Presettlement analogs for Quaternary fire regimes in eastern North America

Clark, James S.; Hussey, Tristram; Royall, P. Dan

doi:10.1007/bf00173273

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…To compare presettlement charcoal accumulation between the two regions, we examined the distributions of charcoal accumulation rates from 1000 to 1850 AD using a non‐parametric Kolmogorov‐Smirnov (KS) two‐sample test [ Sokal and Rohlf , 1981; Clark et al , 1996a]. Charcoal records contain information on regional fire importance, although charcoal accumulation rates may vary between sediment types [ Clark et al , 1996d].…”

Section: Field and Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic and temporal variations in fire history in boreal ecosystems of Alaska

Lynch¹,

Clark²,

Bigelow³

et al. 2002

J. Geophys. Res.

126

162

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Charcoal and pollen analyses were used to determine geographic and temporal patterns of fire importance in boreal forests of the Kenai Peninsula and interior Alaska. Sieved, large charcoal particles were measured in continuously sampled cores of Rock, Portage, and Arrow Lakes (Kenai Peninsula) and Dune and Deuce Lakes (interior Alaska) to estimate regional fire importance and fire occurrence. Charcoal accumulation rates have been low for the past 1000 years in both regions with slightly higher values in interior Alaska than on the Kenai Peninsula. An exception to this general pattern was the period of post‐European settlement on the Kenai Peninsula, where charcoal accumulation rates increased by 10‐fold. This increase most likely reflected increased fire occurrence due to human ignition. The Holocene charcoal and pollen records from Dune Lake indicate low fire occurrence during the early (9000 to 5500 calibrated year before present (yr BP)) birch‐white spruce‐alder (Betula‐Picea glauca‐Alnus) communities and high fire occurrence as black spruce (Picea mariana) became established after 5500 yr BP. Increased fires probably resulted from a change to fire‐prone black spruce forests. For the past 5500 yr BP, two distinct fire regimes occurred. Frequent fires, with an average fire return interval of 98 years, characterized the period from 5500‐2400 yr BP. Fewer fires, with an average fire interval of 198 years, characterized the period after 2400 yr BP. Fuel accumulation, stand structure, and vegetation species contributed to the natural variability in fire regimes during past changes in climate.

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Section: Field and Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographic and temporal variations in fire history in boreal ecosystems of Alaska

Lynch¹,

Clark²,

Bigelow³

et al. 2002

J. Geophys. Res.

126

162

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, sites with sandier, excessively drained soils showed a slight increase in fire frequencies and were associated with rapid pollen assemblage shifts over a few decades and compositional volatility. Disturbance and vegetation feedbacks on fire can either facilitate shifts in species composition (Davis and Botkin 1985, Overpeck et al 1990, Bradshaw and Hannon 1992, Clark et al 1996, Clark et al 2001, Scheller and Mladenoff 2005, Booth et al 2012 or maintain stability of vegetation types during climate changes (Heinselman 1973, Cleland et al 2004, Lytle 2005, Umbanhowar et al 2006. Overall, change in vegetation composition on the NWSP during the LIA was driven by variation in soils and local climate more than by changing fire frequencies.…”

Section: Patterns Of Variation In Species Compositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geophysical features influence the climate change sensitivity of northern Wisconsin pine and oak forests

Tweiten

Calcote

Lynch

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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Landscape-scale vulnerability assessment from multiple sources, including paleoecological site histories, can inform climate change adaptation. We used an array of lake sediment pollen and charcoal records to determine how soils and landscape factors influenced the variability of forest composition change over the past 2000 years. The forests in this study are located in northwestern Wisconsin on a sandy glacial outwash plain. Soils and local climate vary across the study area. We used the Natural Resource Conservation Service's Soil Survey Geographic soil database and published fire histories to characterize differences in soils and fire history around each lake site. Individual site histories differed in two metrics of past vegetation dynamics: the extent to which white pine (Pinus strobus) increased during the Little Ice Age (LIA) climate period and the volatility in the rate of change between samples at 50-120 yr intervals. Greater increases of white pine during the LIA occurred on sites with less sandy soils (R² = 0.45, P < 0.0163) and on sites with relatively warmer and drier local climate (R² = 0.55, P < 0.0056). Volatility in the rate of change between samples was positively associated with LIA fire frequency (R² = 0.41, P < 0.0256). Over multi-decadal to centennial timescales, forest compositional change and rate-of-change volatility were associated with higher fire frequency. Over longer (multi-centennial) time frames, forest composition change, especially increased white pine, shifted most in sites with more soil moisture. Our results show that responsiveness of forest composition to climate change was influenced by soils, local climate, and fire. The anticipated climatic changes in the next century will not produce the same community dynamics on the same soil types as in the past, but understanding past dynamics and relationships can help us assess how novel factors and combinations of factors in the future may influence various site types. Our results support climate change adaptation efforts to monitor and conserve the landscape's full range of geophysical features.

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“…In the extreme northern boreal forest, it has been suggested that fire has triggered landscape fragmentation over several millennia, without any change in the location of the northern tree‐line (Payette & Lavoie 1994). Changes in flammability may explain the occurrence of different fire regimes through time, both in conifer and broad‐leaved forests (Clark 1988; Clark et al . 1996a,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1996a,b). Vegetation and fire change almost in synchrony (Clark et al . 1996a), and either could be the driving force.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change of fire frequency in the eastern Canadian boreal forests during the Holocene: does vegetation composition or climate trigger the fire regime?

et al. 2001

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Summary1 Studies on the variability of natural fire regimes are needed to understand plant responses in a changing environment. Since vegetation changes might follow or trigger changes in fire frequency, climate models suggest that changes in water balance will accompany current global warming, and the response of fire regimes to Holocene hydro-climate changes and vegetation switches may thus serve as a useful analogue for current change. 2 We present high-resolution charcoal records from laminated cores from three small kettle lakes located in mixed-boreal and coniferous-boreal forest. Comparison with some pollen diagrams from the lakes is used to evaluate the role of the local vegetation in the fire history. Fire frequency was reconstructed by measuring the separation of peaks after detrending the charcoal accumulation rate from any background. 3 Several distinct periods of fire regime were detected with fire intervals. Between c. 7000-3000 cal. year  , fire intervals were double those in the last 2000 years. Fire frequency changed 1000 years earlier in the coniferous-boreal forest than in the mixedboreal forest to the south. The absence of changes in combustibility species in the pollen data that could explain the fire frequency transition suggests that the vegetation does not control the long-term fire regime in the boreal forest. 4 Climate appears to be the main process triggering fire. The increased frequency may be the result of more frequent drought due to the increasing influence of cool dry westerly Pacific air-masses from mid to late Holocene, and thus of conditions conducive to ignition and fire spread. In east Canada, this change matches other long-term climate proxies and suggests that a switch in atmospheric circulation 2-3000 years ago triggered a less stable climate with more dry summers. Future warming is moreover likely to reduce fire frequency.

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Presettlement analogs for Quaternary fire regimes in eastern North America

Cited by 20 publications

References 37 publications

Geographic and temporal variations in fire history in boreal ecosystems of Alaska

Geographic and temporal variations in fire history in boreal ecosystems of Alaska

Geophysical features influence the climate change sensitivity of northern Wisconsin pine and oak forests

Change of fire frequency in the eastern Canadian boreal forests during the Holocene: does vegetation composition or climate trigger the fire regime?

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