Wildfire responses to abrupt climate change in North America
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: It is widely accepted, based on data from the last few decades and on model simulations, that anthropogenic climate change will cause increased fire activity. However, less attention has been paid to the relationship between abrupt climate changes and heightened fire activity in the paleorecord. We use 35 charcoal and pollen records to assess how fire regimes in North America changed during the last glacial-interglacial transition (15 to 10 ka), a time of large and rapid climate changes. We also test the hypothesis that a comet impact initiated continental-scale wildfires at 12.9 ka; the data do not support this idea, nor are continent-wide fires indicated at any time during deglaciation. There are, however, clear links between large climate changes and fire activity. Biomass burning gradually increased from the glacial period to the beginning of the Younger Dryas. Although there are changes in biomass burning during the Younger Dryas, there is no systematic trend. There is a further increase in biomass burning after the Younger Dryas. Intervals of rapid climate change at 13.9, 13.2, and 11.7 ka are marked by large increases in fire activity. The timing of changes in fire is not coincident with changes in human population density or the timing of the extinction of the megafauna. Although these factors could have contributed to fire-regime changes at individual sites or at specific times, the charcoal data indicate an important role for climate, and particularly rapid climate change, in determining broad-scale levels of fire activity.
Authors: J. R. Marlon, P. J. Bartlein, M. K. Walsh, S. P. Harrison, K. J. Brown, M. E. Edwards, P. E. Higuera, M. J. Power, R. S. Anderson, C. Briles, A. Brunelle, C. Carcaillet, M. Daniels, F. S. Hu, M. Lavoie, C. Long, T. Minckley, P. J. H. Richard, A. C. Scott, D. S. Shafer, W. Tinner, C. E. Umbanhowar, C. Whitlock
Institutions: University of Oregon, University of Bristol, Royal British Columbia Museum, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Southampton, Montana State University, University of Utah, Northern Arizona University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Montpellier, Université Montpellier 2, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Center for Northern Studies, Université Laval, University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, University of Wyoming, Université de Montréal, Royal Holloway University of London, Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education, University of Bern, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, St. Olaf College
Language: English
Topic: Fire effects on ecosystems
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1535907224, QUEST core team, G6907202189
OpenAlex ID: W1978611237