Fire activity in North West Africa during the last 30,000 cal years BP inferred from a charcoal record from Lake Ifrah (Middle atlas–Morocco): Climatic implications

Environmental Drivers of Holocene Forest Development in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

“…The biological and bioclimatic diversity of the region, particularly as contained within the Atlas mountain ranges (Ozenda, 1975;Medail and Quezel, 1997), furthermore provides a valuable "test-bed" for understanding the wider response of FIGURE 1 | The study region and location of pollen records, showing: (a) the location of the Middle Atlas (MA), High Atlas (HA) and Rif mountain ranges in Morocco; (b) the western Middle Atlas and the location of the study site and other Holocene pollen studies cited in the text; and (c) length and chronological control of dated pollen records for the Middle Atlas. Key to sites: AFO-Dayat Afourgagh (Lamb et al, 1991); ALI-Lake Sidi Ali (1-Sidi Ali sub-basin, Lamb et al, 1999; 2-Sidi Ali deep lake, this study); CDZ-Col du Zad (Reille, 1976); HAC-Dayet Hachlaff (Nourelbait et al, 2016); HAR-Taguelmam N'Harcha (Lamb et al, 1991); ICH-Ait Ichou (Tabel et al, 2016); IFF-Dayat Iffir (Lamb et al, 1991); IFR-Dayat Ifrah (Rhoujjati et al, 2010;Reddad et al, 2013); RAS-Ras el Ma (Nourelbait et al, 2014); TIF-Tifounassine (Cheddadi et al, 2015); TIG-Tigalmamine (Lamb et al, 1989Lamb and van der Kaars, 1995;Cheddadi et al, 1998).…”

“…The Middle Atlas has recently experienced a resurgence of palaeoecological activity, including contributions to the understanding of longer term environmental change since the last glacial including past fire activity at Lake Ifrah (Rhoujjati et al, 2010;Reddad et al, 2013), although the core does not include the last 5,000 years. Recent studies have contributed further knowledge regarding patterns and processes of Holocene vegetation change in the northwestern Middle Atlas at Ras el Ma and Dayat Hachlaf (Nourelbait et al, 2014(Nourelbait et al, , 2016Tabel et al, 2016), and forthcoming data for the Holocene are indicated for Lake Tifounassine (Cheddadi et al, 2015).…”

Palynology and Vegetation History

“…This exposure underlines the need for understanding the resilience of keystone forest species such as Cedrus atlantica and the ecosystem functions they support (e.g., nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, reducing soil erosion) in the face of global change (Parmesan, 2006;Dawson et al, 2011;Moritz and Agudo, 2013). The biological and bioclimatic diversity of the region, particularly as contained within the Atlas mountain ranges (Ozenda, 1975;Medail and Quezel, 1997), furthermore provides a valuable "test-bed" for understanding the wider response of (Lamb et al, 1991); ALI-Lake Sidi Ali (1-Sidi Ali sub-basin, Lamb et al, 1999; 2-Sidi Ali deep lake, this study); CDZ-Col du Zad (Reille, 1976); HAC-Dayet Hachlaff (Nourelbait et al, 2016); HAR-Taguelmam N'Harcha (Lamb et al, 1991); ICH-Ait Ichou (Tabel et al, 2016); IFF-Dayat Iffir (Lamb et al, 1991); IFR-Dayat Ifrah (Rhoujjati et al, 2010;Reddad et al, 2013); RAS-Ras el Ma (Nourelbait et al, 2014); TIF-Tifounassine (Cheddadi et al, 2015); TIG-Tigalmamine (Lamb et al, 1989Lamb and van der Kaars, 1995;Cheddadi et al, 1998).…”

Middle- to late-Holocene fire history and the impact on Mediterranean pine and oak forests according to the core RF93-30, central Adriatic Sea

“…Microscopical charcoal fragments in sedimentary records are excellent markers of fire occurrence in a given area and over a long-term period because the vegetation burned during extended fires produces small carbonized particles that are resistant to decomposition and may be transported from the combustion site to the sedimentation basin (Jones et al, 1997; Verardo, 1997). Paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on high-resolution analyses of sediments, including microcharcoals from terrestrial cores, are quite common in the Mediterranean basin (central: Colombaroli et al, 2008; Kaltenrieder et al, 2010; western: Carracedo et al, 2018; Reddad et al, 2012; eastern: Turner et al, 2008).…”