Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra
Abstract Understanding feedbacks between terrestrial and atmospheric systems is vital for predicting the consequences of global change, particularly in the rapidly changing Arctic. Fire is a key process in this context, but the consequences of altered fire regimes in tundra ecosystems are rarely con...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.1078.7664 2023-05-15T14:57:40+02:00 Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra P E Higuera L B Brubaker P M Anderson T A Brown A T Kennedy F S Hu Philip E Higuera Linda B Brubaker Patricia M Anderson Thomas A Brown Alison T Kennedy Sheng Feng Hu The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1078.7664 en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1078.7664 Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark%3A/67531/metadc902031/m2/1/high_res_d/945153.pdf text ftciteseerx 2020-05-03T00:19:09Z Abstract Understanding feedbacks between terrestrial and atmospheric systems is vital for predicting the consequences of global change, particularly in the rapidly changing Arctic. Fire is a key process in this context, but the consequences of altered fire regimes in tundra ecosystems are rarely considered, largely because tundra fires occur infrequently on the modern landscape. We present paleoecological data that indicate frequent tundra fires in northcentral Alaska between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. Charcoal and pollen from lake sediments reveal that ancient birchdominated shrub tundra burned as often as modern boreal forests in the region, every 144 years on average (+/-90 s.d.; n = 44). Although paleoclimate interpretations and data from modern tundra fires suggest that increased burning was aided by low effective moisture, vegetation cover clearly played a critical role in facilitating the paleo-fires by creating an abundance of fine fuels. These records suggest that greater fire activity will likely accompany temperaturerelated increases in shrub-dominated tundra predicted for the 21 st century and beyond. Increased tundra burning will have broad impacts on physical and biological systems as well as land-atmosphere interactions in the Arctic, including the potential to release stored organic carbon to the atmosphere. Text Arctic Tundra Alaska Unknown Arctic |
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Abstract Understanding feedbacks between terrestrial and atmospheric systems is vital for predicting the consequences of global change, particularly in the rapidly changing Arctic. Fire is a key process in this context, but the consequences of altered fire regimes in tundra ecosystems are rarely considered, largely because tundra fires occur infrequently on the modern landscape. We present paleoecological data that indicate frequent tundra fires in northcentral Alaska between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. Charcoal and pollen from lake sediments reveal that ancient birchdominated shrub tundra burned as often as modern boreal forests in the region, every 144 years on average (+/-90 s.d.; n = 44). Although paleoclimate interpretations and data from modern tundra fires suggest that increased burning was aided by low effective moisture, vegetation cover clearly played a critical role in facilitating the paleo-fires by creating an abundance of fine fuels. These records suggest that greater fire activity will likely accompany temperaturerelated increases in shrub-dominated tundra predicted for the 21 st century and beyond. Increased tundra burning will have broad impacts on physical and biological systems as well as land-atmosphere interactions in the Arctic, including the potential to release stored organic carbon to the atmosphere. |
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The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
P E Higuera L B Brubaker P M Anderson T A Brown A T Kennedy F S Hu Philip E Higuera Linda B Brubaker Patricia M Anderson Thomas A Brown Alison T Kennedy Sheng Feng Hu |
spellingShingle |
P E Higuera L B Brubaker P M Anderson T A Brown A T Kennedy F S Hu Philip E Higuera Linda B Brubaker Patricia M Anderson Thomas A Brown Alison T Kennedy Sheng Feng Hu Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
author_facet |
P E Higuera L B Brubaker P M Anderson T A Brown A T Kennedy F S Hu Philip E Higuera Linda B Brubaker Patricia M Anderson Thomas A Brown Alison T Kennedy Sheng Feng Hu |
author_sort |
P E Higuera |
title |
Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
title_short |
Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
title_full |
Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
title_fullStr |
Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra PLoS ONE Evidence and Implications of Frequent Fires in Ancient Shrub Tundra |
title_sort |
evidence and implications of frequent fires in ancient shrub tundra plos one evidence and implications of frequent fires in ancient shrub tundra |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1078.7664 |
geographic |
Arctic |
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Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Tundra Alaska |
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Arctic Tundra Alaska |
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https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark%3A/67531/metadc902031/m2/1/high_res_d/945153.pdf |
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http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1078.7664 |
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Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
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1766329796188438528 |