Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis
International audience The northernmost balsam fir forest in eastern Canada forms disjunct stands far beyond the extensive balsam fir forest zone of southern Canada. The northern balsam fir stands are distributed in the subalpine belt of high plateaus and coexist locally with white spruce stands. Th...
Published in: | The Holocene |
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2012
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Online Access: | https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414931 |
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-02651878v1 2023-05-15T16:35:33+02:00 Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis de Lafontaine, Guillaume Payette, Serge Biodiversité, Gènes & Communautés (BioGeCo) Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Université Laval Québec (ULaval) NSERC; Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship 2012 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414931 en eng HAL CCSD London: Sage info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1177/0959683611414931 hal-02651878 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 doi:10.1177/0959683611414931 PRODINRA: 216025 WOS: 000298746900006 ISSN: 0959-6836 EISSN: 1477-0911 The Holocene https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 The Holocene, London: Sage, 2012, 22 (2), pp.191 - 201. ⟨10.1177/0959683611414931⟩ (14)C AMS dating Abies balsamea boreal forest charcoal analysis eastern North America ecological succession macrofossil analysis TEMPERATE RAIN-FOREST NORTHERN QUEBEC CLIMATE-CHANGE MOSS FOREST HUDSON-BAY GROWTH WOOD mineral soil charcoal Picea glauca DYNAMICS TUNDRA [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2012 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414931 2021-07-03T23:22:36Z International audience The northernmost balsam fir forest in eastern Canada forms disjunct stands far beyond the extensive balsam fir forest zone of southern Canada. The northern balsam fir stands are distributed in the subalpine belt of high plateaus and coexist locally with white spruce stands. These subalpine stands contrast greatly with black spruce forest stands located in lowlands. Given that subalpine stands are remnants of an earlier northern expansion of the balsam fir forest, the main objective of this study is to assess whether white spruce stands are distinct communities having diverged from the balsam fir forest community earlier in the Holocene or if they rather correspond to a different stage of the chronosequence within the subalpine belt. Macrofossil analysis of charcoal in mineral soils was used to compare the stand-scale fire histories and taxonomic fossil composition of subalpine, old-growth balsam fir stands and white spruce stands. No significant differences of mean number of observed fires (mean = 6.35 fires per site), Holocene fire recurrence at the landscape scale and mean fire-return interval (mean = 580 years) were found between white spruce stands and balsam fir stands. The botanical composition of charcoal fragments from mineral soils showed that Abies, Betula and Picea were present throughout the fire period from 5600 cal. BP to present, and no difference was found in the fossil composition of the balsam fir and white spruce stands. No historical change in the botanical composition of charcoal from soils of both stand types was observed indicating that the initial floristic composition remained through the period of recurrent fires. Charcoal data suggest that white spruce stands are not divergent community types. Rather, the two community types are arranged along a chronosequence of different successional stages within the subalpine relict flora. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hudson Bay Tundra Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Canada Hudson Hudson Bay The Holocene 22 2 191 201 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
(14)C AMS dating Abies balsamea boreal forest charcoal analysis eastern North America ecological succession macrofossil analysis TEMPERATE RAIN-FOREST NORTHERN QUEBEC CLIMATE-CHANGE MOSS FOREST HUDSON-BAY GROWTH WOOD mineral soil charcoal Picea glauca DYNAMICS TUNDRA [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] |
spellingShingle |
(14)C AMS dating Abies balsamea boreal forest charcoal analysis eastern North America ecological succession macrofossil analysis TEMPERATE RAIN-FOREST NORTHERN QUEBEC CLIMATE-CHANGE MOSS FOREST HUDSON-BAY GROWTH WOOD mineral soil charcoal Picea glauca DYNAMICS TUNDRA [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] de Lafontaine, Guillaume Payette, Serge Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
topic_facet |
(14)C AMS dating Abies balsamea boreal forest charcoal analysis eastern North America ecological succession macrofossil analysis TEMPERATE RAIN-FOREST NORTHERN QUEBEC CLIMATE-CHANGE MOSS FOREST HUDSON-BAY GROWTH WOOD mineral soil charcoal Picea glauca DYNAMICS TUNDRA [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] |
description |
International audience The northernmost balsam fir forest in eastern Canada forms disjunct stands far beyond the extensive balsam fir forest zone of southern Canada. The northern balsam fir stands are distributed in the subalpine belt of high plateaus and coexist locally with white spruce stands. These subalpine stands contrast greatly with black spruce forest stands located in lowlands. Given that subalpine stands are remnants of an earlier northern expansion of the balsam fir forest, the main objective of this study is to assess whether white spruce stands are distinct communities having diverged from the balsam fir forest community earlier in the Holocene or if they rather correspond to a different stage of the chronosequence within the subalpine belt. Macrofossil analysis of charcoal in mineral soils was used to compare the stand-scale fire histories and taxonomic fossil composition of subalpine, old-growth balsam fir stands and white spruce stands. No significant differences of mean number of observed fires (mean = 6.35 fires per site), Holocene fire recurrence at the landscape scale and mean fire-return interval (mean = 580 years) were found between white spruce stands and balsam fir stands. The botanical composition of charcoal fragments from mineral soils showed that Abies, Betula and Picea were present throughout the fire period from 5600 cal. BP to present, and no difference was found in the fossil composition of the balsam fir and white spruce stands. No historical change in the botanical composition of charcoal from soils of both stand types was observed indicating that the initial floristic composition remained through the period of recurrent fires. Charcoal data suggest that white spruce stands are not divergent community types. Rather, the two community types are arranged along a chronosequence of different successional stages within the subalpine relict flora. |
author2 |
Biodiversité, Gènes & Communautés (BioGeCo) Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Université Laval Québec (ULaval) NSERC; Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
de Lafontaine, Guillaume Payette, Serge |
author_facet |
de Lafontaine, Guillaume Payette, Serge |
author_sort |
de Lafontaine, Guillaume |
title |
Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
title_short |
Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
title_full |
Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
title_fullStr |
Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) stands in eastern Canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
title_sort |
long-term fire and forest history of subalpine balsam fir (abies balsamea) and white spruce (picea glauca) stands in eastern canada inferred from soil charcoal analysis |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414931 |
geographic |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Hudson Hudson Bay |
genre |
Hudson Bay Tundra |
genre_facet |
Hudson Bay Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 0959-6836 EISSN: 1477-0911 The Holocene https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 The Holocene, London: Sage, 2012, 22 (2), pp.191 - 201. ⟨10.1177/0959683611414931⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1177/0959683611414931 hal-02651878 https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02651878 doi:10.1177/0959683611414931 PRODINRA: 216025 WOS: 000298746900006 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683611414931 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
191 |
op_container_end_page |
201 |
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1766025795841556480 |