Dendroarchaeology reveals influence of early-European settlement on forest disturbance regimes in the Appalachian Mountains, USA

Copenheaver, Carolyn A.; Pulice, Michael J.; Lawrence, Nathaniel Jo-Walker; Raso, Chance H.; Cankaya, Ergin C.; Wan, Heng; Poling, Benjamin T.

doi:10.1080/11956860.2017.1354579

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Using a mixed-methods approach to evaluating the writings of multiple 18 th century Naturalists provided an effective means for capturing a broad view of the North American landscape during this time period when substantial shifts in disturbance regimes and the introduction of many new species was taking place. While other proxy records used to reconstruct historical vegetation during this time period, e.g., witness and bearing trees recorded in land surveys or tree-ring widths from archeological samples (Copenheaver et al 2017;Briand and Folkoff 2019), are fairly effective at capturing forest composition and structure, the 18 th century naturalists provided detailed observational information about herbaceous species and agricultural crops, which provides a more thorough representation of the landscape and the relationship between humans and plants. Our unique application of mixed methods when examining these historical documents provides a nice complement to many of the quantitative studies completed by other researchers (Mack 2001(Mack , 2003 and provided new perspectives and insights to the data contained within these historical documents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Writings of 18th century naturalists provide a rich description of the flora, agricultural practices, and ecological and cultural landscape during the migration of large numbers of European and African peoples to North America. We employed a mixed methods approach to: 1) compare the percentages of non-native vs. native plant species recorded by the naturalists; 2) quantify the relative frequency of non-native plant species across eastern North America; and 3) qualitatively evaluate descriptions of non-native plants. The writings from nine naturalists in the 1700s document the introduction and establishment of many non-native plants across the North America. Higher proportions of non-native plant species were reported by naturalists who spent more time in densely populated human settlements. Agricultural crops had the highest relative frequencies for non-native plants in the 18th century. Non-native plants were described as being used during daily activities by humans, undergoing cultivation, growing abundantly on the landscape, and having weedy growth characteristics. Several of the non-native plants observed in the 1700s have subsequently developed into invasive species, which threaten the conservation of native North American flora.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Less attention has been paid to how these data sources inform our understanding of past climate and ecology (but see Bleicher and Staub, 2023; Büntgen et al, 2011; Haneca et al, 2006; Pederson et al, 2014b; Tegel et al, 2010; Thun and Svarva, 2018; Trouet et al, 2017). Dendroarchaeological data are simultaneously touted as potentially unfit for typical tree-ring analyses due to biases and complications related to construction preferences (Black et al, 2008; Copenheaver et al, 2017; de Graauw, 2017; Graauw and Hessl, 2020; Pederson, 2010; Skiadaresis et al, 2021; Trouet et al, 2017) and, conversely, as the only means for building temporally-extended, regional networks of tree-ring data where old-growth forests are scarce (e.g. de Graauw, 2017; Robichaud and Laroque, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the impact of live-tree versus historic-timber data on palaeoenvironmental inferences in tree-ring science, eastern North America

de Graauw,

Rochner,

van de Gevel

et al. 2023

The Holocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dendroarchaeological data from historic structures and artefacts have the potential to extend tree-ring chronologies spatially and temporally, especially where old-growth forests have been extensively modified or harvested. While these data may contribute to an improved understanding of past climate and ecology, critical differences in the properties of live-tree and historic-timber data might affect results and interpretations of large-scale studies, such as those relying on large datasets from public databases like the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB). The objective of this work was to compare summary measures of live-tree versus historic-timber datasets likely to affect outcomes and inferences of typical paleoenvironmental applications. We used 99 live-tree (LT) and 41 historic-timber (HT) datasets collected in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States and compared common analytical measures for understanding past climate and ecology, including temporal coverage, species composition, recruitment patterns, segment length, series coherence/mean interseries correlation (as Rbar), expressed population signal (EPS), subsample signal strength (SSS) and response to drought and extreme climate events. We found that tree-ring data from historic timbers record some ecological events similarly to live trees and are sensitive to some climate conditions, with important caveats related to the influence of site and tree selection on analytical measures. In some cases, these caveats can be overcome through improved collection of metadata and additional analyses. In all cases, potential differences in LT and HT data should be considered by those who perform large-scale analyses using public tree ring databases, especially as more scientists contribute historic-timber datasets.

show abstract

Integrating Multiple Sources to Reconstruct the Pre- and Early Postcolonial Forests of the Chesapeake: 1588–1838

Briand

Folkoff

2019

Hum Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dendroarchaeology reveals influence of early-European settlement on forest disturbance regimes in the Appalachian Mountains, USA

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists

Comparing the impact of live-tree versus historic-timber data on palaeoenvironmental inferences in tree-ring science, eastern North America

Integrating Multiple Sources to Reconstruct the Pre- and Early Postcolonial Forests of the Chesapeake: 1588–1838

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Dendroarchaeology reveals influence of early-European settlement on forest disturbance regimes in the Appalachian Mountains, USA

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18th century naturalists

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18th century naturalists

Comparing the impact of live-tree versus historic-timber data on palaeoenvironmental inferences in tree-ring science, eastern North America

Integrating Multiple Sources to Reconstruct the Pre- and Early Postcolonial Forests of the Chesapeake: 1588–1838

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists

Non-native plants observed in North America by 18^th century naturalists