Late Holocene deforestation of a tree line site: estimation of pre‐fire vegetation composition and black spruce cover using soil charcoal

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Authors: Asselin, Hugo, Payette, Serge
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2005
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Canada; Dwarf birch; Empetrum nigrum; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2005.0906-7590.04216.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.2005.0906-7590.04216.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.2005.0906-7590.04216.x

Anatomical identification of soil charcoal fragments was used to reconstruct the pre‐fire vegetation composition of a tree line site that burned ca 930 cal. AD in northern Québec, Canada. Soil charcoal was also used as a proxy to estimate black spruce Picea mariana palaeo‐cover. The site (a low‐elevated hilltop) is presently devoid of spruce trees and dominated by dwarf birch Betula glandulosa , lichens, ericaceous shrubs ( Ledum decumbens , Vaccinium vitis‐idaea ) and sedges. In contrast, black spruce dominated before the fire with an understory of Empetrum nigrum and Vaccinium vitis‐idaea . Pre‐fire black spruce cover was estimated at 32%, giving an indication of the potential for warming‐induced natural reforestation of the forest‐tundra.