Reconstruction of fire history in Mexican tropical pines using tree rings

A dendropyrochronological study was conducted in pine-dominated forest in the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve located in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range in Mexico. Tropical pines present several difficulties for tree-ring research including missing, false and diffuse rings. This paper discusses the methods that were used to analyze tree rings in order to reconstruct fire history based on the dating of fire scars sampled from tropical pines.

Download Full-text

Fire history on a desert mountain range: Rincon Mountain Wilderness, Arizona, U.S.A.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x90-208 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 20 (10) ◽

pp. 1559-1569 ◽

Cited By ~ 245

Author(s):

Christopher H. Baisan ◽

Thomas W. Swetnam

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Large Scale ◽

Fire History ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Forest Type ◽

Drought Severity ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Mixed Conifer ◽

The Mean ◽

Mean Fire Interval

Modern fire records and fire-scarred remnant material collected from logs, snags, and stumps were used to reconstruct and analyze fire history in the mixed-conifer and pine forest above 2300 m within the Rincon Mountain Wilderness of Saguaro National Monument, Arizona, United States. Cross-dating of the remnant material allowed dating of fire events to the calendar year. Estimates of seasonal occurrence were compiled for larger fires. It was determined that the fire regime was dominated by large scale (> 200 ha), early-season (May–July) surface fires. The mean fire interval over the Mica Mountain study area for the period 1657–1893 was 6.1 years with a range of 1–13 years for larger fires. The mean fire interval for the mixed-conifer forest type (1748–1886) was 9.9 years with a range of 3–19 years. Thirty-five major fire years between 1700 and 1900 were compared with a tree-ring reconstruction of the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI). Mean July PDSI for 2 years prior to fires was higher (wetter) than average, while mean fire year PDSI was near average. This 490-year record of fire occurrence demonstrates the value of high-resolution (annual and seasonal) tree-ring analyses for documenting and interpreting temporal and spatial patterns of past fire regimes.

Download Full-text

Fire history and climate-growth response of Abies spectabilis : A case from Langtang National Park, Nepal Himalaya

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v29i2.28093 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 3-12

Author(s):

S. Basnet ◽

N. P. Gaire ◽

P. K. Chhetri

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Radial Growth ◽

National Park ◽

Fire History ◽

Ring Width ◽

Negative Influence ◽

Himalayan Region ◽

Fire Scars ◽

Fire Event ◽

Abies Spectabilis

This study presents the potential of a conifer species (Abies spectabilis D. Don) to reconstruct fire history by using dendro chronological technique along with thedendroclimatic response in Langtang National Park, Central Himalaya of Nepal. For the fire history reconstruction, altogether eight cross-sections samples from fire affected eight trees and another 20 tree-cores from 10 trees with visible fire scars were taken. In the case of dendroclimatic study, 24 healthy cores of A. spectabilis were selected from the 40 cores extracted from 19 trees. The standard dendro chronological methodology was used for sample preparation and analysis. A 199-year long ring-width chronology of A. spectabilis spanning from 1818 to 2016 AD was developed. In spite of visible fire burn in near bark-surface, no potential fire scars are seen in inner parts in the cross-section samples. However, 12 cores showed that three fire burns occurred simultaneously in the forest area in the years 1917−1918, 1969−1970 and 2009−2010, respectively. Tree-ring-based fire event-record is found to be concurrent to the local people's perceptions/experience about the past fire history in the area. Tree growth climate relationship showed sensitive responses to both growing and non-growing season’s temperature and precipitation variability. Summer temperature had positive influence on growth of the species. Precipitation of monsoon and autumn were found to have negative influence on radial growth whereas pre-monsoon precipitation had positive association with tree radial-growth. This preliminary assessment shows that there is a huge potential of tree-ring research for long-term fire history in the region and helps us to better understand the role of fire in the ecology and management in the Himalayan region. The study can also be replicated in other fire-affected areas of the Himalayan region by using fire sensitive species in the sampling.

Download Full-text

Integrating fire-scar, charcoal and fungal spore data to study fire events in the boreal forest of northern Europe

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683619854524 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (9) ◽

pp. 1480-1490 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Normunds Stivrins ◽

Tuomas Aakala ◽

Liisa Ilvonen ◽

Leena Pasanen ◽

Timo Kuuluvainen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Fire History ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

Fungal Spores ◽

Fire Dynamics ◽

Fire Scars ◽

Fire Event ◽

Fire Scar

Fire is a major disturbance agent in the boreal forest, influencing many current and future ecosystem conditions and services. Surprisingly few studies have attempted to improve the accuracy of fire-event reconstructions even though the estimates of the occurrence of past fires may be biased, influencing the reliability of the models employing those data (e.g. C stock, cycle). This study aimed to demonstrate how three types of fire proxies – fire scars from tree rings, sedimentary charcoal and, for the first time in this context, fungal spores of Neurospora – can be integrated to achieve a better understanding of past fire dynamics. By studying charcoal and Neurospora from sediment cores from forest hollows, and the fire scars from tree rings in their surroundings in the southern Fennoscandian and western Russian boreal forest, we produced composite fire-event data sets and fire-event frequencies, and estimated fire return intervals. Our estimates show that the fire return interval varied between 126 and 237 years during the last 11,000 years. The highest fire frequency during the 18th–19th century can be associated with the anthropogenic influence. Importantly, statistical tests revealed a positive relationship between other fire event indicators and Neurospora occurrence allowing us to pinpoint past fire events at times when the sedimentary charcoal was absent, but Neurospora were abundant. We demonstrated how fire proxies with different temporal resolution can be linked, providing potential improvements in the reliability of fire history reconstructions from multiple proxies.

Download Full-text

Habitat, distribution and status of the Azure-rumped Tanager Tangara cabanisi in Mexico

Bird Conservation International ◽

10.1017/s0959270900000617 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 223-254 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Melanie Heath ◽

Adrian Long

Keyword(s):

Biosphere Reserve ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Broadleaf Forest ◽

The Pacific ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Vegetation Maps ◽

General Data

SummaryThe Azure-rumped Tanager Tangara cabanisi is a threatened species confined to the mountains of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Mexico and neighbouring Guatemala. It occurs on the Pacific and Gulf slopes of the mountain range, but most frequently on the former between 1,000 and 1,700 m. The Azure-rumped Tanager's habitat is a medium height (about 30 m tall) humid evergreen broadleaf forest formation containing elements of both mesophilous forest of higher altitudes and tropical forests of the lowlands. Information from field surveys and more general data from vegetation maps was combined using a geographical information system package to extrapolate and predict distribution of potential Azure-rumped Tanager habitat in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. It is estimated that a maximum of 112,000 ha remain, although the total was probably never greater than 200,000 ha. Fortunately 43,660 ha (39%) of the maximum total is contained within the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, a newly decreed protected area that spans both the Pacific and Gulf slopes in the central portion of the mountain range. Most of the suitable habitat is found within the reserve's buffer zone, an area in which there are several small but expanding communities. The effective protection and future status of the species rests heavily on the conservation of this habitat within the reserve and essentially this depends on the collaboration in favour of conservation between the local people and the conservation managers and, ultimately, the development of viable land-use alternatives that are less damaging to the forest ecosystem.

Download Full-text

An experimental evaluation of fire history reconstruction using dendrochronology in white oak (Quercus alba)

Canadian Journal of Forest Research ◽

10.1139/x06-294 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 806-816 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Ryan W. McEwan ◽

Todd F. Hutchinson ◽

Robert D. Ford ◽

Brian C. McCarthy

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Cross Sections ◽

Fire History ◽

Management Practices ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Prescribed Fires ◽

White Oak ◽

Fire Scars ◽

Treatment Unit ◽

Dendrochronological Analysis

Dendrochronological analysis of fire scars on tree cross sections has been critically important for understanding historical fire regimes and has influenced forest management practices. Despite its value as a tool for understanding historical ecosystems, tree-ring-based fire history reconstruction has rarely been experimentally evaluated. To examine the efficacy of dendrochronological analysis for detecting fire occurrence in oak forests, we analyzed tree cross sections from sites in which prescribed fires had been recently conducted. The first fire in each treatment unit created a scar in at least one sample, but the overall percentage of samples containing scars in fire years was low (12%). We found that scars were created by 10 of the 15 prescribed fires, and the five undetected fires all occurred in sites where fire had occurred the previous year. Notably, several samples contained scars from known fire-free periods. In summary, our data suggest that tree-ring analysis is a generally effective tool for reconstructing historical fire regimes, although the following points of uncertainty were highlighted: (i) consecutive annual burns may not create fire scars and (ii) wounds that are morphologically indistinguishable from fire scars may originate from nonfire sources.

Download Full-text

Using Bigcone Douglas-Fir Fire Scars and Tree Rings to Reconstruct Interior Chaparral Fire History

Fire Ecology ◽

10.4996/fireecology.0503035 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 35-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Keith J. Lombardo ◽

Thomas W. Swetnam ◽

Christopher H. Baisan ◽

Mark I. Borchert

Keyword(s):

Tree Rings ◽

Fire History ◽

Douglas Fir ◽

Fire Scars

Download Full-text

Studies in Mexican Grasshoppers: Three new species of Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) from Mexico and a review of existing conspecifics with comments on their geographical distributions

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4337.3.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4337 (3) ◽

pp. 301 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

PAOLO FONTANA ◽

RICARDO MARIÑO-PÉREZ ◽

SALOMÓN SANABRIA-URBÁN ◽

DEREK A. WOLLER

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Southern Mexico ◽

Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽

The Pacific ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽

Three New Species ◽

Distinct Morphology

Three new species of the tribe Dactylotini (Acrididae: Melanoplinae) are described from Central and Southern Mexico. 1) Dasyscirtus monicae sp. nov. Fontana, Mariño-Pérez, Sanabria-Urbán, & Woller is described from the eastern portion of the Balsas River Basin and the outer slope of the Mexican Volcanic Belt; 2) Perixerus obscurus sp. nov. Fontana, Mariño-Pérez, Sanabria-Urbán, & Woller is described from the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca mountain range; and 3), Perixerus triqui sp. nov. Fontana, Mariño-Pérez, Sanabria-Urbán, & Woller is described from the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range and towards the Pacific Coast of Oaxaca. Taxonomic placement of these species is justified based on distinct morphology and comparisons with congeneric species are provided. Finally, we provide a biogeographical explanation for the distribution of the species in both genera.

Download Full-text

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

Trees ◽

10.1007/s00468-021-02189-6 ◽

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.

Download Full-text

Tree-Ring Analysis of Intermediate Hawthorn (Crataegus media Bechst.) in NW Poland

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12010029 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Anna Cedro ◽

Bernard Cedro

Keyword(s):

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Dominant Factor ◽

Incremental Growth ◽

High Precipitation ◽

Ring Analysis ◽

Uncultivated Land ◽

Nw Poland

Intermediate hawthorn (Crataegus × media Bechst.) is broadly distributed in Europe but very rarely examined by dendrochronologists. In NW Poland, it is one of three naturally occurring hawthorn species, growing mainly at forest margins, along roads, in mid-field woodlots, and on uncultivated land. Biocenotically, it is a very valuable species. This study aimed to determine the age of trees, tree-ring dynamics, and growth–climate relationship for intermediate hawthorn. Signature years were also determined. Samples for analysis were collected from 22 trees growing in a typical agricultural landscape in a monospecific mid-field woodlot comprised of several hundred specimens of various ages and forms (shrubs and trees). Using classic methods of dendrochronological dating, a 40-year long chronology spanning 1981–2020 was constructed. The radial growth rate of intermediate hawthorn is comparable to other tree species forming stands in NW Poland and equals 2.41 mm/year. Considerable intersubject variability is noted, from 1.48 to 4.44 mm/year. The chronology was also used for dendroclimatological analyses, including correlation and response function and signature years. Of the meteorological parameters analyzed, annual incremental growth in hawthorn is the most strongly shaped by precipitation totals from May to August of the current vegetation year: high rainfall favors the formation of wide tree-rings. Statistically significant growth–climate relationships were also obtained for winter months (December of the preceding vegetation year, January and February), for which period negative correlation and regression values are noted for air temperature and insolation. Furthermore, high precipitation, low-temperature and low insolation late in the preceding vegetation year (especially in August) make a positive influence on the condition of trees in the upcoming growing season. Signature year analysis clearly pointed to precipitation as the dominant factor in shaping tree-rings in the studied hawthorn population. As there are no dendrochronological papers concerning indigenous hawthorn species, future studies should be expanded to include diverse geographic locations and habitat conditions and should include all three species of hawthorn occurring in Poland.

Download Full-text

A Tree Ring Measurement Method Based on Error Correction in Digital Image of Stem Analysis Disk

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12040464 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 464

Author(s):

Wenjie Zhang ◽

Tianzhong Zhao ◽

Xiaohui Su ◽

Baoguo Wu ◽

Zhiqiang Min ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Error Correction ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Tree Rings ◽

Digital Image ◽

Regression Equation ◽

Distortion Correction ◽

Geometric Distortion ◽

Stem Analysis ◽

Correction Model ◽

Ring Radius

Stem analysis is an essential aspect in forestry investigation and forest management, as it is a primary method to study the growth law of trees. Stem analysis requires measuring the width and number of tree rings to ensure the accurate measurement, expand applicable tree species, and reduce operation cost. This study explores the use of Open Source Computer Vision Library (Open CV) to measure the ring radius of analytic wood disk digital images, and establish a regression equation of ring radius based on image geometric distortion correction. Here, a digital camera was used to photograph the stem disks’ tree rings to obtain digital images. The images were preprocessed with Open CV to measure the disk’s annual ring radius. The error correction model based on the least-square polynomial fitting method was established for digital image geometric distortion correction. Finally, a regression equation for tree ring radius based on the error correction model was established. Through the above steps, click the intersection point between the radius line and each ring to get the pixel distance from the ring to the pith, then the size of ring radius can be calculated by the regression equation of ring radius. The study’s method was used to measure the digital image of the Chinese fir stem disk and compare it with the actual value. The results showed that the maximum error of this method was 0.15 cm, the average error was 0.04 cm, and the average detection accuracy reached 99.34%, which met the requirements for measuring the tree ring radius by stem disk analysis. This method is simple, accurate, and suitable for coniferous and broad-leaved species, which allows researchers to analyze tree ring radius measurement, and is of great significance for analyzing the tree growth process.

Download Full-text