Clear, J L and Seppa, H and Kuosmanen, N and Bradshaw, R H W (2013) Holocene fire frequency variability in Vesijako, Strict Nature Reserve, Finland, and its application to conservation and management. Biological Conservation, 166. pp. 90-97. ISSN 0006-3207
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Fire disturbance is considered paramount for regeneration and biodiversity in the boreal forest with prescribed
burning widely advocated in present day forest management. Palaeoecological knowledge is beneficial
in understanding the role of fire as a driver of past vegetation dynamics. We use a sedimentary
pollen and charcoal record to reconstruct 5000 years of fire and vegetation history from a small forest
hollow (approximate area 12 m2) in the Vesijako Strict Nature Reserve, currently one of the few remaining
old-growth forest stands in southern Finland. Results indicate three distinct periods in the environmental
history (1) 5000–2000 cal. yrs. BP; semi-natural low frequency (430 year return period), low
intensity fires in a diverse mixed stand with little evidence of anthropogenic disturbance and an expanding
Picea abies (Norway spruce) population (2) 2000–750 cal. yrs. BP; anthropogenic-driven high frequency
(180 year return period), high intensity stand-replacing fires in a low diversity stand with
evidence of slash and burn cultivation and a decline of Picea population, (3) 750 cal. yrs. BP to present
day; fire absence through a reduction in human-induced fire or active fire suppression and the expansion
of the currently dominant Picea forest. The changing fire frequency has had a major influence on the forest
composition during the last 5000 years. The loss of floristic diversity is associated with an increase in
the human use of fire and without this human interference the previously high biodiversity in the stand
may have remained up until the present day. If fire remains absent in Vesijako then it is likely that the
Picea population will continue to dominate in the stand supporting a negative feedback mechanism that
will result in lower frequency, higher intensity fires in the future.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information and Comments: | Published version available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320713001894 Available under Creative Commons Attributions License CC-BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Computer Science and the Environment |
| Depositing User: | Jennifer Clear |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Jun 2017 13:40 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Jan 2025 10:26 |
| URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2039 |
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