Complementary use of pedoanthracology and peat macro-charcoal analysis for fire history assessment: Illustration from Central Germany

Pollen and charcoal analysis of a 5.3-m sediment core from Aguada Petapilla, a peat bog, provides evidence of late Holocene vegetation and fire history in the Copan Valley, Honduras. Low concentration and preservation problems characterized the pollen flora, but there are taxa present indicative of major agricultural trends, including Zea mays. Microscopic charcoal fragments are well represented and record continued burning in the region since the lowest level of the core (5700 B.P. [3750 B.C.]). Presence of Zea indicates that maize farming was initiated by as early as 2300 B.C. Three peaks in charcoal-fragment frequencies occur in periods centered approximately at 900 B.C., 400 B.C., and A.D. 600. Fires in this relatively dry region of the southern Maya Lowlands (whose mean annual rainfall is about 1,400 mm) could have resulted from natural forest fires or human agricultural clearing at any time in the Holocene. This contrasts with wetter areas of tropical Central and South America (mean annual rainfall of about 2,500–4,000 mm) where significant climatic drying is required to ignite primary tropical forest.

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A 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, northeastern Oregon, USA, with linkages to modern synoptic climate patterns

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2018.124 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 705-713

Author(s):

Colin J. Long ◽

Jaqueline J. Shinker ◽

Thomas A. Minckley ◽

Mitchell J. Power ◽

Patrick J. Bartlein

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Great Basin ◽

Fire History ◽

Fire Occurrence ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Dry Air ◽

Blue Mountains ◽

Climate Patterns ◽

Dry Conditions ◽

In Fire

AbstractWe used pollen and high-resolution charcoal analysis of lake sediment to reconstruct a 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, located in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. From 7300 to 6300 cal yr BP, the forest was composed primarily of Populus, and fire was common, indicating warm, dry conditions. From 6300 to 3000 cal yr BP, Populus declined as Pinus and Picea increased in abundance and fire became less frequent, suggesting a shift to cooler, wetter conditions. From 3000 cal yr BP to present, modern-day forests composed of Pinus and Abies developed, and from 1650 cal yr BP to present, fires increased. We utilized the modern climate-analogue approach to explain the potential synoptic climatological processes associated with regional fire. The results indicate that years with high fire occurrence experience positive 500 mb height anomalies centered over the Great Basin, with anomalous southerly component of flow delivering dry air into the region and with associated sinking motions to further suppress precipitation. It is possible that such conditions became more common over the last 1650 cal yr BP, supporting an increase in fire despite the shift to more mesic conditions.

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Widely used charcoal analysis method in paleo studies involving NaOCl results in loss of charcoal formed below 400°C

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/09596836211041740 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095968362110417

Author(s):

Mark Constantine ◽

Scott Mooney

Keyword(s):

Image Analysis ◽

High Temperature ◽

Fire History ◽

Total Surface Area ◽

Dilute Solution ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Analysis Method ◽

Low Intensity ◽

Before And After ◽

Non Destructive

This study investigated the effects a dilute solution of bleach (4% sodium hypochlorite), has on charcoal. We were particularly interested in considering if charcoal formed under different conditions of pyrolysis was differentially affected by this treatment, which is commonly used for the quantification of charcoal in sediments. We first produced a series of charcoal samples, under laboratory conditions (at temperatures between 250°C and 800°C and under oxygen limited conditions) and then measured total surface area of charcoal before and after treatment in a solution of 4% bleach. We found that charcoal formed ⩽400°C showed nearly complete bleaching after 24 h, while high temperature charcoal (>400°C) was much more resistant. These results indicate this treatment bleaches charcoal formed at lower temperatures: this means particles charred at low temperature may not be quantified in common optical counting or image analysis methods. This could have serious ramifications for sediment-based paleofire research as low intensity fire may be lost from a record, and the resulting fire history biased towards high intensity (high temperature) fires. Our findings suggest the need for a new, non-destructive method for extracting charcoal from sediment.

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Late Holocene vegetation and environments of the Mersey Valley, Tasmania

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt06010 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 55 (1) ◽

pp. 74 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Patrick T. Moss ◽

Ian Thomas ◽

Michael Macphail

Keyword(s):

Late Holocene ◽

Fire History ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Sedimentation Rates ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Climate Signal ◽

The Past ◽

The Impact

A record of vegetation and environmental change over the past 3000 years was obtained through pollen and charcoal analysis of sediments from a grassy plain in the Mersey Valley, Tasmania. The results tentatively suggest that Aborigines had an impact on the environment of the Mersey Valley, although the scale of the impact is difficult to quantify owing to complexities associated with the fire history and sedimentary processes. In addition, a strong regional climate signal (drier late Holocene environments) was observed, suggesting that both anthropogenic and climatic factors are required to explain pre-European environments. The study also showed the dramatic impact European settlers had on the Australian environment, with massive land clearance, introduction of exotic plant types and increased sedimentation rates.

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Regional fire history based on charcoal analysis of sediments from nine lakes in western Mongolia

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683609104039 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 611-624 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Charles E. Umbanhowar ◽

Avery L.C. Shinneman ◽

Gundsambuu Tserenkhand ◽

Elizabeth R. Hammon ◽

Pao Lor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fire History ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Western Mongolia

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Stratigraphic Charcoal Analysis on Petrographic Thin Sections: Application to Fire History in Northwestern Minnesota

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/0033-5894(88)90089-0 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 81-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 175

Author(s):

James S. Clark

Keyword(s):

Lake Sediments ◽

Fire History ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Fire Suppression ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Fire Scars ◽

Good Correspondence ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Fire Scar

Results of stratigraphic charcoal analysis from thin sections of varved lake sediments have been compared with fire scars on red pine trees in northwestern Minnesota to determine if charcoal data accurately reflect fire regimes. Pollen and opaque-spherule analyses were completed from a short core to confirm that laminations were annual over the last 350 yr. A good correspondence was found between fossil-charcoal and fire-scar data. Individual fires could be identified as specific peaks in the charcoal curves, and times of reduced fire frequency were reflected in the charcoal data. Charcoal was absent during the fire-suppression era from 1920 A.D. to the present. Distinct charcoal maxima from 1864 to 1920 occurred at times of fire within the lake catchment. Fire was less frequent during the 19th century, and charcoal was substantially less abundant. Fire was frequent from 1760 to 1815, and charcoal was abundant continuously. Fire scars and fossil charcoal indicate that fires did not occur during 1730–1750 and 1670–1700. Several fires occurred from 1640 to 1670 and 1700 to 1730. Charcoal counted from pollen preparations in the area generally do not show this changing fire regime. Simulated “sampling” of the thin-section data in a fashion comparable to pollen-slide methods suggests that sampling alone is not sufficient to account for differences between the two methods. Integrating annual charcoal values in this fashion still produced much higher resolution than the pollen-slide method, and the postfire suppression decline of charcoal characteristic of my method (but not of pollen slides) is still evident. Consideration of the differences in size of fragments counted by the two methods is necessary to explain charcoal representation in lake sediments.

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Postglacial Vegetation and Fire History in the Chirripó Páramo of Costa Rica

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1993.1061 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 107-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

Sally P. Horn

Keyword(s):

Costa Rica ◽

Late Holocene ◽

Fire History ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Climatic Warming ◽

Lowland Forest ◽

Fire Activity ◽

Ice Retreat ◽

The Impact ◽

Cordillera De Talamanca

AbstractPollen and charcoal analysis of a 5.6-m sediment core from Lago de las Morrenas (9°29′N, 83°29′W; 3480 m) provides evidence of postglacial vegetation and fire history in the highlands of the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The site is presently surrounded by treeless páramo vegetation and apparently has been so since deglaciation about 10,000 yr B.P. Pollen spectra suggest no pronounced changes in vegetation since ice retreat. Fires set by people or lightning have burned the páramo repeatedly, with fire activity probably highest during the late Holocene, but these fires have not carved páramo from forest. Pollen percentages for Gramineae and other páramo taxa decline upward, whereas percentages for certain subalpine, lower montane, and lowland forest taxa increase slightly; these changes may reflect the impact of prehistoric human activity or slight upslope migrations of forest taxa owing to climatic warming. There is no clear evidence of higher timberlines during the mid-Holocene.

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A 14,300-year-long record of fire–vegetation–climate linkages at Battle Ground Lake, southwestern Washington

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/j.yqres.2008.05.002 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 70 (2) ◽

pp. 251-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Megan K. Walsh ◽

Cathy Whitlock ◽

Patrick J. Bartlein

Keyword(s):

Late Holocene ◽

Fire History ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Tsuga Heterophylla ◽

Fire Season ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Vegetation Shifts ◽

Late Glacial Period ◽

High Severity ◽

History Record

AbstractHigh-resolution macroscopic charcoal analysis was used to reconstruct a 14,300-year-long fire history record from the lower Columbia River Valley in southwestern Washington, which was compared to a previous vegetation reconstruction for the site. In the late-glacial period (ca. 14,300-13,100 cal yr BP), Pinus/Picea-dominated parkland supported little to no fire activity. From the late-glacial to the early Holocene (ca. 13,100-10,800 cal yr BP), Pseudotsuga/Abies-dominated forest featured more frequent fire episodes that burned mostly woody vegetation. In the early to middle Holocene (ca. 10,800-5200 cal yr BP), Quercus-dominated savanna was associated with frequent fire episodes of low-to-moderate severity, with an increased herbaceous (i.e., grass) charcoal content. From the middle to late Holocene (ca. 5200 cal yr BP to present), forest dominated by Pseudotsuga, Thuja-type, and Tsuga heterophylla supported less frequent, but mostly large or high-severity fire episodes. Fire episodes were least frequent, but were largest or most severe, after ca. 2500 cal yr BP. The fire history at Battle Ground Lake was apparently driven by climate, directly through the length and severity of the fire season, and indirectly through climate-driven vegetation shifts, which affected available fuel biomass.

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Trees and shrubs in the sanctuary. Wood charcoal analysis at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros

Opuscula Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome ◽

10.30549/opathrom-12-08 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 255-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Maria Ntinou

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Economic Activity ◽

Wood Charcoal ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Charcoal Analysis ◽

Additional Source ◽

Olive Cultivation ◽

Trees And Shrubs ◽

By Products

Wood charcoal analysis at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros aims to provide information on the vegetation of the area and its management and on the range of plants used in the activities taking place at the sanctuary. During the excavations of 2003–2005 in Areas D and C, systematic samples from fills and features from all the excavated strata were recovered and water flotation was used for the separation of wood charcoal from the sediment. Wood charcoal was found in two pits dated to the Early Iron Age, near the supposed altar of the Archaic period (Feature 05), in a deposit of the Hellenistic period (the “dining deposit”), in floor deposits (Early Iron Age and Late Classical/Early Hellenistic periods), and fills of different chrono-cultural periods (Archaic–Early Roman). All the taxa identified in the wood charcoal assemblages are thermophilous Mediterranean elements, most of them evergreen broad-leaved. The assemblages show that the most frequent taxon is the olive, followed by the prickly oak, the Fabaceae, and the heather. In most assemblages mock privet/buckthorn, strawberry tree, the pear and Prunus family species are present, while Aleppo pine, lentisc, the fig, and the carob trees are less frequent. Olive cultivation was an important economic activity during the whole life of the sanctuary and probably olive pruning constantly provided the sanctuary with fuel. The woodland would be the additional source of firewood for the sanctuary’s needs for fuel for mundane activities such as heating and cooking, for more formal ones, such as sacrifice, but also for industrial activities such as tile firing. Activities related to the reorganization of space and the expansion of the sanctuary may be reflected in charcoal of carpentry by-products as the fir, cypress, and maybe pine remains.

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