Drobyshev, Igor
- Lund University
Abstract
In an attempt to quantitatively evaluate the natural versus anthropogenic signal in site fire histories, the statistical relationship between dendrochronologically dated fire events and tree-ring chronologies (deemed to be an independent proxy for climate variation) was analyzed for 14 sites in a 2600-km(2) area of pine-dominated forests in the Komi Republic (East European Russia) over the period from 1424 to 1954. We developed a cumulative measure of statistical fit between two types of fire events (early- and late-season fires) and ring-width chronologies of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) (total ring- and latewood-width chronologies). For a given site, the statistical fit between fires and tree-ring data tended to decrease with an increasing proportion of unique fire years. Distance from a site to the nearest village (deemed to be a proxy of human impact) explained 50% of the variation in statistical fit between fires and tree-ring data. The fit decreased in the majority of the sites from the earlier (1424-1700) to the later (1700-1960) periods. We interpret this to be a result of increased human impact on the fire regime since 1700 due to intensified colonization of the area.
Published in
Canadian Journal of Forest Research
2004, volume: 34, number: 10, pages: 2027-2036
Publisher: CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS
SLU Authors
Niklasson, Mats
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Angelstam, Per
- Department of Conservation Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Conservation Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Associated SLU-program
Climate
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/X04-081
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/42426