Fire regime shift linked to increased forest density in a piñon–juniper savanna landscape
Ellis Q. Margolis
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, 1215 East Lowell Street, Box 210045, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. Email: ellisqm@ltrr.arizona.edu
International Journal of Wildland Fire 23(2) 234-245 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF13053
Submitted: 31 March 2013 Accepted: 31 July 2013 Published: 28 January 2014
Abstract
Piñon–juniper (PJ) fire regimes are generally characterised as infrequent high-severity. However, PJ ecosystems vary across a large geographic and bio-climatic range and little is known about one of the principal PJ functional types, PJ savannas. It is logical that (1) grass in PJ savannas could support frequent, low-severity fire and (2) exclusion of frequent fire could explain increased tree density in PJ savannas. To assess these hypotheses I used dendroecological methods to reconstruct fire history and forest structure in a PJ-dominated savanna. Evidence of high-severity fire was not observed. From 112 fire-scarred trees I reconstructed 87 fire years (1547–1899). Mean fire interval was 7.8 years for fires recorded at ≥2 sites. Tree establishment was negatively correlated with fire frequency (r = –0.74) and peak PJ establishment was synchronous with dry (unfavourable) conditions and a regime shift (decline) in fire frequency in the late 1800s. The collapse of the grass-fuelled, frequent, surface fire regime in this PJ savanna was likely the primary driver of current high tree density (mean = 881 trees ha–1) that is >600% of the historical estimate. Variability in bio-climatic conditions likely drive variability in fire regimes across the wide range of PJ ecosystems.
Additional keywords: fire scar, Juniperus monosperma, Juniperus scopulorum, Pinus edulis, PJ savanna, tree ring.
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