Climatic influence upon early to mid-Holocene fire regimes within temperate woodlands: a multi-proxy reconstruction from the New Forest, southern England
Climatic influence upon early to mid-Holocene fire regimes within temperate woodlands: a multi-proxy reconstruction from the New Forest, southern England
A combined pollen, charcoal and climatic record is presented from Cranes Moor, southern England, covering the period c. 10 500–5850 cal a BP. It is shown that the occurrence of burning is closely related to natural processes, including prevailing climatic conditions and vegetation composition. These burning events are often linked to an increase in the summer moisture deficit, implying that the timing of burning events is linked to periods of warmer/drier climate during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 11 000–5000 cal a BP). These events play an important role in the vegetation composition and succession around the site. The nature of the burning recorded at the site shows strong similarities with other records from northern Europe. This study throws caution on suggestions that fire in the Holocene record from areas such as the British Isles is linked only to human activity, and enhances the possibility that natural fire incidence played an important role in natural woodland structure dynamics.
bog surface wetness, burning, holocene, new forest, palaeoclimate
175-188
Grant, Michael J.
56dae074-d54a-4da8-858a-2bf364a5a550
Hughes, Paul D.M.
14f83168-b203-4a91-a850-8c48535dc31b
Barber, Keith E.
83d1acae-326d-4cb5-94b6-3d1dc78d64e9
21 March 2014
Grant, Michael J.
56dae074-d54a-4da8-858a-2bf364a5a550
Hughes, Paul D.M.
14f83168-b203-4a91-a850-8c48535dc31b
Barber, Keith E.
83d1acae-326d-4cb5-94b6-3d1dc78d64e9
Grant, Michael J., Hughes, Paul D.M. and Barber, Keith E.
(2014)
Climatic influence upon early to mid-Holocene fire regimes within temperate woodlands: a multi-proxy reconstruction from the New Forest, southern England.
Journal of Quaternary Science, 29 (2), .
(doi:10.1002/jqs.2692).
Abstract
A combined pollen, charcoal and climatic record is presented from Cranes Moor, southern England, covering the period c. 10 500–5850 cal a BP. It is shown that the occurrence of burning is closely related to natural processes, including prevailing climatic conditions and vegetation composition. These burning events are often linked to an increase in the summer moisture deficit, implying that the timing of burning events is linked to periods of warmer/drier climate during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (c. 11 000–5000 cal a BP). These events play an important role in the vegetation composition and succession around the site. The nature of the burning recorded at the site shows strong similarities with other records from northern Europe. This study throws caution on suggestions that fire in the Holocene record from areas such as the British Isles is linked only to human activity, and enhances the possibility that natural fire incidence played an important role in natural woodland structure dynamics.
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Grant et al., 2014b.pdf
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Submitted date: 7 August 2013
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 March 2014
Published date: 21 March 2014
Keywords:
bog surface wetness, burning, holocene, new forest, palaeoclimate
Organisations:
Geology & Geophysics, Palaeoenvironment Laboratory (PLUS)
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 362075
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/362075
ISSN: 0267-8179
PURE UUID: f4e59551-d53b-4668-ae7d-ba8dcd8a2119
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Date deposited: 13 Feb 2014 09:46
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:49
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Author:
Keith E. Barber
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