Vegetation and fire history during the last 30,000 years based on phytolith and macroscopic charcoal records in the eastern and western areas of Aso Volcano, Japan

2012 ◽  
Vol 254 ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuo Miyabuchi ◽  
Shinji Sugiyama ◽  
Yuriko Nagaoka
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Aso Volcano ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

Unprecedented long-distance transport of macroscopic charcoal from a large, intense forest fire in eastern Australia: Implications for fire history reconstruction

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 947-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Woodward ◽  
Heather Ann Haines
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Distance Transport ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

Macroscopic charcoal records from wetland sediment cores are used to reconstruct long-term records of fire frequency. A central premise for the use of this tool is that macroscopic charcoal (>125 μm) represents local fires involving local vegetation. Several records reveal that there may often be exceptions to these guidelines. Previous studies have shown that particles larger than 1 cm long can travel at least 20 km from the location of a fire. We present observations of unprecedented long-distance transport of large (⩽5 cm long) charcoal particles at least 50 km from a fire west of Sydney, Australia. Factors that contribute to long-distance transport of large charcoal particles are fire intensity, upper level wind speed and landscape topography. The fires west of Sydney were large and intense, upper level (~10 km) winds exceeded 90 km h-1, and the topography east of the fire was flat or undulating. Smoke plumes from intense fires like this can reach an altitude of at least 15 km. Charcoal morphology also contributed to long-distance transport in this case. Eucalyptus trees can produce large quantities of aerodynamically efficient particles; from paper thin, smooth, decorticating bark and large sclerophyllous leaves. The presence of large macroscopic charcoal particles in wetland sediments does not automatically indicate local fires and could result from distant, large, intense fires. Large, intense fires can occur in Australia, the grasslands of Kazakhstan, Namibia, the Sahel and Patagonia. High intensity fires also occur in the forested areas of the western United States and Boreal North America. Fires in these regions could result in long-distance transport of large macroscopic charcoal particles under the right circumstances. Local charcoal flux studies are therefore critical for the interpretation of macroscopic charcoal records. We cannot rely on information from areas with different fire regimes, fire intensities or vegetation types.

Long-distance transport of macroscopic charcoal by an intensive crown fire in the Swiss Alps - implications for fire history reconstruction

The Holocene ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willy Tinner ◽  
Simone Hofstetter ◽  
Fabienne Zeugin ◽  
Marco Conedera ◽  
Thomas Wohlgemuth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Crown Fire ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Distance Transport ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

scholarly journals A Macroscopic Charcoal and Multiproxy Record from Peat Recovered from Depression Marshes in Longleaf Pine Sandhills, Florida, USA

Quaternary ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tanner ◽  
Morgan Douglas ◽  
Cathryn Greenberg ◽  
Jessica Chamberlin ◽  
Diane Styers
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Natural Fire ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

Science-based information on historical fire frequency is lacking for longleaf pine sandhills. We undertook a high-resolution macroscopic charcoal and geochemical analysis of sediment cores recovered from three depression marshes located within a longleaf pine sandhill ecosystem in Florida, USA. A ~1500-year fire history reconstructed from >1.5 m length peat cores analyzed at decadal to multi-decadal resolution revealed abundant macroscopic charcoal particles at nearly all sampling intervals, suggesting that fire occurred near the sites for almost all decades represented in the deposit. This result supported previous hypotheses of a frequent natural fire return interval for Florida’s longleaf pine sandhills and suggested that management decisions for this ecosystem should continue to focus on the frequent prescription of controlled burns. Our research also demonstrated that some of Florida’s depression marshes contain a >3000-year archive of organic-rich peat. Bulk elemental carbon and nitrogen data and stable carbon isotope analysis of the deposits at two of the three study sites suggested persistently wet soils. Soil data from the third site suggested that drying and peat oxidation occurred periodically. These depression marshes rapidly sink carbon, with measured sequestration rates on the order of 16 to 56 g m−2 yr−1. Our research demonstrated that Florida’s depression marshes provide an untapped record of paleoenvironmental information.

Evaluating Best Practices for Macroscopic Charcoal-Based Fire History Reconstructions through a Research Experience for Undergraduates

2021 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119
Author(s):  
Megan K. Walsh ◽  
Kiara Anderson ◽  
Emily Deardorff ◽  
Sophie Johnson ◽  
Darren Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

Quantifying the source area of macroscopic charcoal with a particle dispersal model

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Edward Peters ◽  
Philip Edward Higuera
Keyword(s):  
Lake Sediments ◽  
Lake Sediment ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Dispersal Model ◽  
Sediment Records ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal ◽  
Particle Dispersal

AbstractTo aid interpreting the source area of charcoal in lake-sediment records, we compare charcoal deposition from an experimental fire to predictions from a particle dispersal model. This provides both a theoretical framework for understanding how lake sediments reflect fire history and a foundation for simulating sediment-charcoal records. The dispersal model captures the two-dimensional patterns in the empirical data (predicted vs. observed r2 = 0.67, p < 0.001). We further develop the model to calculate the potential charcoal source area (PCSA) for several classes of fires. Results suggest that (1) variations in airborne charcoal deposition can be explained largely by the size of PCSAs relative to fire sizes and (2) macroscopic charcoal travels many kilometers, longer than suggested by dispersal data from experimental fires but consistent with dispersal data from uncontrolled fires.

scholarly journals Late Holocene fire history documented at Lake Khamra, SW Yakutia (Eastern Siberia)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Glückler ◽  
Ulrike Herzschuh ◽  
Luidmila Pestryakova ◽  
Stefan Kruse ◽  
Stuart Vyse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Fire History ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Permafrost Degradation ◽  
Reconstructed Temperature ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
Microscopic Charcoal ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

&lt;p&gt;Recent large-scale fire events in Siberia have drawn increased attention to boreal forest fire history. Boreal forests contain about 25% of all global biomass and act as an enormous carbon storage. Fire events are important ecological disturbances connected to the overarching environmental changes that face the Arctic and Subarctic, like vegetation dynamics, permafrost degradation, changes in soil nutrient cycling and global warming, and act as the dominant driver behind boreal forest&amp;#8217;s landscape carbon balance. By looking into past fire regimes we can learn about fire frequency and potential linkages to other environmental factors, e.g. fuel types, reconstructed temperature/humidity or geomorphologic landscape dynamics. Unfortunately, fire history data is still very sparse in large parts of Siberia, a region strongly influenced by climate change. The Global Charcoal Database (www.paleofire.org) lists only a handful of continuous charcoal records for all of Siberia, with only three of those featuring published data from macroscopic charcoal as opposed to microscopic charcoal from pollen slides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We aim to reconstruct the late Holocene fire history using lacustrine sediments of Lake Khamra (SW Yakutia at N 59.99&amp;#176;, E 112.98&amp;#176;). It covers an area of c. 4.6 km&amp;#178; with about 22 m maximum water depth, located within the zone of transition from summer-green and larch-dominated to evergreen boreal forest. We present the first continuous, high-resolution (c. 10 years/sample) macroscopic charcoal record (&gt; 150 &amp;#956;m) including information on particle size and morphology for the past c. 2200 years. We compare this to complementary information from microscopic charcoal in pollen slides, a pollen and non-pollen palynomorph record as well as &amp;#956;XRF data. This multi-proxy approach adds valuable data about fire activity in the region and allows a comparison of different prevalent fire reconstruction methods. As the first record of its kind from Siberia, it provides a long-term context for current fire activity in central Siberian boreal forests and enables a better understanding of the environmental interactions occurring in the changing subarctic landscape.&lt;/p&gt;

Comparing fire-history interpretations based on area, number and estimated volume of macroscopic charcoal in lake sediments

2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam A. Ali ◽  
Philip E. Higuera ◽  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Christopher Carcaillet
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Charcoal Production ◽  
Sediment Records ◽  
History Information ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

AbstractSedimentary charcoal particles from lakes are commonly used to investigate fire history. Fire-history reconstructions are based on measuring the surface area or counting the number of charcoal fragments in adjacent samples. Recently, the volume of charcoal particles was advised as a more accurate method for quantifying past charcoal production. Large charcoal datasets, used to synthesize global fire history, include these different types of charcoal measurements and implicitly assume that they provide comparable fire-history information. However, no study has demonstrated that this assumption is valid. Here we compare fire-frequency reconstructions based on measurements of charcoal area and number, and estimates of charcoal volume from two lake sediment records from the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Results indicate that the three proxies provide comparable fire-history interpretations when using a locally defined threshold to identify fire events.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document