Re: Fire ecology N and S of the Alps since the last ice age

Peter Alaca wrote: news:446231b4$1$76916$dbd4f001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fire ecology north and south of the Alps since the last ice age
Tinner, W; M. Conedera, B. Ammann & AF Lotter
The Holocene, 15( 8) 2005, pp. 1214-1226
http://tinyurl.com/g4zos
(contents page, the pdf is 13 pp, 1.14 mb)
Abstract:
[...]

This show some problems interpreting
palaeoecological records.

Tinner, W. et al
"Long-distance transport of macroscopic charcoal
by an intensive crown fire in the Swiss Alps -
implications for fire history reconstruction"

The Holocene 16(2) 2005: 287-292

Abstract:
The correct interpretation of charcoal records in a
palaeoecological context requires the understan-
ding of the sources and transport of charcoal
particles. Conventionally, it is assumed that
macroscopic charcoal particles are not transpor-
ted far from fires (c. 200 m).
Therefore macroscopic charcoal records are used
to reconstruct local fire frequencies.However, the
general scarcity of empirical and experimental
evidence impedes a thorough check of this
assumption.
In this study we present the first unambiguous
evidence of kilometre-scaled macroscopic
charcoal transport in Europe.

During the hot summer of 2003 an intensive
crown fire occurred in Leuk, central Swiss Alps. It
affected 300 ha of forest as well as 10 ha of
pasture and fallow land. Litter traps and nets had been located
approximately 5 km west and east of the burned
area. The downwind site in the east (Jeizinen)
recorded a strong charcoal fallout at 5.3 km from
the fire edge. The observed charcoal influx of
fragments with a size up to 1.3 cm reached
average values of 0.144 and 0.098 mm2/cm2 per
fire (or yr) in five traps and two nets, respectively.
These values are comparable with charcoal
accumulations measured at only c. 50 m from
large fires, suggesting that macrosco-pic
charcoal transport does not decay rapidly to zero
with increasing distance from the fire.

We suggest a long-distance dispersal model for
transport of macroscopic charcoal during large
fire events. Reconstructions of local fire regimes
may be affected by long-distance transport of
macroscopic charcoal, although this problem is
mitigated by the tendency of most macroscopic
charcoal particles to be deposited within very
short distances (< 50 m) from the fire edge.

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p.a.

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