CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Hallett, D.J.; and Gavin, D.G.
Date : 2008.
Title : Paleo-fire history from subalpine forests in the southern British Columbia with implications for wildfire synchrony and late Holocene drought.
Publication : Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Geophysical Union and the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group. May 11-14, Banff, Alberta.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Paleo-fire records have the potential to demonstrate climatic control of crown fire response across forest ecosystems throughout the Holocene. Synchronous forest fire activity between independent lake sites can be tested using well-dated millennial-scale records of sedimentary charcoal. Fire history records from southern British Columbia show a striking response that corresponds to neoglacial advances of regional glaciers. Significant synchrony between fire episodes at four British Columbian lake sites (5000 calendar years BP to present) occurs across 100 to 800-year windows suggesting there is strong climatic control of crown fire response across subalpine forest ecosystems. Indistinguishable fire interval distributions and significant synchrony emerging in the last 2500 years support climatic control of disturbance regimes in these simple watersheds. These results represent another important test linking synoptic-scale atmospheric circulation that leads to drought and drives forest ecosystem disturbance and geomorphic response. Radiocarbon dating of soil charcoal collected within the watershed of two lake sites supports the fire history statistics derived from sedimentary charcoal records. We suggest that century-scale climate variability is an important control on forest fire response across 50° N and future changes in climate may produce shifts in disturbance regimes across the Pacific states and provinces.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology