Saturday, July 31, 2010: 8:30 AM-4:30 PM
331, David L Lawrence Convention Center
WK 1 - Developing and Interpreting Fire Histories From Sediment Charcoal Records
Wildland fire is recognized as one of the most important natural disturbances mediating the impact of climate change on ecosystem structure and function. In paleoecological studies of past changes in vegetation and climate, quantifying fire history from charcoal stratigraphy has become a standard analysis along-side pollen analysis. While advances in pollen analysis have been made several decades ago, the laboratory analysis, statistical analysis, and interpretation of charcoal stratigraphies have advanced only in the past 10 years. This workshop will provide an opportunity to become familiar with the latest advances in developing fire history from sediment-charcoal records. The full-day workshop will be split into three sections. First, we will discuss field and laboratory methods for developing a charcoal stratigraphy. Second, we will discuss the processes that generate the observed charcoal record, and how to statistically analyze the charcoal time series for events and long-term trends, including the use of new software. Third, we will discuss the landscape and climatic context of fire regimes. Paleoecological records may be compared to each other and to dendrochronological records to obtain the best possible reconstructions of fire across large spatial and temporal scales. We will also discuss the interpretation of charcoal records in the context of multiple proxies of past environments, including changing climate, vegetation, and human influence. Each section will start with overview by a panelist and be followed by presentations by other workshop participants and general discussion.
Organizer:	Daniel G. Gavin, University of Oregon
Co-organizer:	Philip E. Higuera, University of Idaho
Speaker:	Donald A. Falk, University of Arizona

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See more of The 95th ESA Annual Meeting (August 1 -- 6, 2010)