A cross-dated fire history from coast redwood near Redwood National Park, California

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Brown ◽  
Thomas W. Swetnam
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Coast Redwood ◽  
Complete Representation ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Redwood National Park ◽  
The Mean

Cross sections from coast redwood trees (Sequoiasempervirens (D.Don.)Endl.) in and near Redwood National Park were dendrochronologically cross-dated and used to develop a fire history from 1714 to 1985. A master chronology for the study area was first developed from old-growth trees and provided dating control for fire-scarred samples. Redwood offers a challenge for dendrochronology owing to partially absent rings (ring wedging) and uniform ring widths (complacency). Cross dating was successful in portions of 12 of 24 fire-scarred trees. Fire events were dated by noting the position of fire scars and other fire-associated ring structures (resin ducts, double latewood, growth releases, and ring separations) in the cross-dated ring series. Using only dates of fire scars, the mean fire interval (MFI) was 9.9 years from the first recorded fire in 1714 to the last in 1962. The MFI was 8.0 years for the best represented (greatest sample depth) presettlement period from 1714 to 1881. Using dates for all fire-associated ring features, the MFI from 1714 to 1962 was 7.0 years and from 1714 to 1881 was 6.0 years. Use of all fire-associated ring characteristics is argued to be a more complete representation of past fire frequency due to possible under-representation of fire-scar records from stump-top samples. Based upon scar positions within annual rings, fires occurred predominately late in the growing season or after growth ceased for the year. The mean fire intervals determined are shorter than those reported in all except one other fire history study from coast redwood and suggest that fire frequency in redwood may have been underestimated in many past studies.

Fire history in a Sequoiasempervirens forest at Salt Point State Park, California

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1451-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Finney ◽  
Robert E. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Fire History ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Coast Redwood ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Point Data ◽  
Substantial Bias ◽  
Fire Intervals ◽  
Redwood Forest ◽  
Composite Data

Fire occurrence data between the 12th and 20th centuries were obtained from analysis of fire scars on coast redwood (Sequoiasempervirens (D. Don.) Endl.) and bishop pine (Pinusmuricata D. Don.). Mean fire intervals were calculated for settlement and presettlement periods from fire scar samples individually (point data) and from composites of samples aggregated within three approximately 200-ha study areas. Mean fire intervals from point data (20.5 to 29.0 years) were more than three times greater than mean intervals from composite data (6.1 to 9.3 years). Mean fire intervals derived from point data compared well with values previously reported, although substantial bias ascribed to point data suggests that these values for mean fire intervals in redwood forest communities are too large. A period of significantly longer fire intervals during the 17th century was suggested by analysis of fire intervals by century and using a moving average.

Fire regime of a Elionorus muticus Spreng. savanna, western Chaco region, Argentina

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Bravo ◽  
Carlos Kunst ◽  
Ana Gimenez ◽  
Graciela Moglia
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Chaco Region ◽  
Native Woody Species

Our objective was to assess the current fire regime of a 600 ha savanna dominated by the grass species Elionorus muticus Spreng., located in Santiago del Estero Province, north-western Chaco region, Argentina. The degree of tolerance of some native woody species to fire, the fire mean fire frequency (FF), and Weibull median probability (WMPI) were evaluated. Sampling sites were located in the ecotone between the savanna and the surrounding forests. A database was developed from fire scars found in cross sections of native tree and shrub species, cut at different heights above ground; that covered the recent 70 years of fire history (1925–1996). Results indicate that the savanna has a mean FF of 0.179 fires year–1 and an FI = 3 years. The mean height of fire scars found in trees and shrubs which indicate medium to high fireline intensities with flame lengths larger than 1 m are frequent in the savanna. Native species have different degrees of tolerance: Aspidosperma quebracho blanco (tree) and Schinopsis quebracho colorado (tree) are more tolerant to fire than Acacia furcatispina (shrub) and A. aroma (shrub). Bark thickness of the tree species (1–1.5 cm in mature individuals) allows them to withstand the frequent, high intensity fires of the savanna.

Comparing methods of reconstructing fire history using fire scars in a southwestern United States ponderosa pine forest

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 855-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan L Van Horne ◽  
Peter Z Fulé
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Ponderosa ◽  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Targeted Sampling ◽  
Fire Intervals

Fire scars have been used to understand the historical role of fire in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex P. & C. Laws.) ecosystems, but sampling methods and interpretation of results have been criticized for being statistically invalid and biased and for leading to exaggerated estimates of fire frequency. We compared "targeted" sampling, random sampling, and grid-based sampling to a census of all 1479 fire-scarred trees in a 1 km2 study site in northern Arizona. Of these trees, 1246 were sufficiently intact to collect cross-sections; of these, 648 had fire scars that could be cross-dated to the year of occurrence in the 200-year analysis period. Given a sufficient sample size (approximately n ≥ 50), we concluded that all tested sampling methods resulted in accurate estimates of the census fire frequency, with mean fire intervals within 1 year of the census mean. We also assessed three analytical techniques: (1) fire intervals from individual trees, (2) the interval between the tree origin and the first scar, and (3) proportional filtering. "Bracketing" fire regime statistics to account for purported uncertainty associated with targeted sampling was not useful. Quantifying differences in sampling approaches cannot resolve all the limitations of fire-scar methods, but does strengthen interpretation of these data.

Can scar-based fire history reconstructions be biased? An experimental study in boreal Scots pine

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 669-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aura Piha ◽  
Timo Kuuluvainen ◽  
Henrik Lindberg ◽  
Ilkka Vanha-Majamaa
Keyword(s):  
Scots Pine ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Surface Fires ◽  
Frequency Area

Determining forest fire history is commonly based on fire scar dating with dendrochronological methods. We used an experimental setup to investigate the impacts of low-intensity prescribed fire on fire scar formation 8 years after fire in 12 young managed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands. Five stands were between 30 and 35 years old and seven were 45 years old at the time of burning. A total of 217 fire scars were recorded in 142 trees. The number of separate scars per tree originating from a single fire ranged from 1 to 6, with 67% of the trees having just one scar. The proportion of fire-scarred trees out of all trees per plot ranged from 0% to 30%, averaging 16.5% in young stands and 2.8% in older stands. Four of the 12 burned plots did not have any trees with fire scars, and these were all in the older age group. This means that in the older stands, in only three of seven plots (43%) did the fire leave scars from which fire can potentially be detected and dated afterwards. Our results suggest that fire scar dating in Scots pine dominated forests may underestimate fire frequency, area, and the importance of historically common low-intensity surface fires in dendrochronological reconstructions of past fire histories.

scholarly journals Fire Scars Negatively Affect Hydraulic Conductivity in White Oak (Quercus alba)

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 812
Author(s):  
Justin R. Dee ◽  
Michael C. Stambaugh ◽  
Kevin T. Smith ◽  
Daniel C. Dey
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
White Oak ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Vessel Area ◽  
Forest Stand Structure ◽  
The Mean

Fire management is increasingly used to manage forest stand structure and dynamics. Relatively intense fires can injure the tree stem and induce fire scar formation, affecting subsequent tree growth and wood quality. Here, we consider the physiological effects of fire scarring in white oak. Potential hydraulic conductivity, estimated from the mean vessel area and vessel number, was determined for growth rings formed before, during, and after the year of injury. We measured vessel anatomy using the ROXAS image analysis tool on the cross-sections of 14 white oaks of various ages with fire scars originating in different years through the late 19th and early 20th century. We found that the mean vessel area and potential hydraulic conductivity were significantly reduced for the year of and the year immediately following fire injury. After this two-year period, mean vessel area returned to levels present in wood formed prior to the injury. Age when scarred, radius from the pith when scarred, scar height above ground, and percentage of circumference scarred did not explain the degree to which potential hydraulic conductivity was lost in the fire scar year compared to the year prior. Overall, the magnitude of reduction in potential hydraulic conductivity was small but significant. An earlier study on the same cross-sections verified no reductions in radial growth after fire injury. Thus, it is likely that the conductance of older rings is adequate to sustain conductance. Nonetheless, we recommend further investigation, in particular, the ability to predict how tree size, age, position along a slope, and other variables may influence the degree of wounding and possible losses of potential hydraulic conductivity after the fire. Information like this for white oak and other common tree species may help elucidate the physiological impacts fire injuries have on trees existing in forest stands with periodic fire.

Forest fires in the Muddus National Park (northern Sweden) during the past 600 years

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 893-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ola Engelmark
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
National Park ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Dead Trees ◽  
Humus Layer ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Park Area

The occurrence of forest fires in the Muddus National Park (area, 50 000 ha), just north of the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, was investigated on 75 separate sample plots. Between 1413 and the present, evidence of 47 fire years was obtained by dating the fire scars on living Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris), the oldest of which had germinated in 1274. The fire traces found on the sample plots were fire scars on living or dead trees or charcoal fragments in the humus layer. Plots lacking all traces of former forest fires were mainly those situated on sites surrounded by extensive mires. Forest fires were shown to have occurred in the five different types of forest investigated. The commonest frequencies of fires in the pine forests occurred with the interval 81–90 years, while the mean frequency was 110 years. The mean interval of time elapsed since the last forest fire occurred in the pine forests was 144 years. Some of the major fire years in the Muddus area coincide with forest fires in other parts of northern Sweden, in the taiga of western Russia, and in central Siberia.

A comparison of targeted and systematic fire-scar sampling for estimating historical fire frequency in south-western ponderosa pine forests

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin A. Farris ◽  
Christopher H. Baisan ◽  
Donald A. Falk ◽  
Megan L. Van Horne ◽  
Peter Z. Fulé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ponderosa Pine ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Targeted Sampling ◽  
Statistical Measures

Fire history researchers employ various forms of search-based sampling to target specimens that contain visible evidence of well preserved fire scars. Targeted sampling is considered to be the most efficient way to increase the completeness and length of the fire-scar record, but the accuracy of this method for estimating landscape-scale fire frequency parameters compared with probabilistic (i.e. systematic and random) sampling is poorly understood. In this study we compared metrics of temporal and spatial fire occurrence reconstructed independently from targeted and probabilistic fire-scar sampling to identify potential differences in parameter estimation in south-western ponderosa pine forests. Data were analysed for three case studies spanning a broad geographic range of ponderosa pine ecosystems across the US Southwest at multiple spatial scales: Centennial Forest in northern Arizona (100ha); Monument Canyon Research Natural Area (RNA) in central New Mexico (256ha); and Mica Mountain in southern Arizona (2780ha). We found that the percentage of available samples that recorded individual fire years (i.e. fire-scar synchrony) was correlated strongly between targeted and probabilistic datasets at all three study areas (r=0.85, 0.96 and 0.91 respectively). These strong positive correlations resulted predictably in similar estimates of commonly used statistical measures of fire frequency and cumulative area burned, including Mean Fire Return Interval (MFI) and Natural Fire Rotation (NFR). Consistent with theoretical expectations, targeted fire-scar sampling resulted in greater overall sampling efficiency and lower rates of sample attrition. Our findings demonstrate that targeted sampling in these systems can produce accurate estimates of landscape-scale fire frequency parameters relative to intensive probabilistic sampling.

scholarly journals Fire-scarred fossil tree from the Late Triassic shows a pre-fire drought signal

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Byers ◽  
Lucía DeSoto ◽  
Dan Chaney ◽  
Sidney R. Ash ◽  
Anya B. Byers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Wood Anatomy ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Fire Scar ◽  
Evolutionary Force ◽  
Ancient Forests

AbstractExploring features of wood anatomy associated with fire scars found on fossil tree trunks is likely to increase our knowledge of the environmental and ecological processes that occurred in ancient forests and of the role of fire as an evolutionary force. In Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, where Late Triassic fossil trees are exposed, we found 13 examples of fossil logs with external features resembling modern fire scars. One specimen with the unambiguous external features of a fire scar was collected for analysis of its fossilized wood. A light-colored band composed of compressed and distorted tracheids was associated with the scarring event. Cell lumen diameter and cell wall thickness in the pre-scarring fossilized wood show a response similar to that described in modern trees experiencing drought conditions. Tracheids in the post-scarring wood are initially smaller, and then become larger than average following a recovery period, as is often observed in modern conifers following fire. The responses in external morphology and wood anatomy to drought and fire were similar to those of some modern trees and support the view that some forests may have experienced conditions favoring the evolution of fire-adapted traits for more than 200 million years.

scholarly journals Fire history and climate-growth response of Abies spectabilis : A case from Langtang National Park, Nepal Himalaya

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
S. Basnet ◽  
N. P. Gaire ◽  
P. K. Chhetri
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Radial Growth ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Ring Width ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Himalayan Region ◽  
Fire Scars ◽  
Fire Event ◽  
Abies Spectabilis

This study presents the potential of a conifer species (Abies spectabilis D. Don) to reconstruct fire history by using dendro chronological technique along with thedendroclimatic response in Langtang National Park, Central Himalaya of Nepal. For the fire history reconstruction, altogether eight cross-sections samples from fire affected eight trees and another 20 tree-cores from 10 trees with visible fire scars were taken. In the case of dendroclimatic study, 24 healthy cores of A. spectabilis were selected from the 40 cores extracted from 19 trees. The standard dendro chronological methodology was used for sample preparation and analysis. A 199-year long ring-width chronology of A. spectabilis spanning from 1818 to 2016 AD was developed. In spite of visible fire burn in near bark-surface, no potential fire scars are seen in inner parts in the cross-section samples. However, 12 cores showed that three fire burns occurred simultaneously in the forest area in the years 1917−1918, 1969−1970 and 2009−2010, respectively. Tree-ring-based fire event-record is found to be concurrent to the local people's perceptions/experience about the past fire history in the area. Tree growth climate relationship showed sensitive responses to both growing and non-growing season’s temperature and precipitation variability. Summer temperature had positive influence on growth of the species. Precipitation of monsoon and autumn were found to have negative influence on radial growth whereas pre-monsoon precipitation had positive association with tree radial-growth. This preliminary assessment shows that there is a huge potential of tree-ring research for long-term fire history in the region and helps us to better understand the role of fire in the ecology and management in the Himalayan region. The study can also be replicated in other fire-affected areas of the Himalayan region by using fire sensitive species in the sampling.

Changes in forest fire frequency in Kootenay National Park, Canadian Rockies

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 1763-1767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan M. Masters
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fire History ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Fire Cycle ◽  
Time Since Fire

Time-since-fire distribution analysis is used to estimate forest fire frequency for the 1400 km2 Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, located on the west slope of the Rocky Mountains. The time-since-fire distribution indicates three periods of different fire frequency: 1988 to 1928, 1928 to 1788, and before 1788. The fire cycle for the park was > 2700 years for 1988 to 1928, 130 years between 1928 and 1788, and 60 years between 1778 and 1508. Longer fire cycles after 1788 and 1928 may be due, respectively, to cool climate associated with the Little Ice Age and a recent period of higher precipitation. Contrary to some fire history investigations in the region, neither a fire suppression policy since park establishment in 1919, nor the completion of the Windermere Highway through the park in 1923 appear to have changed the fire frequency from levels during pre-European occupation. Spatial partitioning of the time-since-fire distribution was unsuccessful. No relationship was found between elevation or aspect and fire frequency. Key words: fire cycle, Rocky Mountains, climate change.

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