Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years

Across the boreal forest, fire is the main disturbance factor and driver of ecosystem changes. In this study, we reconstructed a long-term, spatially explicit fire history of a forest-tundra region in northeastern Canada. We hypothesized that current occupation of similar topographic and edaphic sit...

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Published in:Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Main Authors: Payette, Serge, Filion, Louise, Delwaide, Ann
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606781
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18048298
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201
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spelling ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2606781 2023-05-15T18:40:03+02:00 Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years Payette, Serge Filion, Louise Delwaide, Ann 2007-11-28 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606781 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18048298 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606781 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18048298 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201 © 2007 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2007 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201 2013-09-02T09:00:49Z Across the boreal forest, fire is the main disturbance factor and driver of ecosystem changes. In this study, we reconstructed a long-term, spatially explicit fire history of a forest-tundra region in northeastern Canada. We hypothesized that current occupation of similar topographic and edaphic sites by tundra and forest was the consequence of cumulative regression with time of forest cover due to compounding fire and climate disturbances. All fires were mapped and dated per 100 year intervals over the last 2000 years using several fire dating techniques. Past fire occurrences and post-fire regeneration at the northern forest limit indicate 70% reduction of forest cover since 1800 yr BP and nearly complete cessation of forest regeneration since 900 yr BP. Regression of forest cover was particularly important between 1500s–1700s and possibly since 900 yr BP. Although fire frequency was very low over the last 100 years, each fire event was followed by drastic removal of spruce cover. Contrary to widespread belief of northward boreal forest expansion due to recent warming, lack of post-fire recovery during the last centuries, in comparison with active tree regeneration more than 1000 years ago, indicates that the current climate does not favour such expansion. Text Tundra PubMed Central (PMC) Canada Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 363 1501 2299 2314
institution Open Polar
collection PubMed Central (PMC)
op_collection_id ftpubmed
language English
topic Research Article
spellingShingle Research Article
Payette, Serge
Filion, Louise
Delwaide, Ann
Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
topic_facet Research Article
description Across the boreal forest, fire is the main disturbance factor and driver of ecosystem changes. In this study, we reconstructed a long-term, spatially explicit fire history of a forest-tundra region in northeastern Canada. We hypothesized that current occupation of similar topographic and edaphic sites by tundra and forest was the consequence of cumulative regression with time of forest cover due to compounding fire and climate disturbances. All fires were mapped and dated per 100 year intervals over the last 2000 years using several fire dating techniques. Past fire occurrences and post-fire regeneration at the northern forest limit indicate 70% reduction of forest cover since 1800 yr BP and nearly complete cessation of forest regeneration since 900 yr BP. Regression of forest cover was particularly important between 1500s–1700s and possibly since 900 yr BP. Although fire frequency was very low over the last 100 years, each fire event was followed by drastic removal of spruce cover. Contrary to widespread belief of northward boreal forest expansion due to recent warming, lack of post-fire recovery during the last centuries, in comparison with active tree regeneration more than 1000 years ago, indicates that the current climate does not favour such expansion.
format Text
author Payette, Serge
Filion, Louise
Delwaide, Ann
author_facet Payette, Serge
Filion, Louise
Delwaide, Ann
author_sort Payette, Serge
title Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
title_short Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
title_full Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
title_fullStr Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
title_full_unstemmed Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years
title_sort spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (eastern canada) over the last 2000 years
publisher The Royal Society
publishDate 2007
url http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606781
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18048298
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201
geographic Canada
geographic_facet Canada
genre Tundra
genre_facet Tundra
op_relation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2606781
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18048298
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201
op_rights © 2007 The Royal Society
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2201
container_title Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
container_volume 363
container_issue 1501
container_start_page 2299
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