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Charcoal signatures defined by multivariate analysis of charcoal records from 10 lakes in northwest Wisconsin (USA)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Elizabeth A. Lynch ,
Sara C. Hotchkiss  and
Randy Calcote
Elizabeth A. Lynch*
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Luther College, Decorah, IA 55102, USA
Sara C. Hotchkiss
Affiliation:
Botany Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Randy Calcote
Affiliation:
Limnological Research Center, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 563 387 1080.
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Abstract

We show how sedimentary charcoal records from multiple sites within a single landscape can be used to compare fire histories and reveal small scale patterns in fire regimes. Our objective is to develop strategies for classifying and comparing late-Holocene charcoal records in Midwestern oak- and pine-dominated sand plain ecosystems where fire regimes include a mix of surface and crown fires. Using standard techniques for the analysis of charcoal from lake sediments, we compiled 1000- to 4000-yr-long records of charcoal accumulation and charcoal peak frequencies from 10 small lakes across a sand plain in northwestern Wisconsin. We used cluster analysis to identify six types of charcoal signatures that differ in their charcoal influx rates, amount of grass charcoal, and frequency and magnitude of charcoal peaks. The charcoal records demonstrate that while fire histories vary among sites, there are regional patterns in the occurrence of charcoal signature types that are consistent with expected differences in fire regimes based on regional climate and vegetation reconstructions. The fire histories also show periods of regional change in charcoal signatures occurring during times of regional climate changes at ~700, 1000, and 3500 cal yr BP.

Keywords

Fire historyCharcoal analysisFire regimeWisconsinSand plainCHARCharster
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 75 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 125 - 137
Copyright
University of Washington

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