muhs, 2013a). These reviews also show that the emphasis of dust research has been on either contemporary dust sources, dominantly in low-latitude arid regions, or enhanced dust production at higher latitudes during the last glacial period. There has been a focus on contemporary dust sources at low latitudes because satellite-based global studies show that such regions are unquestionably the most important dust sources at the present time (Prospero et al., 2002). Concentration of studies on mid-latitude and high-latitude dust sources during the last glacial period is also understandable, because dust production globally during this time was much greater than at present, as seen in ice core records (EPICA Community Members, 2004;Ruth et al., 2007), deep-sea core records (Rea, 1994(Rea, , 2007, and loess r...

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Section: Wrangell Mountainssupporting

confidence: 79%

Loess origin, transport, and deposition over the past 10,000years, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

et al. 2013

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“…MacDonald et al, 1991;Tinner et al, 1998;Carcaillet et al, 2001a;Gardner and Whitlock, 2001), whereas macroscopic particles (>100-150 μm) express local (e.g. Clark, 1988;Whitlock and Millspaugh, 1996;Gavin et al, 2003b;Lynch et al, 2004;Higuera et al, 2005) as well as micro-regional fire episodes that may mainly depend on fire size and intensity (Pisaric, 2002;[Tinner et al, 2006a] and [Tinner et al, 2006b]; Peters and Higuera, 2007).…”

Section: Charcoal Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many lines of evidence show that fire regime changes are not linearly linked to climatic change, for instance declines of fire frequency as a consequence of climatic warming are documented by long-term ecological and modelling studies from the Boreal biome (e.g. Bergeron and Archambault, 1993;Flannigan et al, 1998; [Tinner et al, 2006a] and [Tinner et al, 2006b]). On a longer-time perspective, fire hazard has generally increased due increases in population size since prehistory, changes in husbandry practices, and increases in human ignition sources (Clark et al, 1989;Tinner et al, 1999;Carcaillet et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate versus human-driven fire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes: the Holocene record of Lago dell’Accesa (Tuscany, Italy)

Vannière

Colombaroli

Chapron

et al. 2008

Quaternary Science Reviews

216

169

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A high-resolution sedimentary charcoal record from Lago dell'Accesa in southern Tuscany reveals numerous changes in fire regime over the last 11.6 kyr cal. BP and provides one of the longest gap-free series from Italy and the Mediterranean region. Charcoal analyses are coupled with gamma density measurements, organic-content analyses, and pollen counts to provide data about sedimentation and vegetation history. A comparison between fire frequency and lake-level reconstructions from the same site is used to address the centennial variability of fire regimes and its linkage to hydrological processes. Our data reveal strong relationships among climate, fire, vegetation, and land-use and attest to the paramount importance of fire in Mediterranean ecosystems. The mean fire interval (MFI) for the entire Holocene was estimated to be 150 yr, with a minimum around 80 yr and a maximum around 450 yr. Between 11.6 and 3.6 kyr cal. BP, up to eight high-frequency fire phases lasting 300-500 yr generally occurred during shifts towards low lake-level stands (ca 11,300, 10,700, 9500, 8700, 7600, 6200, 5300, 3400, 1800 and 1350 cal. yr BP). Therefore, we assume that most of these shifts were triggered by drier climatic conditions and especially a dry summer season that promoted ignition and biomass burning. At the beginning of the Holocene, high climate seasonality favoured fire expansion in this region, as in many other ecosystems of the northern and southern hemispheres. Human impact affected fire regimes and especially fire frequencies since the Neolithic (ca 8000-4000 cal. yr BP). Burning as a consequence of anthropogenic activities became more frequent after the onset of the Bronze Age (ca 3800-3600 cal. yr BP) and appear to be synchronous with the development of settlements in the region, slash-and-burn agriculture, animal husbandry, and mineral exploitation. The anthropogenic phases with maximum fire activity corresponded to greater sensitivity of the vegetation and triggered significant changes in vegetational communities (e.g. temporal declines of Quercus ilex forests and expansion of shrublands and macchia). The link between fire and climate persisted during the mid-and late Holocene, when human impact on vegetation and the fire regime was high. This finding suggests that climatic conditions were important for fire occurrence even under strongly humanised ecosystem conditions.

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“…We selected this period, because it includes the transition from (natural) forested to (increasingly human influenced) shrubby maquis environments. This approach follows Tinner et al (2005Tinner et al ( , 2006.…”

Section: Numerical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid- and late-Holocene vegetation and fire history at Biviere di Gela, a coastal lake in southern Sicily, Italy

Noti

Leeuwen

Colombaroli

et al. 2009

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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122

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Postglacial vegetational and fire history: pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal records from two Alaskan lakes

Abstract: Pollen, plant macrofossil and charcoal analyses of sediments from two Alaskan lakes provide new data for inferring Lateglacial and Holocene environmental change.

Cited by 53 publications

References 55 publications

Loess origin, transport, and deposition over the past 10,000years, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Loess origin, transport, and deposition over the past 10,000years, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska

Climate versus human-driven fire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes: the Holocene record of Lago dell’Accesa (Tuscany, Italy)

Mid- and late-Holocene vegetation and fire history at Biviere di Gela, a coastal lake in southern Sicily, Italy

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