Fire history and its drivers based on peatland charcoal analysis in the Changbai Mountains, north-east China, during the last 13 000 years

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 841
Author(s):  
Meng Meng ◽  
Dongmei Jie ◽  
Dehui Li ◽  
Nannan Li ◽  
Baojian Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Changbai Mountains ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
Strict Regulation

The Changbai Mountains forest ecosystem is one of the best-preserved temperate mountain forest ecosystems in Asia. Since the establishment of the reserve in 1960, extensive forest fires have been excluded as a result of strict regulation and suppression efforts and thus fuels have accumulated for several decades. Due to the lack of historical fire records in the area, the risk of fire occurrence cannot be properly estimated. In this study, we used charcoal records to reconstruct the palaeo-fire frequency in the Changbai Mountains during the last 13000 years. The results indicate that fires were frequent during 13.0–11.0, 7.0–6.0, and 2.5–2.0 calender (cal) kyr before present (BP) and from 1.0 cal kyr BP to the present. The fire frequencies are largely consistent with other palaeoenvironmental records from the study area and we conclude that since 13.0 cal kyr BP fires were more frequent at the regional scale during intervals of a weak summer monsoon, caused by a cold and dry climate and the abundance of flammable trees. Archaeological data from the study area since 3.0 cal kyr BP indicate increasing human activity, which dominated the occurrence of local fires. In addition, intermittent volcanic activity influenced the occurrence of fires during the past millennium.

Riparian and adjacent upland forests burned synchronously during dry years in eastern Oregon (1650–1900 CE), USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 602
Author(s):  
Grant L. Harley ◽  
Emily K. Heyerdahl ◽  
James D. Johnston ◽  
Diana L. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Riparian Forest ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Landscape Context ◽  
Blue Mountains ◽  
Study Sites

Riparian forests link terrestrial and freshwater communities and therefore understanding the landscape context of fire regimes in these forests is critical to fully understanding the landscape ecology. However, few direct studies of fire regimes exist for riparian forests, especially in the landscape context of adjacent upland forests or studies of long-term climate drivers of riparian forest fires. We reconstructed a low-severity fire history from tree rings in 38 1-ha riparian plots and combined them with existing fire histories from 104 adjacent upland plots to yield 2633 fire scars sampled on 454 trees. Historically (1650–1900), low-severity fires burned more frequently in upland than in riparian plots, but this difference was not significant (P=0.15). During more than half of the fire years at both sites, fires were extensive and burned synchronously in riparian and upland plots, and climate was significantly dry during these years. However, climate was not significantly dry when fires burned in only one plot type. Historically, entire riparian zones likely burned in these two study sites of the Blue Mountains during dry years. This study suggests that riparian and upland forests could be managed similarly, especially given the projected increases to fire frequency and intensity from impending climate change.

A 10 000 year local forest fire history in a dry heath forest site in eastern Finland, reconstructed from charcoal layer records of a small mire

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1875-1880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aki Pitkänen ◽  
Pertti Huttunen ◽  
Högne Jungner ◽  
Kimmo Tolonen
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Peat Deposits ◽  
Drastic Increase ◽  
Eastern Finland ◽  
Holocene Period

Local fire history covering the entire Holocene period at a dry forest site in North Karelia, eastern Finland (ca. 63°07' N, 30°44' E), was reconstructed on the basis of visible charcoal layers from peat deposits of a small mire basin. Seven points studied along a transect a few metres long provided a record of ancient local forest fires that had scarred the margin of the peat deposit. The charcoal layer records indicate a drastic increase in forest fires about 500 years ago compared with the earlier part of the Holocene period. During the past 500 years, human influence has been extensive in the area, and there have been 9 local fires during that period, while during the previous 9500 years there had been only 34 fires. Between the establishment of spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) 6300 calendar years B.P. and the beginning of significant human influence, the site had burned over at a mean interval of 220–260 years. The data indicate a decrease in fire frequency associated with a warm climate between 9000 and 6300 calendar years BP. This suggests that climatic warming does not necessarily result in increased frequency of forest fires.

The Late Holocene forest fire history in continuous permafrost zone of Central Siberia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Novenko ◽  
Natalia Mazei ◽  
Dmitry Kupryanov ◽  
Anatoly Prokushkin
Keyword(s):  
Return Period ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Forest Ecosystems ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Permafrost Zone ◽  
Central Siberia ◽  
Free Interval ◽  
Continuous Permafrost

<p>Understanding the long-term fire history of larch forests in the permafrost zone of Central Siberia is essential for an assessment of the possible responses and feedbacks of forest ecosystems to climate change. The multi-proxy record from the area of the Evenkian field station of the Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, located in the middle part of the Lower Tunguska river basin provides important new data on the fire frequency, vegetation changes and paludification dynamics in the Central Evenkia over the last 3.5 ka BP. The new results of radiocarbon dating, loss on ignition, plant macrofossil and macro charcoal analyses from a sediment core taken in the waterlogged larch forest (N 64°09'56.1" E 100°31'43.9") are presented.</p><p>The obtained data have shown that fires were an important factor in the evolution of forest ecosystems in this continuous permafrost regions and acted as a trigger for the paludification process in the study area. The reconstruction of fire frequency demonstrated that the fire return period in the warm epochs of the late Holocene (3.6-2.7 ka BP, 1.5-0.7 ka BP, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly) varied from 115 to 150 years, and increased to 275-300 years during the periods of cooling (2.7-1.5 ka BP; the Little Ice Age, 0.7-0.15 ka BP). We suggested that the shorter and possibly colder summers during the cold epochs led to a decreased evaporation and a rise of ground moisture in many habitats, which was unfavorable for the occurrence and extension of forest fires. During the last 200 years the frequency of forest fires in the study area increased significantly, the fire return period reduced to a minimum value for the entire period under consideration (i.e. the last 3.5 ka BP) and reached 80 years. The fire free interval revealed from the macro charcoal analyses for the last 200 years is close to the average fire free interval reconstructed by dendrochronological data from the study area for the same period. The low human impact on forest ecosystems due to remote location of study area from settlements and mining regions suggests the natural causes of these fires.</p><p>This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project № 20-17-00043.</p>

Forest dynamics in the Pfyn forest in recent centuries (Valais, Switzerland, Central Alps): interaction of pine (Pinus sylvestris) and oak (Quercus sp.) under changing land use and fire frequency

The Holocene ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Bendel ◽  
Willy Tinner ◽  
Brigitta Ammann
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Pinus Sylvestris ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Considerable Change ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Quercus Species

Pinus sylvestris is co-dominant in many areas of eastern and northern Europe. In Switzerland, the Pfyn forest is considered to be the largest natural forest of Pinus sylvestris. Its development under changing land use during recent centuries is largely unknown. Of particular interest is the interaction between pine and oak, for it has been suggested that oak has benefited from the strong decline in economic uses of the forest such as pasturing, litter removal and logging. In order to improve understanding of the dynamics in this particular forest type over time, the vegetation and fire history of the Pfyn forest were reconstructed by pollen and charcoal analyses of the sediments of Pfafforetsee. Four phases of decline in Pinus pollen percentages are explained by logging events and other anthropogenic activities during recent centuries. During the twentieth century human impact on Pinus was probably exacerbated by forest fires. When human influence ceased or declined, Pinus was able to regain its former importance within a few decades. Whereas Pinus experienced considerable change, Quercus species (Q. pubescens, Q. petraea and Q. robur) exhibit constant and low pollen values throughout the record. Under constant climatic conditions, pine should therefore not suffer late-successional replacements by oak in the Pfyn forest. This finding is especially important for nature conservation and forest management, since strong decline in Pinus sylvestris in the canton of Valais has also been interpreted as a consequence of successional dynamics towards a more natural vegetation.

Forest fire selectivity patterns in respect to topography during the period 1984-2015 in selected places in Greece

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoi Stamou
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
North East ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fire Selectivity

<p>The aim of this study is to assess wildland fire selectivity patterns in respect to topography in selected places in South Greece including eleven NUTS-3 counties of which two are islands, from 1984 to 2015. Fire scar perimeters within the time window 1984-2015 were delineated from freely available Landsat images from USGS and ESA archives and maps of fire frequency and fire return interval were finally created. Derived from eight different Landsat scenes (path/row), almost six thousands satellite images processed and more than five thousand and eight hundred fire perimeters were extracted, in order to reconstruct the fire history of South Greece, in a thirty two years’ period. Fireperimeters within each year of fire occurrence were compared against the available to burn under complete random processes to identify selectivity patterns in respect to topography.<br>It is clear that even though there is a decreasing trend in east, north east and south east facing aspects, fire selectivity in these areas is higher as compared to the available to burn. On the other hand there is a considerable rising in the trend of fire selectivity on west, southwest and northwest facing aspects. In terms of slope, lower- and mid-slopes tend to burn more than the available, opposite to upper- and higher –slopes. In addition, upper-elevation areas (over 800 meters), are negative related to wildfires while most of wildfires occur in altitude from 100 to 600 meters.</p>

Holocene fire history of the southern Lake Baikal region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Vogel ◽  
Chéïma Barhoumi ◽  
Hanane Limani ◽  
Sébastien Joannin ◽  
Odile Peyron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Baikal ◽  
Baikal Region ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Pinus Sibirica ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The Past ◽  
Lake Baikal Region ◽  
History Of

<p><strong>Holocene fire history of the southern Lake Baikal region</strong></p><p>The catastrophic fire years that have taken place during the last decade in Siberia and in the boreal forests in general, directly linked to global warming, have had dramatic repercussions on the human populations of these regions. Past fire reconstruction studies are currently the only way to study the past dynamics of these fires and to understand their link with climate, vegetation and human activities. However, few studies of the dynamics of these fires are available in Siberia, and none have been carried out on the scale of the Holocene. This study aims to present the first reconstruction of the fire history during the Holocene based on sedimentary charcoals from two lakes localised on the southern shore of Lake Baikal, in Siberia. Two lakes have been sampled, Lake Ébène and Lake Jarod. The results showed a similar trend between the two lakes,with severe and intense crown fires during the early Holocene and less severe surface fires after 6 500 cal. yr BP. According to pollen reconstructions carried out near the studied lakes, a vegetation transition occurred at the same time. Picea obovata was dominant during the early humid Holocene. After 6 500 cal. yr BP, conditions were drier and Pinus sylvestris and Pinus sibirica became the dominant species. Over the past 1 500 years, the greater presence of human populations has firstly resulted in an increase of the fire frequency, then probably in its maintenance after 600 cal. yr BP in lake Ébène and to finish, in its suppression after 900 cal. yr BP in Lake Jarod. The decrease of fire frequency at the end of the 20th century could be explained by new fire management policies.</p>

Real or Imagined Confusion in Ethnohistorical Research? A Rejoinder to Thurman

1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-326
Author(s):  
Charles E. Orser
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternative Perspective ◽  
Narrow View

Recently, Melburn D. Thurman has argued that my handling of the James Mackay manuscript, an early 19th-century account of Plains native groups, is unsound. Many of Thurman's criticisms, specifically those concerning the date of the document, the details of Mackay's experience on the Missouri River, and the intent of my original article, stem from misrepresentation and misunderstanding. Thurman has refused, for example, to accept that my essay was a test of the document using archaeological data associated with the Arikara. In addition, Thurman portrays a narrow view of the past and a rather unique understanding of ethnohistorical methods. In this response to Thurman, I restate many of the points in my original article and provide an alternative perspective for studying the past.

The morphology of experimentally produced charcoal distinguishes fuel types in the Arctic tundra

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 1091-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor MB Pereboom ◽  
Richard S Vachula ◽  
Yongsong Huang ◽  
James Russell
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Tundra ◽  
Global Carbon Cycle ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Fuel Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Forested Ecosystems ◽  
Global Carbon ◽  
Tundra Ecosystems

Wildfires in the Arctic tundra have become increasingly frequent in recent years and have important implications for tundra ecosystems and for the global carbon cycle. Lake sediment–based records are the primary means of understanding the climatic influences on tundra fires. Sedimentary charcoal has been used to infer climate-driven changes in tundra fire frequency but thus far cannot differentiate characteristics of the vegetation burnt during fire events. In forested ecosystems, charcoal morphologies have been used to distinguish changes in fuel type consumed by wildfires of the past; however, no such approach has been developed for tundra ecosystems. We show experimentally that charcoal morphologies can be used to differentiate graminoid (mean = 6.77; standard deviation (SD) = 0.23) and shrub (mean = 2.42; SD = 1.86) biomass burnt in tundra fire records. This study is a first step needed to construct more nuanced tundra wildfire histories and to understand how wildfire will impact the region as vegetation and fire change in the future.

scholarly journals Exploring the past of Mavrovouni forest in the Pindus Mountain range (Greece) using tree rings of Bosnian pines

Trees ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Christopoulou ◽  
Nikolaos M. Fyllas ◽  
Barbara Gmińska-Nowak ◽  
Yasemin Özarslan ◽  
Margarita Arianoutsou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Degree Days ◽  
Mature Trees ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Agent ◽  
Fire Ignition ◽  
Animal Grazing

Abstract Key message Long Bosnian pine chronologies from different mountains are shaped by different climatic parameters and can help identify past drought events and reconstruct landscape histories. Abstract We developed a 735-year-long Pinus heldreichii chronology from the southern distribution limit of the species, expanding the available database of long Bosnian pine chronologies. Tree-ring growth was mainly positively correlated with growing degree days (GDD: r1950–2018 = 0.476) while higher temperatures during both winter and growing season also enhanced growth (TWT: r1950–2018 = 0.361 and TGS: 0.289, respectively). Annual precipitation, during both calendar and water years, had a negative but weaker impact on annual tree growth. The newly developed chronology correlates well with chronologies developed from the neighboring mountains. The years with ring width index (RWI) lower than the average were found to correspond to cool years with dry summers. Still, the newly developed chronology was able to capture severe drought events, such as those in 1660, 1687, and 1725. Several old living trees had internal scars presumably caused by fires. Therefore, old mature trees could be used for fire history reconstruction in addition to climate reconstruction. Although the presence of lightning scars indicates an important natural agent of fire ignition, human activities associated with animal grazing could also be an underlying reason for fires in the region.

Reply to Skousen and Aiuvalasit: On the Primacy of Archaeological Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-205
Author(s):  
A.J. White ◽  
Samuel E. Munoz ◽  
Sissel Schroeder ◽  
Lora R. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Horseshoe Lake ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses

Skousen and Aiuvalasit critique our article on the post-Mississippian occupation of the Horseshoe Lake watershed (White et al. 2020) along two lines: (1) that our findings are not supported due to a lack of archaeological evidence, and (2) that we do not consider alternative hypotheses in explaining the lake's fecal stanol record. We first respond to the matter of fecal stanol deposition in Horseshoe Lake and then address the larger issue, the primacy of archaeological data in interpreting the past.

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