The North American tree-ring fire-scar network
Authors:Margolis, Ellis Q. Guiterman, Christopher H. Chavardes, Raphael D. Coop, Jonathan D. Copes-Gerbitz, Kelsey Dawe, Denyse A. Falk, Donald A. Johnston, James D. Larson, Evan Li, Hang Marschall, Joseph M. Naficy, Cameron E. Naito, Adam T. Parisien, Marc-Andre Parks, Sean A. Portier, Jeanne Poulos, Helen M. Robertson, Kevin M. Speer, James H. Stambaugh, Michael Swetnam, Thomas W. Tepley, Alan J. Thapa, Ichchha Allen, Craig D. Bergeron, Yves Daniels, Lori D. Fule, Peter Z. Gervais, David Girardin, Martin P. Harley, Grant L. Harvey, Jill E. Hoffman, Kira M. Huffman, Jean M. Hurteau, Matthew D. Johnson, Lane B. Lafon, Charles W. Lopez, Manuel K. Maxwell, R. Stockton Meunier, Jed North, Malcolm Rother, Monica T. Schmidt, Micah R. Sherriff, Rosemary L. Stachowiak, Lauren A. Taylor, Alan Taylor, Erana J. Trouet, Valerie Villarreal, Miguel L. Yocom, Larissa L. Arabas, Karen B. Arizpe, Alexis H. Arseneault, Dominique Tarancon, Alicia Azpeleta Baisan, Christopher Bigio, Erica Biondi, Franco Cahalan, Gabriel D. Caprio, Anthony Cerano-Paredes, Julian Collins, Brandon M. Dey, Daniel C. Drobyshev, Igor Farris, Calvin Fenwick, M. Adele Flatley, William Floyd, M. Lisa Gedalof, Ze'ev Holz, Andres Howard, Lauren F. Huffman, David W. Iniguez, Jose Kipfmueller, Kurt F. Kitchen, Stanley G. Lombardo, Keith McKenzie, Donald Merschel, Andrew G. Metlen, Kerry L. Minor, Jesse O'Connor, Christopher D. Platt, Laura Platt, William J. Saladyga, Thomas Stan, Amanda B. Stephens, Scott Sutheimer, Colleen Touchan, Ramzi Weisberg, Peter J.
Volume:13
Published:2022
Document Type:Article
Abstract:Fire regimes in North American forests are diverse and modern fire records are often too short to capture important patterns, trends, feedbacks, and drivers of variability. Tree-ring fire scars provide valuable perspectives on fire regimes, including centuries-long records of fire year, season, frequency, severity, and size. Here, we introduce the newly compiled North American tree-ring fire-scar network (NAFSN), which contains 2562 sites, >37,000 fire-scarred trees, and covers large parts of North America. We investigate the NAFSN in terms of geography, sample depth, vegetation, topography, climate, and human land use. Fire scars are found in most ecoregions, from boreal forests in northern Alaska and Canada to subtropical forests in southern Florida and Mexico. The network includes 91 tree species, but is dominated by gymnosperms in the genus Pinus. Fire scars are found from sea level to >4000-m elevation and across a range of topographic settings that vary by ecoregion. Multiple regions are densely sampled (e.g., >1000 fire-scarred trees), enabling new spatial analyses such as reconstructions of area burned. To demonstrate the potential of the network, we compared the climate space of the NAFSN to those of modern fires and forests; the NAFSN spans a climate space largely representative of the forested areas in North America, with notable gaps in warmer tropical climates. Modern fires are burning in similar climate spaces as historical fires, but disproportionately in warmer regions compared to the historical record, possibly related to under-sampling of warm subtropical forests or supporting observations of changing fire regimes. The historical influence of Indigenous and non-Indigenous human land use on fire regimes varies in space and time. A 20th century fire deficit associated with human activities is evident in many regions, yet fire regimes characterized by frequent surface fires are still active in some areas (e.g., Mexico and the southeastern United States). These analyses provide a foundation and framework for future studies using the hundreds of thousands of annually- to sub-annually-resolved tree-ring records of fire spanning centuries, which will further advance our understanding of the interactions among fire, climate, topography, vegetation, and humans across North America.
Author Information
Corresponding Author:Margolis, EQ (通讯作者)，US Geol Survey, New Mexico Landscapes Field Stn, Ft Collins Sci Ctr, Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA.
Reprint Address:Margolis, EQ (通讯作者)，US Geol Survey, New Mexico Landscapes Field Stn, Ft Collins Sci Ctr, Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA.
Addresses:[Margolis, Ellis Q.; Lopez, Manuel K.] US Geol Survey, New Mexico Landscapes Field Stn, Ft Collins Sci Ctr, Santa Fe, NM 87508 USA; [Guiterman, Christopher H.; Falk, Donald A.; Swetnam, Thomas W.; Taylor, Erana J.; Trouet, Valerie; Baisan, Christopher; Touchan, Ramzi] Univ Arizona, Tree Ring Res Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA; [Chavardes, Raphael D.; Bergeron, Yves] Univ Quebec Abitibi Temiscamingue, Inst Rech Forets, Rouyn Noranda, PQ, Canada; [Coop, Jonathan D.] Western Colorado Univ, Sch Environm & Sustainabil, Gunnison, CO USA; [Copes-Gerbitz, Kelsey; Daniels, Lori D.; Hoffman, Kira M.] Univ British Columbia, Fac Forestry, Dept Forest & Conservat Sci, Vancouver, BC, Canada; [Dawe, Denyse A.] Canadian Forest Serv, Northern Forestry Ctr, Edmonton, AB, Canada; [Falk, Donald A.] Univ Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & Environm, ENR2 Bldg, Tucson, AZ USA; [Johnston, James D.; Naficy, Cameron E.; Schmidt, Micah R.; Merschel, Andrew G.] Oregon State Univ, Coll Forestry, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA; [Larson, Evan] Univ Wisconsin Platteville, Dept Environm Sci & Soc, Platteville, WI USA; [Li, Hang; Speer, James H.; Thapa, Ichchha] Indiana State Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Syst, Terre Haute, IN 47809 USA; [Marschall, Joseph M.; Stambaugh, Michael] Univ Missouri, Sch Nat Resources, Columbia, MO USA; [Naito, Adam T.] Northern Michigan Univ, Dept Earth Environm & Geog Sci, Marquette, MI 49855 USA; [Parisien, Marc-Andre] Canadian Forest Serv, Nat Resources Canada, Northern Forestry Ctr, Edmonton, AB, Canada; [Parks, Sean A.] US Forest Serv, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Res Inst, Rocky Mt Res Stn, Missoula, MT USA; [Portier, Jeanne] Swiss Fed Inst Forest Snow & Landscape Res WSL, Forest Resources & Management, Birmensdorf, Switzerland; [Poulos, Helen M.] Wesleyan Univ, Coll Environm, Middletown, CT USA; [Robertson, Kevin M.; Huffman, Jean M.] Tall Timbers Res Stn, Tallahassee, FL USA; [Tepley, Alan J.] Canadian Forest Serv, Northern Forestry Ctr, Edmonton, AB, Canada; [Tepley, Alan J.] Smithsonian Conservat Biol Inst, Front Royal, VA USA; [Allen, Craig D.] Univ New Mexico, Dept Geog & Environm Studies, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA; [Bergeron, Yves] Univ Quebec Montreal, Dept Sci Biol, Montreal, PQ, Canada; [Fule, Peter Z.; Tarancon, Alicia Azpeleta] No Arizona Univ, Sch Forestry, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA; [Gervais, David; Girardin, Martin P.] Canadian Forest Serv, Nat Resources Canada, Quebec City, PQ, Canada; [Harley, Grant L.] Univ Idaho, Dept Earth & Spatial Sci, Moscow, ID 83843 USA; [Harvey, Jill E.] Thompson Rivers Univ, Dept Nat Resource Sci, Kamloops, BC, Canada; [Hoffman, Kira M.] Bulkley Valley Res Ctr, Smithers, BC, Canada; [Huffman, Jean M.; Platt, William J.] Louisiana State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA; [Hurteau, Matthew D.] Univ New Mexico, Dept Biol, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA; [Johnson, Lane B.] Univ Minnesota, Cloquet Forestry Ctr, Cloquet, MN USA; [Lafon, Charles W.] Texas A&M Univ, Dept Geog, College Stn, TX USA; [Maxwell, R. Stockton] Radford Univ, Dept Geospatial Sci, Radford, VA 24142 USA; [Meunier, Jed] Wisconsin Dept Nat Resources, Div Forestry, Madison, WI USA; [North, Malcolm] USFS PSW, Res Stn, Mammoth Lakes, CA USA; [Rother, Monica T.] Univ N Carolina, Dept Environm Sci, Wilmington, NC 28401 USA; [Sherriff, Rosemary L.] Humboldt State Univ, Dept Geog Environm & Spatial Anal, Arcata, CA 95521 USA; [Stachowiak, Lauren A.] Eastern Washington Univ, Dept Geosci, Cheney, WA 99004 USA; [Taylor, Alan] Penn State Univ, Dept Geog, University Pk, PA 16802 USA; [Taylor, Alan] Penn State Univ, Earth & Environm Syst Inst, University Pk, PA 16802 USA; [Villarreal, Miguel L.] US Geol Survey, Western Geog Sci Ctr, Moffett Field, CA USA; [Yocom, Larissa L.] Utah State Univ, Dept Wildland Resources, Logan, UT 84322 USA; [Yocom, Larissa L.] Utah State Univ, Ctr Ecol, Logan, UT 84322 USA; [Arabas, Karen B.] Willamette Univ, Dept Environm Sci, Salem, OR USA; [Arizpe, Alexis H.] Austrian Acad Sci, Gregor Mendel Inst, Vienna BioCtr, Vienna, Austria; [Arseneault, Dominique] Univ Quebec Rimouski, Dept Biol Chim & Geog, Rimouski, PQ, Canada; [Bigio, Erica; Biondi, Franco; Weisberg, Peter J.] Univ Nevada, Dept Nat Resources & Environm Sci, Reno, NV 89557 USA; [Cahalan, Gabriel D.] Nature Conservancy, Bethesda, MD USA; [Caprio, Anthony] Sequoia & Kings Canyon Natl Pk, Three Rivers, CA USA; [Cerano-Paredes, Julian] CENID RASPA INIFAP, Durango, Mexico; [Collins, Brandon M.] Univ Calif Berkeley, Ctr Fire Res & Outreach, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA; [Dey, Daniel C.] US Forest Serv, Northern Res Stn, Columbia, MO USA; [Drobyshev, Igor] Swedish Agr Univ, Southern Swedish Res Ctr, Uppsala, Sweden; [Drobyshev, Igor] Univ Quebec Abitibi Temiscamingue, Rouyn Noranda, PQ, Canada; [Farris, Calvin] Natl Pk Serv, Klamath Falls, OR USA; [Fenwick, M. Adele] Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 USA; [Flatley, William] Univ Cent Arkansas, Dept Geog, Conway, AR USA; [Floyd, M. Lisa] Nat Hist Inst, Prescott, AZ USA; [Gedalof, Ze'ev] Univ Guelph, Dept Geog Environm & Geomat, Guelph, ON, Canada; [Holz, Andres; Platt, Laura] Portland State Univ, Dept Geog, Portland, OR 97207 USA; [Howard, Lauren F.] Arcadia Univ, Dept Biol, Glenside, PA USA; [Huffman, David W.] No Arizona Univ, Ecol Restorat Inst, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA; [Iniguez, Jose] US Forest Serv, USDA, Rocky Mt Res Stn, Flagstaff, AZ USA; [Kipfmueller, Kurt F.] Univ Minnesota, Dept Geog Environm & Soc, Minneapolis, MN USA; [Kitchen, Stanley G.] US Forest Serv, USDA, Rocky Mt Res Stn, Provo, UT USA; [Lombardo, Keith] Southern Calif Res Learning Ctr, San Diego, CA USA; [McKenzie, Donald] Univ Washington, Sch Environm & Forest Sci, Seattle, WA 98195 USA; [Metlen, Kerry L.] Nature Conservancy, Ashland, OR USA; [Minor, Jesse] Univ Maine Syst, Farmington, ME USA; [O'Connor, Christopher D.] US Forest Serv, Forestry Sci Lab, Rocky Mt Res Stn, USDA, Missoula, MT USA; [Saladyga, Thomas] Concord Univ, Dept Phys & Environm Sci, Athens, WV USA; [Stan, Amanda B.] No Arizona Univ, Dept Geog Planning & Recreat, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA; [Stephens, Scott] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Environm Sci Policy & Management, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA; [Sutheimer, Colleen] Univ Wisconsin, Dept Forest & Wildlife Ecol, Madison, WI USA
E-mail Addresses:emargolis@usgs.gov