Thomas A Minckley
Biographic Data
| ID | 4640514 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas A Minckley |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas A |
| FAMILY NAME | Minckley |
| SIGNATURE | MINCKLEY T A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wyoming |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6483-013X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Taxonomic and functional diversity of North American vegetation during the last interglacial–glacial cycle
We synthesized pre-last glacial maximum pollen records to reconstruct North American pollen diversity since ca. 130 ka. Using taxonomic diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of taxa) and functional diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of different phenotypes) we identified temporal and spatial diversity trends for six North American bioregions: Arctic, Intermountain West, Mexico, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Yucatán. R…
Terrestrial and hydrological responses during the Younger Dryas Chronozone in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, Mexico
High-resolution analysis of pollen from Poza Cortador, Cuatrociénegas, Mexico was conducted for the period 13,600–11,300 cal yr BP. Results indicate that rapid cooling, coincident with the Younger Dryas chronozone, led to rapid shifts in the vegetation of the Chihuahuan Desert. Prior to the Younger Dryas, desert taxa like Acacia were increasing in abundance. This expansion was suppressed by apparent cooling and shifts in regional hydrology. The i…
An age-depth model and revised stratigraphy of vertebrate-bearing units in Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming
Excavations at Natural Trap Cave (NTC) began in the mid-1970's and quickly yielded evidence of a diverse steppe fauna that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2) along the western slope of the Bighorn Mountains in north central Wyoming. NTC is a karst pit cave with a 24.5 m vertical drop into a roughly 43 m wide bell-shaped ‘Main Chamber’ and during the course of early excavations a plugged entrance to a fossil-bearing ‘Lower Chamber’ wa…
Paleo-vegetation and environmental history of Natural Trap Cave based on pollen and carbon isotope analyses
Holocene upland and wetland dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert, Cuatrociénegas Mexico
The Cuatrociénegas Basin, Coahuila MX, has the highest rate of endemism in North America and has been the source of a rich aridlands, paleoenvironmental history in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America. Understanding the recent past of the Cuatrociénegas Basin contextualizes how aridland terrestrial and wetland systems may respond to ongoing climate warming and the potential aridification in already water-limited regions. A 12.3 m long sediment …
Late Pleistocene environments of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming-Montana, USA
Limited numbers of high-resolution records predate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) making it difficult to quantify the impacts of environmental changes prior to peak glaciation. We examined sediments from Last Canyon Cave in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming to construct a >45 ka environmental record from pollen and stable isotope analysis. Artemisia pollen was hyper-abundant at the beginning of the record. Carbon isotope values of bulk o…
Developing a geospatial data-driven solution for rapid natural wildfire risk assessment
Late Pleistocene Landscape and Settlement Dynamics of Portuguese Estremadura
Here we report the results of an integrated geoarchaeological survey to study Palaeolithic human settlement dynamics in the coastal region of Portuguese Estremadura. The region has been an important focus of human occupation across multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, including periods of well-documented abrupt climate instability during MIS 3 and 2. The pedestrian survey covered a roughly 10 km wide strip of land between São Pedro de Muel and P…
A 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, northeastern Oregon, USA, with linkages to modern synoptic climate patterns
We used pollen and high-resolution charcoal analysis of lake sediment to reconstruct a 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, located in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. From 7300 to 6300 cal yr BP, the forest was composed primarily of Populus , and fire was common, indicating warm, dry conditions. From 6300 to 3000 cal yr BP, Populus declined as Pinus and Picea increased in abundance and fire became less frequent, sugge…
Component age estimates for the Hell Gap Paleoindian site and methods for chronological modeling of stratified open sites - Response to commentary by C. Vance Haynes
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Novel vegetation and establishment of Chihuahuan Desert communities in response to late Pleistocene moisture availability in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico
With over 200 pools, lakes and rivers supporting over 70 species of endemic flora and fauna, the Cuatrociénegas Basin (CCB), Coahuila, NE Mexico, is an extremely important area for conservation studies. However, the palaeoenvironment of this unique area has been relatively neglected. Here, pollen data are presented alongside U-series dating and 14 C AMS dating techniques from a 15-m sediment core taken from Poza Tierra Blanca in the CCB. These da…
Component age estimates for the Hell Gap Paleoindian site and methods for chronological modeling of stratified open sites
The Hell Gap National Historic Landmark, located on the northwestern plains of Wyoming, is one of the most important Paleoindian archaeological sites in North America because it contains a stratified sequence of occupations spanning nearly the entirety of the Paleoindian period. Although Hell Gap is central to archaeological knowledge concerning North American Paleoindian chronology, consistently assigning component ages has been problematic due …
Paleofire severity and vegetation change in the Cascade Range, Oregon, USA
Paleoecological research has expanded our knowledge of the relationships between climate, fire and vegetation. Fire can be a significant driver of forest composition and structure change, but identifying and quantifying fire regimes has been elusive. Using high-resolution charcoal analysis and pollen analysis we reconstructed a 13,200-year-old fire and vegetation history from Breitenbush Lake, Oregon, located in the central Cascade Range, USA. Ou…
Using sedimentary records to inform the causes of woody plant encroachment in Southwestern US Desert Grasslands
The impact of Mt Mazama tephra deposition on forest vegetation in the Central Cascades, Oregon, USA
The eruption of Mt Mazama, c. 7630 yr BP, was the largest North American volcanic event during the Holocene. High-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses were used to examine the impact of Mt Mazama tephra on forest vegetation and possible synergistic interactions with fire activity in the Central Oregon Cascade Range. We selected four small watersheds on a longitudinal transect north of Mt Mazama and recovered lake sediment that spanned the peri…
“Late-Holocene response of limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forests to fire disturbance in the Pine Forest Range, Nevada, USA” [Quaternary Research 78 (2012) 465–473]
Regionalization of fire regimes in the Central Rocky Mountains, USA
Fire is one of the most important natural disturbances in the coniferous forests of the US Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are separated by a climatic boundary between 40° and 45° N, which we refer to as the central Rocky Mountains (CRM). To determine whether the fire regime from the CRM was more similar to the northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) or southern Rocky Mountains (SRM) during the Holocene, a 12,539-yr-old sediment core from Long Lake, …
Late-Holocene response of limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forests to fire disturbance in the Pine Forest Range, Nevada, USA
Despite growing concerns that ecological stressors (fire, insect and pathogen outbreaks) may force vegetation change, few studies have attempted to use paleoecological data to understand small-scale interactions between disturbance and vegetation. Using charcoal and pollen data, we infer past fire episodes and subsequent vegetation responses for a limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forest in northwestern Nevada, USA, to determine local vegetation rec…
Holocene sedimentary and environmental history of an in-channel wetland along the ecotone of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert grasslands
Response of arboreal pollen abundance to late-Holocene drought events in the Upper Midwest, USA
The impact of short-term climate anomalies and disturbances on past plant communities can be understood using high temporal or contiguous sedimentary pollen analysis. The response of pollen assemblages to decadal- to multidecadal-scale moisture variability was analyzed for the time intervals 3000–2200 and 1400–500 cal. yr BP. The hydroclimate and vegetation history for Minden Bog in southeastern Michigan were reconstructed using analyses of sedim…
A 15,000 year record of vegetation and climate change from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA
Future climate projections predict warming at high elevations that will impact treeline species, but complex topographic relief in mountains complicates ecologic response, and we have a limited number of long-term studies examining vegetation change related to climate. In this study, pollen and conifer stomata were analyzed from a 2.3 m sediment core extending to 15,330 cal. yr BP recovered from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. …
Coastal wetlands and the Neanderthal settlement of Portuguese Estremadura
Coastal wetlands are ecotone settings that offer diverse sets of resources for human exploitation, yet evidence for Pleistocene occupation rarely preserves due to recent postglacial sea‐level rise. During an ongoing geoarchaeological survey of Portuguese Estremadura we identified uplifted Pleistocene sediments that record coastal features including raised beaches, tidal channels, muds, peat, and coastal dunes. Stratified concentrations of Middle …
Climatic Shifts in the Availability of Contested Waters
Early summer snowmelt from mountains in northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming supplies the North Platte River, supporting nationally important agriculture, energy production, and urban development. Repeated decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court have fully apportioned Platte River waters among Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, underscoring societal strains on this system. Now, climate change threatens the regional allocation of water. Tree-rin…
Isotopic analysis of wetland development in the American Southwest
The analysis of stable isotope and elemental fractions of organic material collected from San Bernardino Ciénega was used to understand the history of vegetation composition and climate change within this desert wetland. A 4000-yr record of sediment buildup, based on four 14 C measurements, provides unique opportunities for the study of environmental conditions within an arid landscape and documents climate shifts from drier to wetter conditions …
Changes in fire regimes since the Last Glacial Maximum
A 15,000 year record of vegetation and climate change from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA
Future climate projections predict warming at high elevations that will impact treeline species, but complex topographic relief in mountains complicates ecologic response, and we have a limited number of long-term studies examining vegetation change related to climate. In this study, pollen and conifer stomata were analyzed from a 2.3 m sediment core extending to 15,330 cal. yr BP recovered from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. …
Coastal wetlands and the Neanderthal settlement of Portuguese Estremadura
Coastal wetlands are ecotone settings that offer diverse sets of resources for human exploitation, yet evidence for Pleistocene occupation rarely preserves due to recent postglacial sea‐level rise. During an ongoing geoarchaeological survey of Portuguese Estremadura we identified uplifted Pleistocene sediments that record coastal features including raised beaches, tidal channels, muds, peat, and coastal dunes. Stratified concentrations of Middle …
Response of arboreal pollen abundance to late-Holocene drought events in the Upper Midwest, USA
The impact of short-term climate anomalies and disturbances on past plant communities can be understood using high temporal or contiguous sedimentary pollen analysis. The response of pollen assemblages to decadal- to multidecadal-scale moisture variability was analyzed for the time intervals 3000–2200 and 1400–500 cal. yr BP. The hydroclimate and vegetation history for Minden Bog in southeastern Michigan were reconstructed using analyses of sedim…
Isotopic analysis of wetland development in the American Southwest
The analysis of stable isotope and elemental fractions of organic material collected from San Bernardino Ciénega was used to understand the history of vegetation composition and climate change within this desert wetland. A 4000-yr record of sediment buildup, based on four 14 C measurements, provides unique opportunities for the study of environmental conditions within an arid landscape and documents climate shifts from drier to wetter conditions …
Novel vegetation and establishment of Chihuahuan Desert communities in response to late Pleistocene moisture availability in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico
With over 200 pools, lakes and rivers supporting over 70 species of endemic flora and fauna, the Cuatrociénegas Basin (CCB), Coahuila, NE Mexico, is an extremely important area for conservation studies. However, the palaeoenvironment of this unique area has been relatively neglected. Here, pollen data are presented alongside U-series dating and 14 C AMS dating techniques from a 15-m sediment core taken from Poza Tierra Blanca in the CCB. These da…
The impact of Mt Mazama tephra deposition on forest vegetation in the Central Cascades, Oregon, USA
The eruption of Mt Mazama, c. 7630 yr BP, was the largest North American volcanic event during the Holocene. High-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses were used to examine the impact of Mt Mazama tephra on forest vegetation and possible synergistic interactions with fire activity in the Central Oregon Cascade Range. We selected four small watersheds on a longitudinal transect north of Mt Mazama and recovered lake sediment that spanned the peri…
Holocene upland and wetland dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert, Cuatrociénegas Mexico
The Cuatrociénegas Basin, Coahuila MX, has the highest rate of endemism in North America and has been the source of a rich aridlands, paleoenvironmental history in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America. Understanding the recent past of the Cuatrociénegas Basin contextualizes how aridland terrestrial and wetland systems may respond to ongoing climate warming and the potential aridification in already water-limited regions. A 12.3 m long sediment …
Changes in fire regimes since the Last Glacial Maximum
Isotopic analysis of wetland development in the American Southwest
The analysis of stable isotope and elemental fractions of organic material collected from San Bernardino Ciénega was used to understand the history of vegetation composition and climate change within this desert wetland. A 4000-yr record of sediment buildup, based on four 14 C measurements, provides unique opportunities for the study of environmental conditions within an arid landscape and documents climate shifts from drier to wetter conditions …
Coastal wetlands and the Neanderthal settlement of Portuguese Estremadura
Coastal wetlands are ecotone settings that offer diverse sets of resources for human exploitation, yet evidence for Pleistocene occupation rarely preserves due to recent postglacial sea‐level rise. During an ongoing geoarchaeological survey of Portuguese Estremadura we identified uplifted Pleistocene sediments that record coastal features including raised beaches, tidal channels, muds, peat, and coastal dunes. Stratified concentrations of Middle …
Climatic Shifts in the Availability of Contested Waters
Early summer snowmelt from mountains in northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming supplies the North Platte River, supporting nationally important agriculture, energy production, and urban development. Repeated decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court have fully apportioned Platte River waters among Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, underscoring societal strains on this system. Now, climate change threatens the regional allocation of water. Tree-rin…
Holocene sedimentary and environmental history of an in-channel wetland along the ecotone of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Desert grasslands
Response of arboreal pollen abundance to late-Holocene drought events in the Upper Midwest, USA
The impact of short-term climate anomalies and disturbances on past plant communities can be understood using high temporal or contiguous sedimentary pollen analysis. The response of pollen assemblages to decadal- to multidecadal-scale moisture variability was analyzed for the time intervals 3000–2200 and 1400–500 cal. yr BP. The hydroclimate and vegetation history for Minden Bog in southeastern Michigan were reconstructed using analyses of sedim…
A 15,000 year record of vegetation and climate change from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA
Future climate projections predict warming at high elevations that will impact treeline species, but complex topographic relief in mountains complicates ecologic response, and we have a limited number of long-term studies examining vegetation change related to climate. In this study, pollen and conifer stomata were analyzed from a 2.3 m sediment core extending to 15,330 cal. yr BP recovered from a treeline lake in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. …
Late-Holocene response of limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forests to fire disturbance in the Pine Forest Range, Nevada, USA
Despite growing concerns that ecological stressors (fire, insect and pathogen outbreaks) may force vegetation change, few studies have attempted to use paleoecological data to understand small-scale interactions between disturbance and vegetation. Using charcoal and pollen data, we infer past fire episodes and subsequent vegetation responses for a limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forest in northwestern Nevada, USA, to determine local vegetation rec…
“Late-Holocene response of limber pine ( Pinus flexilis ) forests to fire disturbance in the Pine Forest Range, Nevada, USA” [Quaternary Research 78 (2012) 465–473]
Regionalization of fire regimes in the Central Rocky Mountains, USA
Fire is one of the most important natural disturbances in the coniferous forests of the US Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are separated by a climatic boundary between 40° and 45° N, which we refer to as the central Rocky Mountains (CRM). To determine whether the fire regime from the CRM was more similar to the northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) or southern Rocky Mountains (SRM) during the Holocene, a 12,539-yr-old sediment core from Long Lake, …
The impact of Mt Mazama tephra deposition on forest vegetation in the Central Cascades, Oregon, USA
The eruption of Mt Mazama, c. 7630 yr BP, was the largest North American volcanic event during the Holocene. High-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses were used to examine the impact of Mt Mazama tephra on forest vegetation and possible synergistic interactions with fire activity in the Central Oregon Cascade Range. We selected four small watersheds on a longitudinal transect north of Mt Mazama and recovered lake sediment that spanned the peri…
Using sedimentary records to inform the causes of woody plant encroachment in Southwestern US Desert Grasslands
Paleofire severity and vegetation change in the Cascade Range, Oregon, USA
Paleoecological research has expanded our knowledge of the relationships between climate, fire and vegetation. Fire can be a significant driver of forest composition and structure change, but identifying and quantifying fire regimes has been elusive. Using high-resolution charcoal analysis and pollen analysis we reconstructed a 13,200-year-old fire and vegetation history from Breitenbush Lake, Oregon, located in the central Cascade Range, USA. Ou…
Component age estimates for the Hell Gap Paleoindian site and methods for chronological modeling of stratified open sites
The Hell Gap National Historic Landmark, located on the northwestern plains of Wyoming, is one of the most important Paleoindian archaeological sites in North America because it contains a stratified sequence of occupations spanning nearly the entirety of the Paleoindian period. Although Hell Gap is central to archaeological knowledge concerning North American Paleoindian chronology, consistently assigning component ages has been problematic due …
Component age estimates for the Hell Gap Paleoindian site and methods for chronological modeling of stratified open sites - Response to commentary by C. Vance Haynes
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Novel vegetation and establishment of Chihuahuan Desert communities in response to late Pleistocene moisture availability in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, NE Mexico
With over 200 pools, lakes and rivers supporting over 70 species of endemic flora and fauna, the Cuatrociénegas Basin (CCB), Coahuila, NE Mexico, is an extremely important area for conservation studies. However, the palaeoenvironment of this unique area has been relatively neglected. Here, pollen data are presented alongside U-series dating and 14 C AMS dating techniques from a 15-m sediment core taken from Poza Tierra Blanca in the CCB. These da…
A 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, northeastern Oregon, USA, with linkages to modern synoptic climate patterns
We used pollen and high-resolution charcoal analysis of lake sediment to reconstruct a 7600 yr vegetation and fire history from Anthony Lake, located in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. From 7300 to 6300 cal yr BP, the forest was composed primarily of Populus , and fire was common, indicating warm, dry conditions. From 6300 to 3000 cal yr BP, Populus declined as Pinus and Picea increased in abundance and fire became less frequent, sugge…
Late Pleistocene Landscape and Settlement Dynamics of Portuguese Estremadura
Here we report the results of an integrated geoarchaeological survey to study Palaeolithic human settlement dynamics in the coastal region of Portuguese Estremadura. The region has been an important focus of human occupation across multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, including periods of well-documented abrupt climate instability during MIS 3 and 2. The pedestrian survey covered a roughly 10 km wide strip of land between São Pedro de Muel and P…
Late Pleistocene environments of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming-Montana, USA
Limited numbers of high-resolution records predate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) making it difficult to quantify the impacts of environmental changes prior to peak glaciation. We examined sediments from Last Canyon Cave in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming to construct a >45 ka environmental record from pollen and stable isotope analysis. Artemisia pollen was hyper-abundant at the beginning of the record. Carbon isotope values of bulk o…
Developing a geospatial data-driven solution for rapid natural wildfire risk assessment
Holocene upland and wetland dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert, Cuatrociénegas Mexico
The Cuatrociénegas Basin, Coahuila MX, has the highest rate of endemism in North America and has been the source of a rich aridlands, paleoenvironmental history in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America. Understanding the recent past of the Cuatrociénegas Basin contextualizes how aridland terrestrial and wetland systems may respond to ongoing climate warming and the potential aridification in already water-limited regions. A 12.3 m long sediment …
An age-depth model and revised stratigraphy of vertebrate-bearing units in Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming
Excavations at Natural Trap Cave (NTC) began in the mid-1970's and quickly yielded evidence of a diverse steppe fauna that existed during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2) along the western slope of the Bighorn Mountains in north central Wyoming. NTC is a karst pit cave with a 24.5 m vertical drop into a roughly 43 m wide bell-shaped ‘Main Chamber’ and during the course of early excavations a plugged entrance to a fossil-bearing ‘Lower Chamber’ wa…
Paleo-vegetation and environmental history of Natural Trap Cave based on pollen and carbon isotope analyses
Taxonomic and functional diversity of North American vegetation during the last interglacial–glacial cycle
We synthesized pre-last glacial maximum pollen records to reconstruct North American pollen diversity since ca. 130 ka. Using taxonomic diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of taxa) and functional diversity (a measure of the number and abundance of different phenotypes) we identified temporal and spatial diversity trends for six North American bioregions: Arctic, Intermountain West, Mexico, Pacific Northwest, Southeast, and Yucatán. R…
Terrestrial and hydrological responses during the Younger Dryas Chronozone in the Cuatrociénegas Basin, Mexico
High-resolution analysis of pollen from Poza Cortador, Cuatrociénegas, Mexico was conducted for the period 13,600–11,300 cal yr BP. Results indicate that rapid cooling, coincident with the Younger Dryas chronozone, led to rapid shifts in the vegetation of the Chihuahuan Desert. Prior to the Younger Dryas, desert taxa like Acacia were increasing in abundance. This expansion was suppressed by apparent cooling and shifts in regional hydrology. The i…
Geography (22 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (22 works) · Physical geography (17 works) · Geology (14 works) · Environmental Science (12 works) · Holocene (12 works) · Ecology (11 works) · Geology (11 works) · Climate change (10 works) · Archaeology (9 works)