Holocene fire regimes, fire-related plant functional types, and climate in south-coastal British Columbia forests

Paleoecological records of past fire events and forest composition provide long-term ecological context for modern changes in fire regimes and forest dynamics. Here, we use pollen and contiguous macroscopic charcoal analyses of lake sediments from Pender Island, British Columbia, Canada to reconstruct changes in fire regimes over the last 10,000 years and investigate how these interact with changes in climate and forest composition with a focus on fire-related plant functional types. The relatively warm and dry early Holocene was characterized by high charcoal accumulation rates, fire episodes of moderate severity, and a mean fire return interval of 100 +/- 27 years. Forests at the time were open-canopy Pseudotsuga menziesii forests with abundant fire endurer taxa (e.g., Pteridium aquilinum) that have a competitive advantage in regimes of frequent fire. Fire continued to occur every similar to 100 years, on average, during the establishment of Quercus garryana savanna communities; however, a decrease in charcoal peak magnitudes suggests the fire regime shifted to one characterized by smaller and/or lower intensity surface fires. As temperature and moisture deficits decreased in the mid-and late Holocene (i.e., after similar to 6000 calendar years before present), mean fire return intervals lengthened to 176 +/- 54 years and increased variability in charcoal peak magnitudes suggests a mixed fire regime of low-moderate-intensity fires combined with infrequent crown or stand-replacing fires. Relatively stable and moderate climate, longer fire return intervals, and mixed-severity fires allowed P. menziesii (a fire resister) to dominate closed-canopy forests and for fire avoiders to gradually become more common forest constituents. Millennial-scale climate change has acted as the dominant driver of changes in both fire regimes and forest composition over the last 10,000 years; however, changes in fire-related plant functional types highlight the important role that interactions between vegetation and fire play in long-term fire regimes and forest dynamics.

Automated summary

Paleoecological records from lake sediments on Pender Island, Canada, were used to reconstruct fire regimes over the past 10,000 years and understand their interaction with climate and forest composition. The study found that the early Holocene was characterized by frequent fires and open-canopy forests dominated by fire-enduring species. However, as temperature and moisture decreased, fire return intervals lengthened and a mixed fire regime of low to moderate-intensity fires emerged. The findings highlight the importance of long-term interactions between vegetation and fire in shaping fire regimes and forest dynamics.