Articles | Volume 20, issue 24
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5069-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5069-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Dec 2023
Research article |
| 19 Dec 2023
| 19 Dec 2023
Charcoal morphologies and morphometrics of a Eurasian grass-dominated system for robust interpretation of past fuel and fire type
Angelica Feurdean
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Physical Geography, Goethe University, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
STAR-UBB Institute, Babeş-Bolyai University, Kogălniceanu 1, 400084, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Richard S. Vachula
Department of Geosciences, Auburn University, 2070 Beard Eaves Coliseum, AL, USA
Diana Hanganu
ICUB Research Institute of the University of Bucharest, Panduri 90–92, Bucharest, Romania
Emil Racoviță Institute of Speleology, Frumoasă 31, 010986, Bucharest, Romania
Astrid Stobbe
Archaeobotanical Laboratory, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz, 160629 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Maren Gumnior
Archaeobotanical Laboratory, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz, 160629 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Related authors
Angelica Feurdean, Randy Fulweber, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Graeme T. Swindels, and Mariusz Gałka
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2318, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2318, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We found minimal fire activity in northern Arctic Alaska from ~1000 BCE to 500 CE and a marked increase at 1850 CE when it exceeded any levels observed in the preceding millennia. Our findings suggest that deepening of water tables and peatland drying associated with permafrost thaw have facilitated woody encroachment, especially by more flammable Ericaceous shrubs. This study highlights the importance of moisture–vegetation–fire feedback in shaping the tundra fire regime.
Angelica Feurdean, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Mirjam Pfeiffer, Mariusz Gałka, Simon M. Hutchinson, Geanina Butiseaca, Natalia Gorina, Spassimir Tonkov, Aidin Niamir, Ioan Tantau, Hui Zhang, and Sergey Kirpotin
Clim. Past, 18, 1255–1274, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We used palaeoecological records from peatlands in southern Siberia. We showed that warmer climate conditions have lowered the water level and increased the fuel amount and flammability, consequently also increasing the frequency and severity of fires as well as the composition of tree types.
Esther Githumbi, Ralph Fyfe, Marie-Jose Gaillard, Anna-Kari Trondman, Florence Mazier, Anne-Birgitte Nielsen, Anneli Poska, Shinya Sugita, Jessie Woodbridge, Julien Azuara, Angelica Feurdean, Roxana Grindean, Vincent Lebreton, Laurent Marquer, Nathalie Nebout-Combourieu, Miglė Stančikaitė, Ioan Tanţău, Spassimir Tonkov, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, and LandClimII data contributors
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1581–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1581-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1581-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Reconstruction of past land cover is necessary for the study of past climate–land cover interactions and the evaluation of climate models and land-use scenarios. We used 1128 available pollen records from across Europe covering the last 11 700 years in the REVEALS model to calculate percentage cover and associated standard errors for 31 taxa, 12 plant functional types and 3 land-cover types. REVEALS results are reliant on the quality of the input datasets.
Sandy P. Harrison, Roberto Villegas-Diaz, Esmeralda Cruz-Silva, Daniel Gallagher, David Kesner, Paul Lincoln, Yicheng Shen, Luke Sweeney, Daniele Colombaroli, Adam Ali, Chéïma Barhoumi, Yves Bergeron, Tatiana Blyakharchuk, Přemysl Bobek, Richard Bradshaw, Jennifer L. Clear, Sambor Czerwiński, Anne-Laure Daniau, John Dodson, Kevin J. Edwards, Mary E. Edwards, Angelica Feurdean, David Foster, Konrad Gajewski, Mariusz Gałka, Michelle Garneau, Thomas Giesecke, Graciela Gil Romera, Martin P. Girardin, Dana Hoefer, Kangyou Huang, Jun Inoue, Eva Jamrichová, Nauris Jasiunas, Wenying Jiang, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Piotr Kołaczek, Niina Kuosmanen, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Martin Lavoie, Fang Li, Jianyong Li, Olga Lisitsyna, José Antonio López-Sáez, Reyes Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, Gabriel Magnan, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Alekss Maksims, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Jenn Marlon, Scott Mensing, Joanna Miroslaw-Grabowska, Wyatt Oswald, Sebastián Pérez-Díaz, Ramón Pérez-Obiol, Sanna Piilo, Anneli Poska, Xiaoguang Qin, Cécile C. Remy, Pierre J. H. Richard, Sakari Salonen, Naoko Sasaki, Hieke Schneider, William Shotyk, Migle Stancikaite, Dace Šteinberga, Normunds Stivrins, Hikaru Takahara, Zhihai Tan, Liva Trasune, Charles E. Umbanhowar, Minna Väliranta, Jüri Vassiljev, Xiayun Xiao, Qinghai Xu, Xin Xu, Edyta Zawisza, Yan Zhao, Zheng Zhou, and Jordan Paillard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1109–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1109-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a new global data set of charcoal preserved in sediments that can be used to examine how fire regimes have changed during past millennia and to investigate what caused these changes. The individual records have been standardised, and new age models have been constructed to allow better comparison across sites. The data set contains 1681 records from 1477 sites worldwide.
Angelica Feurdean
Biogeosciences, 18, 3805–3821, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3805-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3805-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterized the diversity of laboratory-produced charcoal morphological features of various fuel types from Siberia at different temperatures. The results obtained improve the attribution of charcoal particles to fuel types and fire characteristics. This work also provides recommendations for the application of this information to refine the past wildfire history.
Angelica Feurdean, Roxana Grindean, Gabriela Florescu, Ioan Tanţău, Eva M. Niedermeyer, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Simon M. Hutchinson, Anne Brigitte Nielsen, Tiberiu Sava, Andrei Panait, Mihaly Braun, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 18, 1081–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we used multi-proxy analyses from Lake Oltina (Romania) and quantitatively examine the past 6000 years of the forest steppe in the lower Danube Plain, one of the oldest areas of human occupation in southeastern Europe. We found the greatest tree cover between 6000 and 2500 cal yr BP. Forest loss was under way by 2500 yr BP, falling to ~20 % tree cover linked to clearance for agriculture. The weak signs of forest recovery over the past 2500 years highlight recurring anthropogenic pressure.
Basil A. S. Davis, Manuel Chevalier, Philipp Sommer, Vachel A. Carter, Walter Finsinger, Achille Mauri, Leanne N. Phelps, Marco Zanon, Roman Abegglen, Christine M. Åkesson, Francisca Alba-Sánchez, R. Scott Anderson, Tatiana G. Antipina, Juliana R. Atanassova, Ruth Beer, Nina I. Belyanina, Tatiana A. Blyakharchuk, Olga K. Borisova, Elissaveta Bozilova, Galina Bukreeva, M. Jane Bunting, Eleonora Clò, Daniele Colombaroli, Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout, Stéphanie Desprat, Federico Di Rita, Morteza Djamali, Kevin J. Edwards, Patricia L. Fall, Angelica Feurdean, William Fletcher, Assunta Florenzano, Giulia Furlanetto, Emna Gaceur, Arsenii T. Galimov, Mariusz Gałka, Iria García-Moreiras, Thomas Giesecke, Roxana Grindean, Maria A. Guido, Irina G. Gvozdeva, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kari L. Hjelle, Sergey Ivanov, Susanne Jahns, Vlasta Jankovska, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Ikuko Kitaba, Piotr Kołaczek, Elena G. Lapteva, Małgorzata Latałowa, Vincent Lebreton, Suzanne Leroy, Michelle Leydet, Darya A. Lopatina, José Antonio López-Sáez, André F. Lotter, Donatella Magri, Elena Marinova, Isabelle Matthias, Anastasia Mavridou, Anna Maria Mercuri, Jose Manuel Mesa-Fernández, Yuri A. Mikishin, Krystyna Milecka, Carlo Montanari, César Morales-Molino, Almut Mrotzek, Castor Muñoz Sobrino, Olga D. Naidina, Takeshi Nakagawa, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Elena Y. Novenko, Sampson Panajiotidis, Nata K. Panova, Maria Papadopoulou, Heather S. Pardoe, Anna Pędziszewska, Tatiana I. Petrenko, María J. Ramos-Román, Cesare Ravazzi, Manfred Rösch, Natalia Ryabogina, Silvia Sabariego Ruiz, J. Sakari Salonen, Tatyana V. Sapelko, James E. Schofield, Heikki Seppä, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Normunds Stivrins, Philipp Stojakowits, Helena Svobodova Svitavska, Joanna Święta-Musznicka, Ioan Tantau, Willy Tinner, Kazimierz Tobolski, Spassimir Tonkov, Margarita Tsakiridou, Verushka Valsecchi, Oksana G. Zanina, and Marcelina Zimny
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2423–2445, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) contains pollen counts and associated metadata for 8134 modern pollen samples from across the Eurasian region. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives. The purpose of the EMPD is to provide calibration datasets and other data to support palaeoecological research on past climates and vegetation cover over the Quaternary period.
Angelica Feurdean, Randy Fulweber, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Graeme T. Swindels, and Mariusz Gałka
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2318, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2318, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We found minimal fire activity in northern Arctic Alaska from ~1000 BCE to 500 CE and a marked increase at 1850 CE when it exceeded any levels observed in the preceding millennia. Our findings suggest that deepening of water tables and peatland drying associated with permafrost thaw have facilitated woody encroachment, especially by more flammable Ericaceous shrubs. This study highlights the importance of moisture–vegetation–fire feedback in shaping the tundra fire regime.
Christian Tinapp, Maren Gumnior, Susann Heinrich, Christoph Herbig, Saskia Kretschmer, Birgit Schneider, Harald Stäuble, and Astrid Stobbe
E&G Quaternary Sci. J., 74, 79–99, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-79-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egqsj-74-79-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
An important multicultural Neolithic site was discovered in a lignite mine area near Leipzig in the vicinity of a former pond with organic-rich sediments. Various geoarchaeological investigations were carried out. It was possible to reconstruct the vegetation and land use history of a central German Altsiedellandschaft using a near-site pollen profile for the first time. The widespread pine forests had already diversified to mixed-oak forests due to anthropogenic use in the Atlantic period.
Angelica Feurdean, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Mirjam Pfeiffer, Mariusz Gałka, Simon M. Hutchinson, Geanina Butiseaca, Natalia Gorina, Spassimir Tonkov, Aidin Niamir, Ioan Tantau, Hui Zhang, and Sergey Kirpotin
Clim. Past, 18, 1255–1274, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1255-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We used palaeoecological records from peatlands in southern Siberia. We showed that warmer climate conditions have lowered the water level and increased the fuel amount and flammability, consequently also increasing the frequency and severity of fires as well as the composition of tree types.
Esther Githumbi, Ralph Fyfe, Marie-Jose Gaillard, Anna-Kari Trondman, Florence Mazier, Anne-Birgitte Nielsen, Anneli Poska, Shinya Sugita, Jessie Woodbridge, Julien Azuara, Angelica Feurdean, Roxana Grindean, Vincent Lebreton, Laurent Marquer, Nathalie Nebout-Combourieu, Miglė Stančikaitė, Ioan Tanţău, Spassimir Tonkov, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, and LandClimII data contributors
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1581–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1581-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1581-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Reconstruction of past land cover is necessary for the study of past climate–land cover interactions and the evaluation of climate models and land-use scenarios. We used 1128 available pollen records from across Europe covering the last 11 700 years in the REVEALS model to calculate percentage cover and associated standard errors for 31 taxa, 12 plant functional types and 3 land-cover types. REVEALS results are reliant on the quality of the input datasets.
Sandy P. Harrison, Roberto Villegas-Diaz, Esmeralda Cruz-Silva, Daniel Gallagher, David Kesner, Paul Lincoln, Yicheng Shen, Luke Sweeney, Daniele Colombaroli, Adam Ali, Chéïma Barhoumi, Yves Bergeron, Tatiana Blyakharchuk, Přemysl Bobek, Richard Bradshaw, Jennifer L. Clear, Sambor Czerwiński, Anne-Laure Daniau, John Dodson, Kevin J. Edwards, Mary E. Edwards, Angelica Feurdean, David Foster, Konrad Gajewski, Mariusz Gałka, Michelle Garneau, Thomas Giesecke, Graciela Gil Romera, Martin P. Girardin, Dana Hoefer, Kangyou Huang, Jun Inoue, Eva Jamrichová, Nauris Jasiunas, Wenying Jiang, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Piotr Kołaczek, Niina Kuosmanen, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Martin Lavoie, Fang Li, Jianyong Li, Olga Lisitsyna, José Antonio López-Sáez, Reyes Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, Gabriel Magnan, Eniko Katalin Magyari, Alekss Maksims, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Jenn Marlon, Scott Mensing, Joanna Miroslaw-Grabowska, Wyatt Oswald, Sebastián Pérez-Díaz, Ramón Pérez-Obiol, Sanna Piilo, Anneli Poska, Xiaoguang Qin, Cécile C. Remy, Pierre J. H. Richard, Sakari Salonen, Naoko Sasaki, Hieke Schneider, William Shotyk, Migle Stancikaite, Dace Šteinberga, Normunds Stivrins, Hikaru Takahara, Zhihai Tan, Liva Trasune, Charles E. Umbanhowar, Minna Väliranta, Jüri Vassiljev, Xiayun Xiao, Qinghai Xu, Xin Xu, Edyta Zawisza, Yan Zhao, Zheng Zhou, and Jordan Paillard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1109–1124, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1109-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a new global data set of charcoal preserved in sediments that can be used to examine how fire regimes have changed during past millennia and to investigate what caused these changes. The individual records have been standardised, and new age models have been constructed to allow better comparison across sites. The data set contains 1681 records from 1477 sites worldwide.
Angelica Feurdean
Biogeosciences, 18, 3805–3821, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3805-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3805-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterized the diversity of laboratory-produced charcoal morphological features of various fuel types from Siberia at different temperatures. The results obtained improve the attribution of charcoal particles to fuel types and fire characteristics. This work also provides recommendations for the application of this information to refine the past wildfire history.
Angelica Feurdean, Roxana Grindean, Gabriela Florescu, Ioan Tanţău, Eva M. Niedermeyer, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Simon M. Hutchinson, Anne Brigitte Nielsen, Tiberiu Sava, Andrei Panait, Mihaly Braun, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 18, 1081–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we used multi-proxy analyses from Lake Oltina (Romania) and quantitatively examine the past 6000 years of the forest steppe in the lower Danube Plain, one of the oldest areas of human occupation in southeastern Europe. We found the greatest tree cover between 6000 and 2500 cal yr BP. Forest loss was under way by 2500 yr BP, falling to ~20 % tree cover linked to clearance for agriculture. The weak signs of forest recovery over the past 2500 years highlight recurring anthropogenic pressure.
Basil A. S. Davis, Manuel Chevalier, Philipp Sommer, Vachel A. Carter, Walter Finsinger, Achille Mauri, Leanne N. Phelps, Marco Zanon, Roman Abegglen, Christine M. Åkesson, Francisca Alba-Sánchez, R. Scott Anderson, Tatiana G. Antipina, Juliana R. Atanassova, Ruth Beer, Nina I. Belyanina, Tatiana A. Blyakharchuk, Olga K. Borisova, Elissaveta Bozilova, Galina Bukreeva, M. Jane Bunting, Eleonora Clò, Daniele Colombaroli, Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout, Stéphanie Desprat, Federico Di Rita, Morteza Djamali, Kevin J. Edwards, Patricia L. Fall, Angelica Feurdean, William Fletcher, Assunta Florenzano, Giulia Furlanetto, Emna Gaceur, Arsenii T. Galimov, Mariusz Gałka, Iria García-Moreiras, Thomas Giesecke, Roxana Grindean, Maria A. Guido, Irina G. Gvozdeva, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kari L. Hjelle, Sergey Ivanov, Susanne Jahns, Vlasta Jankovska, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Ikuko Kitaba, Piotr Kołaczek, Elena G. Lapteva, Małgorzata Latałowa, Vincent Lebreton, Suzanne Leroy, Michelle Leydet, Darya A. Lopatina, José Antonio López-Sáez, André F. Lotter, Donatella Magri, Elena Marinova, Isabelle Matthias, Anastasia Mavridou, Anna Maria Mercuri, Jose Manuel Mesa-Fernández, Yuri A. Mikishin, Krystyna Milecka, Carlo Montanari, César Morales-Molino, Almut Mrotzek, Castor Muñoz Sobrino, Olga D. Naidina, Takeshi Nakagawa, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Elena Y. Novenko, Sampson Panajiotidis, Nata K. Panova, Maria Papadopoulou, Heather S. Pardoe, Anna Pędziszewska, Tatiana I. Petrenko, María J. Ramos-Román, Cesare Ravazzi, Manfred Rösch, Natalia Ryabogina, Silvia Sabariego Ruiz, J. Sakari Salonen, Tatyana V. Sapelko, James E. Schofield, Heikki Seppä, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Normunds Stivrins, Philipp Stojakowits, Helena Svobodova Svitavska, Joanna Święta-Musznicka, Ioan Tantau, Willy Tinner, Kazimierz Tobolski, Spassimir Tonkov, Margarita Tsakiridou, Verushka Valsecchi, Oksana G. Zanina, and Marcelina Zimny
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2423–2445, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2423-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) contains pollen counts and associated metadata for 8134 modern pollen samples from across the Eurasian region. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives. The purpose of the EMPD is to provide calibration datasets and other data to support palaeoecological research on past climates and vegetation cover over the Quaternary period.
Cited articles
Aleman, J. C., Blarquez, O., Bentaleb, I., Bonté, P., Brossier B., Carcaillet, C., Gond, V., Gourlet-Fleury, S., Kpolita, A., Lefèvre, I., and Oslisly, R.: Tracking landcover changes with sedimentary charcoal in the Afrotropics, Holocene, 23, 1853–1862, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683613508159, 2013.
Bond, W. J. and Keeley, J. E.: Fire as a global “herbivore”: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems, Trend. Ecol. Evol., 20, 387–394, 2005.
Bond, W. J., Woodward, F. I., and Midgley, G. F.: The global distribution of ecosystems in a world without fire, New Phytol., 165, 525e538, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01252.x, 2005.
Bowman, D. M. J. S., Balch, J. K., Artaxo, P., Bond, W. J., Carlson, J. M., Cochrane, M. A., D'Antonio, C. M., DeFries, R. S., Doyle, J. C., Harrison, S. P., Johnston, F. H., Keeley, J. E., Krawchuk, M. A., Kull, C. A., Marston, J. B., Moritz, M. A., Prentice, I. C., Roos, C. I., Scott, A. C., Swetnam, T. W., van der Werf, G. R., and Pyne, S. J.: Fire in the Earth System, Science, 324, 481–484, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163886, 2009.
Belcher, C. M., Collinson, M. E., and Scott, A. C.: Constraints on the thermal energy released from the Chicxulub impactor: new evidence from multi-method charcoal analysis, J. Geol. Soc., 162, 591–602, 2005.
Belcher, C. M., Hadden, R. M., Rein, G., Morgan, J. V., Artemieva, N., and Goldin, T.: An experimental assessment of the ignition of forest fuels by the thermal pulse generated by the Cretaceous–Palaeogene impact at Chicxulub, J. Geol. Soc., 172, 175–185, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2014-082, 2015.
Clark, J. S. and Hussey, T. C.: Estimating the mass flux of charcoal from sedimentary records: effects of particle size, morphology, and orientation, Holocene, 6, 129–44, https://doi.org/10.1177/095968369600600201, 1996.
Courtney Mustaphi, C. J. and Pisaric, M. F.: A classification for macroscopic charcoal morphologies found in Holocene lacustrine sediments, Prog. Phys. Geogr., 38, 734–754, https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133314548886, 2014.
Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Davis, E. L., Perreault, J. T., and Pisaric, M. F. J.: Spatial variability of recent macroscopic charcoal deposition in a small montane lake and implications for reconstruction of watershed-scale fire regimes, J. Paleolimnol., 54, 71–86, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-015-9838-2, 2015.
Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Vos, H. C., Marchant, R., and Beale, C.: Charcoal Whirlwinds and Post-Fire Observations in Serengeti National Park Savannahs, Tanzania Journal of Science, 48, 460–473, https://doi.org/10.4314/tjs.v48i2.20, 2022.
Crawford, A. J. and Belcher, C. M.: Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: the effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters, Appl. Plant Sci., 2, 1400004, https://doi.org/10.3732/apps.1400004, 2014.
Daniau, A.-L., Sanchez-Goni, M. F., Beaufort, L., Laggoun-Defarge, F., Loutre, M.-F., and Duprat, J.: Dansgaard Oeschger climatic variability revealed by fire emissions in southwestern Iberia, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 26, 1369–1383, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.02.005, 2007.
Daniau, A.-L., Goñi, M. F. S., Martinez, P., Urrego, D. H. V., Bout-Roumazeilles, V., Desprat, S., and Marlon, J. R.: Orbital-scale climate forcing of grassland burning in southern Africa, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 5069–5073, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1214292110, 2013.
Daniau, A.-L., Loutre, M. L., Swingedouw, D., Laepple, T., Bassinot, F., Malaizé, B., Kageyama, M., Charlier, K., and Carfantan, H.: Precession and obliquity forcing of the South African monsoon revealed by sub-tropical fires, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 315, 108128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108128, 2023.
Enache, M. D. and Cumming, B. F.: Tracking recorded fires using charcoal morphology from the sedimentary sequence of Prosser Lake, British Columbia (Canada), Quaternary Res., 65, 282–292, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2005.09.003, 2006.
Feurdean, A.: Experimental production of charcoal morphologies to discriminate fuel source and fire type: an example from Siberian taiga, Biogeosciences, 18, 3805–3821, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3805-2021, 2021.
Feurdean, A.: Charcoal morphologies and morphometrics of a Eurasian grass-dominated system for robust interpretation of past fuel and fire types, GFZ Data Services [data set], https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2023.035, 2023.
Feurdean, A. and Vasiliev, I.: The contribution of fire to the late Miocene spread of grasslands in eastern Eurasia (Black Sea region), Sci. Rep.-UK, 9, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43094-w, 2019.
Feurdean, A., Liakka, J., Vanniere, B., Marinova, E., Hutchinson, S. M., Mossbruger V., and Hickler, T.: 12,000-Years of fire regime drivers in the lowlands of Transylvania (Central-Eastern Europe): a data-model approach, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 81, 48–61, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.09.014, 2013.
Feurdean, A., Grindean, R., Florescu, G., Tanţău, I., Niedermeyer, E. M., Diaconu, A.-C., Hutchinson, S. M., Nielsen, A. B., Sava, T., Panait, A., Braun, M., and Hickler, T.: The transformation of the forest steppe in the lower Danube Plain of southeastern Europe: 6000 years of vegetation and land use dynamics, Biogeosciences, 18, 1081–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, 2021.
Hedges, J. I. and Mann, D. C.: The characterization of plant tissues by their lignin oxidation products, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 43, 1803e1807, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(79)90028-0, 1979.
Higuera, P. E., Brubaker, L. B., Anderson, P. M., Hu, F. S., and Brown, T. A.: Vegetation mediated the impacts of postglacial climatic change on fire regimes in the south-central Brooks Range, Alaska, Ecol. Monogr., 79, 201–219, https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2019.1, 2009.
Hudspith, V. A., Hadden, R. M., Bartlett, A. I., and Belcher, C. M.: Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record, Palaeontology, 61, 159–171, https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12341, 2018.
Jensen, K., Lynch, E., Calcote, R., and Hotchkiss, S. C.: Interpretation of charcoal morphotypes in sediments from Ferry Lake, Wisconsin, USA: do different plant fuel sources produce distinctive charcoal morphotypes?, Holocene, 17, 907–915, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683607082405, 2007.
Leys, B. A., Commerford, J., and McLauchlan, K.: Reconstructing grassland fire history using sedimentary charcoal: Considering count, size and shape, PLoS One, 12, e0176445, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176445, 2017.
Leys, B. A., Marlon, J. R., Umbanhowar, C., and Vanniere, B.: Global fire history of grassland biomes, Ecol. Evol., 8, 8831e8852, https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4394, 2018.
Lebreton, V., Bertini, A., Ermolli, E.R., Stirparo, C., Orain, R., Vivarelli, M., Combourieu-Nebout, N., Peretto, C., and Arzarello, M.: Tracing Fire in Early European Prehistory: Microcharcoal Quantification in Geological and Archaeological Records from Molise (Southern Italy), J. Archaeol. Method Th., 26, 247–275, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-018-9373-3, 2019.
Lestienne, M., Jouffroy-Bapicot, I., Leyssenne, D., Sabatier, P., Debret, M., Albertini, P.-J., Colombaroli, D., Didier, J., Hély, C., and Vannière, B.: Fires and human activities as key factors in the high diversity of Corsican vegetation, Holocene, 30, 244–257, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683619883025, 2020.
Lukanina, E., Lyubichev, M., Schneeweiss, J., Schultze, E., Myzgin, K., and Shumilovskikh, L.: Did Holocene climate drive subsistence economies in the East-European forest-steppe? Case study Omelchenki, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 305, 108004, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108004, 2023.
Pausas, J. G., Keeley, J. E., and Schwilk, D. W.: Flammability as an ecological and evolutionary driver, J. Ecol., 105, 289–297, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12691, 2017.
Pereboom, E. M., Vachula, R. S., Huang, Y., and Russell, J.: The morphology of experimentally produced charcoal distinguishes fuel types in the Arctic tundra, Holocene, 7, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683620908629, 2020.
Marriner, N., Kaniewski, D., Gambin, T., Gambin, B., Vanniere, B., Morhange, C., Djamali, M., Tachikawa, K., Robin, V., and Rius, D.: Fire as a motor of rapid environmental degradation during the earliest peopling of Malta 7500 years ago, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 212, 199e205, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.03.001, 2019.
Miao, Y., Wu, F., Warny, S., Fang, X., Lu, H., Fu, B., Song, C., Yan, X., Escarguel, G., and Yang, Y.: Miocene fire intensification linked to continuous aridification on the Tibetan Plateau, Geology, 47, 303e307, https://doi.org/10.1130/G45720.1, 2019.
Miao, Y., Song, Y., Li, Yue, Yang, S., Li, Yun, Zhao, Y., and Zeng, M.: Late Pleistocene fire in the Ili Basin, Central Asia, and its potential links to paleoclimate change and human activities, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 547, 109700, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109700, 2020.
Pisaric, M. F: Long-distance transport of terrestrial plant material by convection resulting from forest fires, J. Paleolimnol., 28, 349–354, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021630017078, 2002.
Schweingruber, F. H.: Mikroskopische Holzanatomie Formenspektren mitteleuropäischer Stamm- und Zweighölzer zur Bestimung von rezentem und subfossilem, ürcher AG, 6301, Zug, 1978.
Scott, A. C.: Charcoal recognition, taphonomy and uses in palaeoenvironmental analysis, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 291, 11–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.12.012, 2010.
Scott, A. C., Cripps, J. A., Collinson, M. E., and Nichols, G. J.: The taphonomy of charcoal following a recent heathland fire and some implications for the interpretation of fossil charcoal deposits, Palaeogeogr. Palaeocl., 164, 1–31, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00168-1, 2000.
Sim, T. G., Swindles, G. T., Morris, P. J., Baird, A. J., Gallego-Sala, A. V., Wang, Y., Blaauw, M., Camill, P., Garneau, M., Hardiman, M., Loisel, J., Väliranta, M., Anderson, L., Apolinarska, K., Augustijns, F., Aunina, L., Beaulne, J., Bobek, P., Borken, W., Broothaerts, N., Cui, Q. Y., Davies, M. A., Ejarque, A., Farrell, M., Feeser, I., Feurdean, A., Fewster, R. E., Finkelstein, S. A., Gaillard, M. J., Gałka, M., Heffernan, L., Hoevers, R., Jones, M., Juselius-Rajamäki, T., Karofeld, E., Knorr, K. H., Korhola, A., Kupriyanov, D., Kylander, M., Lacourse, T., Lamentowicz, M., Lavoie, M., Lemdahl, G., Łuców, D., Magnan, G., Maksims, A., Mansilla, C. A., Marcisz, K., Marinova, E., Mathijssen, P., Mauquoy, D., Mazei, Y. A., Mazei, N., McCarroll, J., McCulloch, R. D., Milner, A. M., Miras, Y., Mitchell, F., Novenko, E., Pelletier, N., Peros, M. C., Piilo, S. R., Pilote, L. M., Primeau, G., Rius, D., Robin, V., Robitaille, M., Roland, T. P., Ryberg, E., Sannel, A. B., Schittek, K., Servera-Vives, G., Shotyk, W., Słowiński, M., Stivrins, N., Swinnen, W., Thompson, G., Tiunov, A., Tsyganov, A., Tuittila, E. S., Verstraeten, G., Wallenius, T., Webb, J., Willard, D., Yu, Z., Zaccone, C., and Zhang, H.: Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 305, 108020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108020, 2023.
Simpson, K. J., Ripley, B. S., Christin, P.-A., Belcher, C. M., Lehmann, C. E. R., Thomas, G. H., and Osborne, C. P.: Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species, J. Ecol., 104, 138–148, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12503, 2016.
Stevens, N., Bond, W., Feurdean, A., and Lehmann, C. E.: Grassy ecosystems in the Anthropocene, Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour., 47, 261–289, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112420-015211, 2022.
Stobbe, A., Gumnior, M., Rühl, L., and Schneider, H.: Bronze Age human–landscape interactions in the southern Transural steppe, Russia–Evidence from high-resolution palaeobotanical studies, Holocene, 26, 1692–1710, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616641740, 2016.
Tanner, C. C.: Growth and nutrient dynamics of soft-stem bulrush in constructed wetlands treating nutrient-rich wastewaters, Wetl. Ecol. Manag., 9, 49–73, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008454901954, 2001.
Thevenon, F., Williamson, D., Vincens, A., Taieb, M., Merdaci, O., Decobert, M., and Buchet, G.: A late-Holocene charcoal record from Lake Masoko, SW Tanzania: climatic and anthropologic implications, Holocene, 13, 785–792, https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683603hl665rr, 2003.
Umbanhowar, C. E. and McGrath, M. J.: Experimental production and analysis of microscopic charcoal from wood, leaves and grasses, Holocene, 8, 341–346, https://doi.org/10.1191/095968398666496051, 1998.
Unkelbach, J., Dulamsuren, C., Punsalpaamuu, G., Saindovdon, D., and Behling, H.: Late Holocene vegetation, climate, human and fire history of the forest-steppe-ecosystem inferred from core G2-A in the “Altai Tavan Bogd” conservation area in Mongolia, Veg. Hist. Archaebot., 27, 665–677, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-017-0664-5, 2018.
Vachula, R. S.: A usage-based size classification scheme for sedimentary charcoal, Holocene, 29, 523–527, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683618816520, 2018.
Vachula, R. S. and Richter, N.: Informing sedimentary charcoal-based fire reconstructions with a kinematic transport model, Holocene, 28, 173–178, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617715624, 2018.
Vachula, R. S. and Rehn, E.: Modeled dispersal patterns for wood and grass charcoal are different: Implications for paleofire reconstruction, Holocene, 33, 159–166, https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836221131708, 2023.
Vachula, R. S., Sae-Lim, J., and Li, R.: A critical appraisal of charcoal morphometry as a paleofire fuel type proxy, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 262, 106979, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106979, 2021.
Vannière, B., Bossuet, G., Walter-Simonnet, A. V., Gauthier, E., Barral, P., Petit, C., Buatier, M., and Daubigney, A.: Land use change, soil erosion and alluvial dynamic in the lower Doubs Valley over the 1st millenium AD (Neublans, Jura, France), J. Archaeol. Sci., 30, 1283–1299, 2003.
Vernescu, C., Coulas, J., and Ryser, P.: Leaf mass loss in wetland graminoids during senescence, Oikos, 109, 187–195, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.13511.x, 2005.
Walsh, P. M. and Li, T.: Fragmentation and attrition of coal char particles undergoing collisions during combustion at temperatures from 900–1100 K, Combustion Flame, 99, 749–757, https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-2180(94)90070-1, 1994.
Whitlock, C. and Larsen, C.: Charcoal as a fire proxy, in: Tracking environmental change using lake sediments, Volume 3: terrestrial, algal, and siliceous indicators, edited by: Smol, J. P., Birks, H. J. B., and Last, W. M., Kluwer Academic Publishers, 75–97, https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47668-1_5, 2002.
Yang, H., Yan, R., Chen, H., Lee, D. H., and Zheng, C.: Characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin pyrolysis, Fuel, 86, 1781–1788, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2006.12.013, 2007.
Short summary
This paper presents novel results of laboratory-produced charcoal forms from various grass, forb and shrub taxa from the Eurasian steppe to facilitate more robust interpretations of fuel sources and fire types in grassland-dominated ecosystems. Advancements in identifying fuel sources and changes in fire types make charcoal analysis relevant to studies of plant evolution and fire management.
This paper presents novel results of laboratory-produced charcoal forms from various grass, forb...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint