Recent Centuries of Vegetational Change in the Glaciated North-Eastern United States

Russell, E. W.; Davis, Ronald B.; Anderson, R. Scott; Rhodes, Thomas; Anderson, Dennis S.

doi:10.2307/2261663

Cited by 82 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Apparently, Cape Cod forests today are more similar to each other than before the arrival of Europeans, in part because the open agricultural landscapes of 150 years ago have become reforested with less Quercus, Fagus, and Carya and more Pinus. These results corroborate a trend across New England toward less variation in vegetation composition on the modern landscape than in the past (Russell et al 1993, Foster et al 1998b, Fuller et al 1998). …”

Section: Impact Of European Settlementsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…The rise in charcoal at almost every site suggests that fire was a more common part of the postsettlement landscape than for at least the previous 1000 years, a pattern that is evident in other regional fire histories (Patterson and Backman 1988, Russell et al 1993, Clark and Royall 1996, Maenza-Gmelch 1997. European land use practices are likely to have increased fire occurrence as a result of intentional burning, an accumulation of woody fuels following land clearance, and higher frequency of accidental ignitions from the larger population size (Deyo 1890, Altpeter 1937, Pyne 1982, Williams 1989, Dunwiddie and Adams 1995.…”

Section: Impact Of European Settlementmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Long-Term History of Vegetation and Fire in Pitch Pine–oak Forests on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Parshall

Foster

Faison

et al. 2003

Ecology

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Abstract. Human disturbance in northeastern North America over the past four centuries has led to dramatic change in vegetation composition and ecosystem processes, obscuring the influence of climate and edaphic factors on vegetation patterns. We use a paleoecological approach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to assess landscape-scale variation in pitch pine-oak vegetation and fire occurrence on the pre-European landscape and to determine changes resulting from European land use. Fossil pollen and charcoal preserved in seven lakes confirm a close link between landform and the pre-European distribution of vegetation. Pine forests, dominated by Pinus rigida, were closely associated with xeric outwash deposits, whereas oak-hardwood forests were associated with landforms having finer grained soils and variable topography. In general, fire was much more abundant on Cape Cod than most other areas in New England, but its occurrence varied geographically at two scales. On the western end of Cape Cod, fires were more prevalent in pine forests (outwash) than in oak-hardwood forests (moraines). In contrast, fires were less common on the narrow and north-south trending eastern Cape, perhaps because of physical limits on fire spread.The most rapid and substantial changes during the past 2000 years were initiated by European settlement, which produced a vegetation mosaic that today is less clearly tied to landform. Quercus and other hardwood trees declined in abundance in the early settlement period in association with land clearance, whereas Pinus has increased, especially during the past century, through natural reforestation and planting of abandoned fields and pastures. An increase in fossil charcoal following European settlement suggests that fire occurrence has risen substantially as a result of forest clearance and other land uses, reaching levels greater than at any time over the past 2000 years. Although fire was undoubtedly used by Native Americans and may have been locally important, we find no clear evidence that humans extensively modified fire regimes or vegetation before European settlement. Instead, climate change over the past several thousand years and European land use over the past 300 years have been the most important agents of change on this landscape.

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Section: Impact Of European Settlementsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Impact Of European Settlementmentioning

confidence: 93%

Long-Term History of Vegetation and Fire in Pitch Pine–oak Forests on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Parshall

Foster

Faison

et al. 2003

Ecology

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“…A local brick factory in Haverstraw manufactured over 32 million bricks in 1883, which required enormous amounts of wood (Cole, 1884). The tanning industry used bark from Tsuga, accounting for its dramatic decrease (Russell et al, 1993). Betula, a disturbance species and less economically viable, becomes more abundant during this time, a trend observed in other NE US sites (Russell et al, 1993).…”

Section: Little Ice Age and Early European Settlement (Ad~1418-t1697)mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The tanning industry used bark from Tsuga, accounting for its dramatic decrease (Russell et al, 1993). Betula, a disturbance species and less economically viable, becomes more abundant during this time, a trend observed in other NE US sites (Russell et al, 1993). These forest trends are observed in other areas of the northeast and likely indicate reforestation of cleared lands (Russell et al, 1993).…”

Section: Little Ice Age and Early European Settlement (Ad~1418-t1697)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other lake charcoal studies from the eastern US show that climate is an important influence on fire regimes (Clark and Royall, 1996;Parshall and Foster, 2002;Swain, 1973). However, many lower-resolution records from the NE US do not capture the importance of fire on the landscape during the MWP (Parshall et al, 2003;Russell et al, 1993).…”

Section: Pre-european Pinus-quercus Forest With Droughts (Ad~t653-tmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medieval Warming, Little Ice Age, and European impact on the environment during the last millennium in the lower Hudson Valley, New York, USA

et al. 2005

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Establishing natural climate variability becomes particularly important in large urban areas in anticipation of droughts. We present a welldated bi-decadal record of vegetation, climate, land use, and fire frequency from a tidal marsh in the Hudson River Estuary. The classic Medieval Warm Period is evident through striking increases in charcoal and Pinus dominance from~800-1300 A.D., paralleling paleorecords southward along the Atlantic seaboard. Higher inputs of inorganic sediment during this interval suggest increased watershed erosion during drought conditions. The presence of the Little Ice Age ensues with increases in Picea and Tsuga, coupled with increasing organic percentages due to cooler, moister conditions. European impact is manifested by a decline in arboreal pollen due to land clearance, increased weedy plant cover (i.e., Ambrosia, Plantago, and Rumex), and an increase in inorganic particles to the watershed.

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Climate forcing of unprecedented intense‐hurricane activity in the last 2000 years

Donnelly

Hawkes

Lane³

et al. 2015

Earth's Future

107

203

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Recent Centuries of Vegetational Change in the Glaciated North-Eastern United States

Cited by 82 publications

References 58 publications

Long-Term History of Vegetation and Fire in Pitch Pine–oak Forests on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Long-Term History of Vegetation and Fire in Pitch Pine–oak Forests on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Medieval Warming, Little Ice Age, and European impact on the environment during the last millennium in the lower Hudson Valley, New York, USA

Climate forcing of unprecedented intense‐hurricane activity in the last 2000 years

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