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

Payette, Serge; Filion, Louise; Delwaide, Ann

doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2201

Cited by 44 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(99 reference statements)

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“…This persistence of cold conditions over NENA is also suggested by the strong warming trend of the last 100 y denoting a colder starting point ( Fig. 1 A and B), as well as by permafrost growth during the mid-20th century on the southern shore of Hudson Strait (35) and by the lack of postfire forest recovery over the last 900 y at the northern Quebec treeline in contrast to what occurred during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (36,37). The warming trend in our study area has accelerated over the last 30 y (+0.7°C per decade according to the dataset CRU TS3.20).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Volcano-induced regime shifts in millennial tree-ring chronologies from northeastern North America

Gennaretti

Arseneault

Nicault

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

114

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Significance The cooling effect on the Earth's climate system of sulfate aerosols injected into the stratosphere by large volcanic eruptions remains a topic of debate. While some simulation and field data show that these effects are short-term (less than about 10 years), other evidence suggests that large and successive eruptions can lead to the onset of cooling episodes that can persist over several decades when sustained by consequent sea ice/ocean feedbacks. Here, we present a new network of millennial tree-ring chronologies suitable for temperature reconstructions from northeastern North America where no similar records are available, and we show that during the last millennium, persistent shifts toward lower average temperatures in this region coincide with series of large eruptions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Volcano-induced regime shifts in millennial tree-ring chronologies from northeastern North America

Gennaretti

Arseneault

Nicault

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

102

114

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“…Sirén 1961;Zackrisson 1977;Terasmae & Weeks 1979;Tolonen 1983;Pitkänen et al 2002;Ryan 2002;Carcaillet et al 2007;Payette et al 2008;Wallenius et al 2010;Barrett et al 2013;Brown & Giesecke 2014). about one fire in 200 years) appears consistent with the frequency of fires in Fennoscandian and North American boreal forests, which is normally within the range of 1 in 50-250 years (cf.…”

Section: Relating Charcoal Ages To the Timing Of Forest Fires And Colmentioning

confidence: 58%

Holocene colluvial chronology in a sub‐arctic esker landscape atKuttanen,FinnishLapland: kettleholes as geo‐ecological archives of interactions amongst fire, vegetation, soil, climate and geomorphological instability

Matthews

Seppälä

2014

Boreas

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Seppälä, M. 2015 (April): Holocene colluvial chronology in a sub-arctic esker landscape at Kuttanen, Finnish Lapland: kettleholes as geo-ecological archives of interactions amongst fire, vegetation, soil, climate and geomorphological instability.Excavations were made in the colluvial deposits of seven kettleholes in a sandy esker at Kuttanen, northwestern Finnish Lapland. The Holocene history of forest fires and the associated colluvial activity initiated on the slopes of the kettleholes were reconstructed based on 131 radiocarbon dates from charcoal layers. These dates were supplemented by luminescence dating of colluvial sand layers. The first forest fires occurred ∼9000 years ago following the immigration of Pinus sylvestris about 1000 years after deglaciation. Evidence of forest fires and colluvial activity increased with the density of the pine forest, reaching a maximum during the Holocene Thermal Maximum between ∼8000 and 4000 cal. a BP, declining thereafter to a minimum in the last ∼500 years. This multimillennial-scale pattern corresponds with forest fires being triggered by lightning strikes during the warmest summer weather of the Holocene, which also produced heavy rain and slope wash from convective storms. The 50 forest fires identified over the Holocene indicate a long cycle in fire frequency of 1 in ∼200 years, which appears to reflect the average successional recovery time of the forest. Complex interactions amongst vegetation, fire and climate may account for little or no association between 23 centennial-to millennial-scale clusters of forest fires/colluvial events and Holocene temperature or precipitation anomalies. Buried podzols indicate five phases of soil formation and hence low levels of landscape disturbance. The kettleholes and their colluvial deposits therefore provide a unique geo-ecological archive that has led to new insights into the geo-ecological interactions that affect environmental change in the sub-arctic landscape. sides of the kettlehole when the protective vegetation cover is removed by fire: the sand is then mobilized bs_bs_banner

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“…Our results indicate that all the tundra summits studied were created by fire disturbance during the late Holocene, mostly between 100 and 500 cal y BP and 1150-1600 cal y BP. Fire frequency at the northern limit of the forest tundra varied greatly during the last few millennia, but a major reduction of the forest cover occurred during this period, often in a one-shot fire event (Payette, Filion & Delwaide, 2008). Asselin and Payette (2005) have shown that the decrease and clearance of the forest cover in the forest tundra were due to interactions between climate and fire.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin and plant species diversity of high-altitude tundra summits across the boreal forest zone in eastern Canada

Savard

Payette

2013

Écoscience

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Many high-altitude summits across the boreal forest zone of Quebec are colonized by tundra vegetation. In this study, the origin and plant composition of these remote, isolated tundra summits have been documented to link their nature and floristic diversity to several potential causal factors. Analysis of spruce macrocharcoal pieces distributed at the soil surface indicates that wildfire is the chief factor behind the creation of the tundra summits across the boreal forest zone. All of the summits were deforested by fire during 2 main periods of the Holocene, around 100-500 cal y BP and 1150-1600 cal y BP. However, fire activity seems to have little influence on vegetation composition and diversity of post-fire tundra summits; latitudinal position and surface area are the main driving factors influencing floristic diversity. Given the remoteness of the sources of the arctic-alpine flora and young age of tundra summits associated with recent deforestation, only a small number of arctic-alpine species are colonizing the sites. Because of the regional dominance of boreal flora composed of common and widespread species adapted to nutrient-poor soils, it is probable that arctic-alpine species located on the tundra summits will go extinct in a warmer world promoting forest recovery.Résumé : Plusieurs hauts sommets de la zone de la forêt boréale du Québec sont couverts par une végétation de toundra. L'origine et la composition botanique de ces hauts sommets de toundra, le plus souvent isolés, ont été étudiées afin de relier leur nature et leur diversité floristique à différents facteurs écologiques. D'après la répartition de macrocharbons à la surface du sol, le feu semble être le principal facteur responsable de la présence d'une toundra de haut sommet au sein de la zone de la forêt boréale. Tous les sommets étudiés ont été déboisés par le feu au cours de 2 périodes principales de l'Holocène, vers 100-500 années étalonnées BP et 1150-1600 années étalonnées BP. Cependant, la composition botanique et la diversité floristique de ces toundras d'altitude sont davantage influencées par leur position latitudinale et la surface qu'elles occupent que par l'activité des feux. Un petit nombre seulement d'espèces arctiques-alpines colonisent les hauts sommets de toundra probablement à cause de l'éloignement des sources de diaspores nordiques et le jeune âge des sites. Étant donné la dominance de la flore boréale qui comprend surtout des espèces communes ayant une vaste répartition géographique et qui sont adaptées à des sols déficients en éléments nutritifs, il est plus que probable que les espèces arctiques-alpines des hauts sommets de toundra seront vouées à l'extinction advenant un climat favorable à l'expansion de la forêt. Mots-clés : biogéographie insulaire, déforestation, diversité floristique, espèces arctiques-alpines, feu, forêt boréale, toundra.

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

Cited by 44 publications

References 74 publications

Volcano-induced regime shifts in millennial tree-ring chronologies from northeastern North America

Volcano-induced regime shifts in millennial tree-ring chronologies from northeastern North America

Holocene colluvial chronology in a sub‐arctic esker landscape atKuttanen,FinnishLapland: kettleholes as geo‐ecological archives of interactions amongst fire, vegetation, soil, climate and geomorphological instability

Origin and plant species diversity of high-altitude tundra summits across the boreal forest zone in eastern Canada

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