Variations in fire frequency and climate over the past 17 000 yr in central Yellowstone National Park

Millspaugh, Sarah H.; Whitlock, Cathy; Bartlein, Patrick J.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2000)028<0211:viffac>2.3.co;2

Cited by 100 publications

(137 citation statements)

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“…Although the youngest age appears older than other records (e.g. Pierce et al 2004;Sanborn et al 2006), late-Holocene fire frequencies at Bear Flat are similar or lower than those inferred at other locations (Long et al 1998;Hallett et al 2003a;Millspaugh et al 2000;Lertzman et al 2002;Hallett and Walker 2000). It is possible that the youngest records have been removed by 20th century agricultural ploughing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…in Yellowstone (Meyer et al 1995;Millspaugh et al 2000), Idaho (Meyer et al 2001), Oregon (Long et al 1998), southwestern BC (Gavin et al 2003b;Hallett et al 2003a;Lertzman et al 2002), and southeastern BC (Hallett and Walker 2000;Hallett et al 2003b). This signal appears less marked in the tropics (Horn and Sanford 1992;Turcq et al 1998) and in other mid-latitude regimes, such as in eastern Canada (Carcaillet et al 2001) and New Zealand (Molloy et al 1963).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The long-term record of forest-fire history has been studied in a number of regions (Meyer et al 1995(Meyer et al , 2001Cwynar 1987;Long et al 1998;Hallett et al 2003a,b;Millspaugh et al 2000;Horn and Sanford 1992;Turcq et al 1998;Lertzman et al 2002;Hallett and Walker 2000;Pierce et al 2004) of the world, but there is little information on fire history in more northerly regions of Canada. There are basically 2 kinds of studies: 1) direct measurement of charcoal found in alluvial and colluvial deposits (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meyer et al 1995Meyer et al , 2001Lertzman et al 2002;Pierce et al 2004); and 2) studies of the charcoal record found in lake sediments (e.g. Long et al 1998;Millspaugh et al 2000). In southern British Columbia (BC), there have been several studies (Hallett et al 2003a,b;Lertzman et al 2002) of fire histories in hemlock rainforests of the Fraser Valley, southwestern BC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Over 16,000 Years of Fire Frequency Determined from AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Charcoal in an Alluvial Fan at Bear Flat, Northeastern British Columbia

Jull

Geertsema²

2006

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. We present results of radiocarbon dating of charcoal from paleosols and buried charcoal horizons in a unique sequence, which potentially records the last 36,000 yr, from a fan at Bear Flat, British Columbia (BC) (56°16′51″N, 121°13′39″W). Evidence for forest-fire charcoal is found over the last 13,500 ± 110 14 C yr before present (BP) or 16,250 ± 700 cal BP. The study area is located east of the Rocky Mountains in an area that was ice-free at least 13,970 ± 170 14 C yr BP (17,150 cal BP) ago. The latest evidence of fire is during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). The charcoal ages show a periodicity in large fires on a millennial scale through the Holocene-an average of 4 fires per thousand years. Higher fire frequencies are observed between 2200 to 2800 cal BP, ~5500 and ~6000 cal BP, ~7500 to 8200 cal BP, and 9000 to 10,000 cal BP. These intervals also appear to be times of above-average aggradation of the fan. We conclude that fire frequency is related to large-scale climatic events on a millennial time scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Over 16,000 Years of Fire Frequency Determined from AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Charcoal in an Alluvial Fan at Bear Flat, Northeastern British Columbia

Jull

Geertsema²

2006

Radiocarbon

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“…However, we expect that the frequencies would have been quite different. Evidence from paleolimnology and dendrochronology indicates a typical pre-European, fire frequency in the northern Rocky Mountains ranging from decades to several hundred years, depending upon the area (Barrett et al, 1991;Millspaugh et al, 2000). However, the frequency of more recent fire activity could well represent an almost chronic annual loading of smoke and ash in some cases resulting from seasonal burning of logging slash and agricultural fields, together with the possibility of increased prescribed forest burning as well as increased wildfire activity following years of fire suppression.…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire effects on stream food webs and nutrient dynamics in Glacier National Park, USA

Spencer

Gabel²,

Hauer³

2003

Forest Ecology and Management

165

136

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We documented immediate and mid-term (5 years) impacts on streams from a large (15,500 ha) wildfire in northwestern Montana. Fire-related impacts were ecosystem-wide, extending from water chemistry to fish. During the initial firestorm, phosphorus and nitrogen levels increased 5-to 60-fold above background levels resulting from aerial deposition from smoke and ash. Nutrients returned to background concentrations within several weeks after the fire. During subsequent years, nutrient concentrations periodically increased in fire-impacted sites compared to reference sites, especially during spring run-off.Evidence of post-fire changes was also documented in the aquatic food web via stable isotope analyses. Macroinvertebrates and fish from fire-impacted sites were significantly more enriched in 15 N and depleted in 13 C than consumers from forested reference sites (P < 0:001). The post-fire isotopic shift in consumers was consistent with increased utilization of algae and/or other autochthonous food sources together with decreased reliance on terrestrial leaf litter and other allochthonous food sources. Such a post-fire shift from a detritus based on a periphyton-based food web fits predictions of the river continuum concept following canopy removal and nutrient enrichment.Following decades of active fire suppression, forest managers are now contemplating aggressive efforts to reduce the fuel build-up noted in forests throughout the western US. Such efforts could involve increased use of fire and mechanical thinning and harvest. Results from our work and others suggest that expanded fire activity could mobilize substantial quantities of highly available nutrients to lakes and streams. With significant nutrient delivery mechanisms involving water, as well as airborne transport via smoke and ash, the potential for increased nutrient loadings to surface waters could extend well beyond the catchment of any particular fire. As natural resource managers contemplate expanding the use of fire as a forest restoration tool, they face the dilemma that such efforts could run counter to a decades-long effort to reduce nutrient loadings to lakes and other surface waters threatened by eutrophication. #

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Can wildland fire management alter 21st‐century subalpine fire and forests in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA?

Hansen

Abendroth

Rammer³

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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In subalpine forests of the western United States that historically experienced infrequent, high‐severity fire, whether fire management can shape 21st‐century fire regimes and forest dynamics to meet natural resource objectives is not known. Managed wildfire use (i.e., allowing lightning‐ignited fires to burn when risk is low instead of suppressing them) is one approach for maintaining natural fire regimes and fostering mosaics of forest structure, stand age, and tree‐species composition, while protecting people and property. However, little guidance exists for where and when this strategy may be effective with climate change. We simulated most of the contiguous forest in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA to ask: (1) how would subalpine fires and forest structure be different if fires had not been suppressed during the last three decades? And (2) what is the relative influence of climate change vs. fire management strategy on future fire and forests? We contrasted fire and forests from 1989 to 2098 under two fire management scenarios (managed wildfire use and fire suppression), two general circulation models (CNRM‐CM5 and GFDL‐ESM2M), and two representative concentration pathways (8.5 and 4.5). We found little difference between management scenarios in the number, size, or severity of fires during the last three decades. With 21st‐century warming, fire activity increased rapidly, particularly after 2050, and followed nearly identical trajectories in both management scenarios. Area burned per year between 2018 and 2099 was 1,700% greater than in the last three decades (1989–2017). Large areas of forest were abruptly lost; only 65% of the original 40,178 ha of forest remained by 2098. However, forests stayed connected and fuels were abundant enough to support profound increases in burning through this century. Our results indicate that strategies emphasizing managed wildfire use, rather than suppression, will not alter climate‐induced changes to fire and forests in subalpine landscapes of western North America. This suggests that managers may continue to have flexibility to strategically suppress subalpine fires without concern for long‐term consequences, in distinct contrast with dry conifer forests of the Rocky Mountains and mixed conifer forest of California where maintaining low fuel loads is essential for sustaining frequent, low‐severity surface fire regimes.

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Variations in fire frequency and climate over the past 17 000 yr in central Yellowstone National Park

Cited by 100 publications

References 0 publications

Over 16,000 Years of Fire Frequency Determined from AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Charcoal in an Alluvial Fan at Bear Flat, Northeastern British Columbia

Over 16,000 Years of Fire Frequency Determined from AMS Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Charcoal in an Alluvial Fan at Bear Flat, Northeastern British Columbia

Wildfire effects on stream food webs and nutrient dynamics in Glacier National Park, USA

Can wildland fire management alter 21st‐century subalpine fire and forests in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA?

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