Skip to main content
Author(s):
Cathy L. Whitlock, Sarah L. Shafer, Jennifer R. Marlon
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire History
Fire Regime
Climate and Fire Regime Change
Fire Intensity / Burn Severity
Fire Return Intervals
Fire & Climate

NRFSN number: 8382
FRAMES RCS number: 7096
Record updated:

Fire is an important part of the disturbance regimes of northwestern US forests and its role in maintaining and altering forest vegetation is evident in the paleoecological record of the region. Long-term reconstructions of Holocene fire regimes, provided by the analysis of charcoal, pollen, and other fire proxies in a network of lake records, indicate that the Pacific Northwest and summer-dry regions of the northern Rocky Mountains experienced their highest fire activity in the early Holocene (11,000-7000 years ago) and during the Medieval Warm Period (ca. 1000 years ago) when drought conditions were more severe than today. In contrast, in summer-wet areas of the northern Rocky Mountains, the period of highest fire activity was registered in the last 7000 years when dry woodland vegetation developed. When synthesized across the entire northwestern US, the paleoecological record reveals that past and present fire regimes are strongly controlled by climate changes occurring on multiple time scales. The scarcity of fires in the 20th century in some northwestern US ecosystems may be the result of successful fire suppression policies, but in wetter forests this absence is consistent with long-term fire regime patterns. In addition, simulations of potential future climate and vegetation indicate that future fire conditions in some parts of the northwestern US could be more severe than they are today. The Holocene record of periods of intensified summer drought is used to assess the nature of future fire-climate-vegetation linkages in the region. The first link below is to Science Direct, where you can purchase the article. The second link is a pdf file of the article that was submitted to Forest Ecology and Management. This is a pre-publication copy and is subject to some correction or change.

Citation

Whitlock, Cathy.; Shafer, Sarah L.; Marlon, Jennifer. 2003. The role of climate and vegetation change in shaping past and future fire regimes in the northwestern U.S. and the implications for ecosystem management. Forest Ecology and Management. 178(1-2): 5-21.

Access this Document

Treesearch

publication access with no paywall

Check to see if this document is available for free in the USDA Forest Service Treesearch collection of publications. The collection includes peer reviewed publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports produced by Forest Service employees, as well as science synthesis publications and other products from Forest Service Research Stations.