Long-Term Fire Frequency Not Linked to Prehistoric Occupations in Northern Swedish Boreal Forest

Carcaillet, Christopher; Bergman, Ingela; Delorme, Séverine; Hörnberg, Greger; Zackrisson, Olle

doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2007)88[465:lffnlt]2.0.co;2

Cited by 107 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The region is characterized by a humid-temperate, continental climate with relatively warm Figure 1 Location of the investigation area in southern Sweden (b) and the three study sites (red dots in (a) and (b)) and earlier studies mentioned in the text ((a) and (b)). ① Lattok, Lövnäs and Raigejegge Lakes (Carcaillet et al, 2007); ② Lilla Gloppsjon Lake (Almqvist-Jacobson, 1994); ③ Ljustjarnen Lake (Almqvist-Jacobsson 1994, 1995; ④ Sävkrars Peat (Von Stedingk, 1999); ⑤ Fire scars on Pinus sylvestris trees in Northern Sweden (Niklasson et al, 2002); ⑥ Elferdalen peat (Tryterud, 2000); ⑦ Solsø Lake; ⑧ Skånsø and ⑨ Kragsø (Odgaard, 1994); ⑩ Kontolanranhka bog; ⑪ Männikjärve bog (Sillasoo et al, 2011 ). NO, Norway; SE, Sweden; DK, Denmark; FIN, Finland; RU, Russia; EE, Estonia; LT, Latvia; LV, Lietuvos.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of the role of climate, humans, and ecological setting in Holocene fire history of northwestern Europe

Cui

Gaillard

Olsson

et al. 2014

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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We present the major results from studies of fire history over the last 11000 years (Holocene) in southern Sweden, on the basis of palaeoecological analyses of peat sequences from three small peat bogs. The main objective is to emphasize the value of multiple, continuous sedimentary records of macroscopic charcoal (macro-C) for the reconstruction of local to regional past changes in fire regimes, the importance of multi-proxy studies, and the advantage of model-based estimates of plant cover from pollen data to assess the role of tree composition and human impact in fire history. The chronologies at the three study sites are based on a large number of 14 C dates from terrestrial plant remains and age-depth models are achieved using Bayesian statistics. Fire history is inferred from continuous records of macro-C and microscopic charcoal counts on pollen slides. The Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) for pollen-based quantitative reconstruction of local vegetation cover is applied on the three pollen records for plant cover reconstruction over the entire Holocene. The results are as follows: (1) the long-term trends in fire regimes are similar between sites, i.e., frequent fires during the early Holocene until ca. 9 ka BP, low fire frequency during the mid-Holocene, and higher fire frequency from ca. 2.5 ka BP; (2) this broad trend agrees with the overall fire history of northwestern and western Europe north of the Mediterranean area, and is due to climate forcing in the early and mid-Holocene, and to anthropogenic land-use in the late Holocene; (3) the LRA estimates of plant cover at the three sites demonstrate that the relative abundance of pine played a primordial role in the early and mid-Holocene fire history; and (4) the between-site differences in the charcoal records and inferred fire history are due to local factors (i.e., relative abundance of pine, geomorphological setting, and anthropogenic land-use) and taphonomy of charcoal deposition in the small peat bogs. It is shown that continuous macro-C records are most useful to disentangle local from regional-subcontinental fire history, and climate-induced from human-induced fire regimes, and that pollen-based LRA estimates of local plant cover are more adequate than pollen percentages for the assessment of the role of plant composition on fire history. fire history, land-use history, charcoal analysis, Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), Holocene, Småland, Sweden Citation:Cui Q Y, Gaillard M J, Olsson F, et al. 2015. A case study of the role of climate, humans, and ecological setting in Holocene fire history of northwestern Europe.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

A case study of the role of climate, humans, and ecological setting in Holocene fire history of northwestern Europe

Cui

Gaillard

Olsson

et al. 2014

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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“…In this respect the reviewed studies may partly refl ect historical range of variability of forest dynamics (Keane et al 2009). However, in this review we preferred to use the term 'natural', indicating the assumption that low human populations did not signifi cantly affect the dynamics of the forest (see Carcaillet et al 2007).…”

Section: Problems Of Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural forest dynamics in boreal Fennoscandia: a review and classification

Kuuluvainen¹,

Aakala²

2011

Silva Fenn.

167

120

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The aim here was to review and summarize the findings of scientific studies concerning the types of forest dynamics which occur in natural forests (i.e. forests with negligible human impact) of boreal Fennoscandia. We conducted a systematic search for relevant studies from selected reference databases, using search terms describing the location, structure and processes, and degree of naturalness of the forest. The studies resulting from these searches were supplemented with other known works that were not indexed in the databases. This procedure yielded a total of 43 studies. The studies were grouped into four types of forest dynamics according to the information presented on the characteristics of the native disturbancesuccession cycle: 1) even-aged stand dynamics driven by stand-replacing disturbances, 2) cohort dynamics driven by partial disturbances, 3) patch dynamics driven by tree mortality at intermediate scales (> 200 m 2 ) and 4) gap dynamics driven by tree mortality at fine scales (< 200 m 2 ). All four dynamic types were reported from both spruce and pine dominated forests, but their commonness differed. Gap dynamics was most commonly reported in spruce forests, and cohort dynamics in pine forests. The studies reviewed provide the best obtainable overall picture of scientific findings concerning the characteristics and variability of the unmanaged boreal forest dynamics in Fennoscandia. The results demonstrate that the unmanaged Fennoscandian forests are characterized by more diverse and complex dynamics than has traditionally been acknowledged.

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“…Several fire events or sequences occurred simultaneously at different sites. This synchronicity may be used as an indication of climate forcing (Carcaillet et al, 2007).…”

Section: Fire Regimes and Human Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Charcoal identification and dating is a powerful tool to reconstruct past human impact on Alpine territories. Although natural fire regimes appear to be climate-dependent, human activity at the forest-and treeline in the Alps has been occurring for thousands of years (Whelan, 1995;Carcaillet, 1998;Carcaillet et al, 2007). If fire patterns are synchronous at regional scales, then they should be reasonably ascribed to climatic trends: but, if they are not synchronous at regional scales, then fire regimes might be more dependent on local processes such as human disturbance (Clark and Royal, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Charcoal fragments of Alpine soils as an indicator of landscape evolution during the Holocene in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy)

et al. 2009

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Subalpine and Alpine soils in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy) have been investigated in order to reconstruct vegetation changes and human impact during the Holocene period. Archaeological findings have demonstrated that Alpine sites have been populated since pre-historical times. Humans have had a great impact on the natural landscape evolution. One of the most-used tools has been fire. The use of fire has enabled the landscape to be cleared to provide new pastures for grazing and also to allow it to be used for agricultural purposes. The 14C dating of charcoal fragments found in subalpine and Alpine soils provide information about the type of vegetation, fires, human impact and soil formation throughout the Holocene. The degree of podzolisation indicates weathering effects and provides information about the stability of the surfaces. According to our results, a quick forest expansion establishment phase must have occurred shortly after the Lateglacial around 10 500 cal. BP. Pinus sylvestris, Pinus mugo as well as Larix decidua established in the investigation area in that period. Picea abies had not yet migrated into this region at the transition to the Boreal (around 9000 cal. BP). The vegetation of the investigated area has not substantially changed during the last 10 000 years. Pinus mugo was more widespread in some areas during the Older Atlanticum, and the treeline was about 150 m higher at the end of the Younger Dryas than today. Some other sites were most probably used as pasture during the Bronze Age and later abandoned, leading to a natural reforestation. In the investigated area 13 fire events in the past 10 700 years have been recognised, and seven of them can reasonably be attributed to human origin.

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Long-Term Fire Frequency Not Linked to Prehistoric Occupations in Northern Swedish Boreal Forest

Cited by 107 publications

References 73 publications

A case study of the role of climate, humans, and ecological setting in Holocene fire history of northwestern Europe

A case study of the role of climate, humans, and ecological setting in Holocene fire history of northwestern Europe

Natural forest dynamics in boreal Fennoscandia: a review and classification

Charcoal fragments of Alpine soils as an indicator of landscape evolution during the Holocene in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy)

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