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Fire, human activity, and drought records in southwestern US sediments

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By Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center August 3, 2022

This research aims to determine if drought, temperature variability, or human activity was the primary driver of fire activity in southwestern Colorado.

This research is a task of the Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans Project.

 

Multi-decadal gaps in the fire record in the southwestern US, such as in the Chuska Mountains, NM, cannot be explained by changes in climate (e.g. Margolis et al., 2017). We will quantify if humans and/or pastoral animals were in the areas with these hiatuses in fire activity by using fecal sterol records in lake cores. We will also quantify fire and human activity as recorded in lake cores from the San Juan Mountains, CO using fecal sterols, levoglucosan and its isomers, charcoal and pollen.

Media
Doing USGS fieldwork at Bear Lake, CO showing location, raft, and personnel
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
High altitude lakes provide opportunities to examine interactions between fires, drought and human activity across decadal to millennial timescales. The locations of these lakes near tree line make them more susceptible to climate-related changes in vegetation and associated biomass burning. 

Reference

Margolis, E.Q., Woodhouse, C.A. & Swetnam, T.W. (2017) Drought, multi-seasonal climate, and wildfire in northern New Mexico. Climatic Change ,142, 433–446. doi:10.1007/s10584-017-1958-4

 

link
Bear Lake, Colorado

Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
Learn More
link
USGS Geographer Becky Brice coring tree

Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records

We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records

We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
Learn More
link
Coring on the Juneau Icefield

Fire and vegetation changes recorded in Alaskan ice cores

The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and...
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Fire and vegetation changes recorded in Alaskan ice cores

The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and...
Learn More

This research aims to determine if drought, temperature variability, or human activity was the primary driver of fire activity in southwestern Colorado.

This research is a task of the Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans Project.

 

Multi-decadal gaps in the fire record in the southwestern US, such as in the Chuska Mountains, NM, cannot be explained by changes in climate (e.g. Margolis et al., 2017). We will quantify if humans and/or pastoral animals were in the areas with these hiatuses in fire activity by using fecal sterol records in lake cores. We will also quantify fire and human activity as recorded in lake cores from the San Juan Mountains, CO using fecal sterols, levoglucosan and its isomers, charcoal and pollen.

Media
Doing USGS fieldwork at Bear Lake, CO showing location, raft, and personnel
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
High altitude lakes provide opportunities to examine interactions between fires, drought and human activity across decadal to millennial timescales. The locations of these lakes near tree line make them more susceptible to climate-related changes in vegetation and associated biomass burning. 

Reference

Margolis, E.Q., Woodhouse, C.A. & Swetnam, T.W. (2017) Drought, multi-seasonal climate, and wildfire in northern New Mexico. Climatic Change ,142, 433–446. doi:10.1007/s10584-017-1958-4

 

link
Bear Lake, Colorado

Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
By
Ecosystems Land Change Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
Learn More
link
USGS Geographer Becky Brice coring tree

Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records

We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records

We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
Learn More
link
Coring on the Juneau Icefield

Fire and vegetation changes recorded in Alaskan ice cores

The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and...
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
link

Fire and vegetation changes recorded in Alaskan ice cores

The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and...
Learn More
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