The ratio of microcharcoal to phytolith content in soils as a new proxy of fire activity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12267706 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mengdan Wen (Guilin University of Technology), Rencheng Li (0000-0003-1435-2106, Guilin University of Technology, corresponding author), Richard S Vachula (0000-0001-5559-6540, University of Reading), Xiude Wang (Guilin University of Technology), Yang Qin (0000-0001-7787-6551, Guilin University of Technology), Qiang Yuan (0000-0003-4891-3186, Guilin University of Technology), Xinyue Tao (Guilin University of Technology) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 1567-1578 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Holocene (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0959683620941086 |
| OpenAlex | W3043002537 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 58 |
Microcharcoal in soils and sediments is an ideal proxy for studying fire activity. Phytoliths in soils and sediments record the environmental conditions in which the phytoliths were formed by plants. However, our understanding of the relationships between fire activity, plant communities, and the preservation of microcharcoal and phytoliths in soils and sediments remains limited. In this study, we collected soils and sediments across a gradient of burned and unburned forest in southwest China, and analyzed the microcharcoals and phytoliths in these samples to understand the relationships between these microfossils (ratios of microcharcoal to phytolith particles (Ch/Ph)), fire activity, and vegetation cover. We show that the Ch/Ph ratios recorded fire activity and were significantly different across the gradient of burned to unburned forest. The highest and lowest ratios (0.25 and 0.01) were found in burned forest (Bs1) and unburned forest samples (Us2), respectively. The ratios gradually decreased with increasing distance from the fire. This study suggests the ratio (Ch/Ph) to be a useful proxy for studying fire activity and/or history using soils and sediments
Biology · Geography · Physical geography · Phytolith · Pollen · Proxy (statistics · Soil water · Vegetation (pathology · Aeolian processes and effects · Chemistry · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Ecology · Environmental Chemistry · Geology · Soil Science
The effects of burning and extraction processes on phytolith solubility
Scales of plant stewardship in the precontact Pacific Northwest, USA
Morphometric characteristics of charcoal produced from plants native to the southeastern United States of America (USA)
Identifying water availability with maize phytoliths in Range Creek Canyon, Utah
Burned phytoliths absorbing black carbon as a potential proxy for paleofire
The silica bodies of tropical American grasses
Phytoliths as paleoenvironmental indicators, West Side Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
A History of Fire and Vegetation in Northeastern Minnesota as Recorded in Lake Sediments
International Code for Phytolith Nomenclature 1.0
Charcoal fragments in surface samples following a fire and the implications for interpretation of subfossil charcoal data
Particle Motion and the Theory of Charcoal Analysis
Microscopic charcoal as a fossil indicator of fire
Charcoal as a Fire Proxy
Fire in the Earth System
Modern Phytolith Assemblages from the North American Great Plains
Pedoanthracological contribution to the study of the evolution of the upper treeline in the Maurienne valley (North French Alps)
Phytoliths as quantitative indicators for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in China I
Reconstructing past fire regimes
Understanding the origin and analysis of sediment-charcoal records with a simulation model
Environmental history of northwest Australia based on phytolith analysis at Carpenter's Gap 1
Phytoliths from the coastal savannas of French Guiana
Reconstruction of Fire History Using ‘Dry’ Sediments, An Approach for Microcharcoal Studies from the Sierras Pampeanas, NW Argentina
Estimating the mass flux of charcoal from sedimentary records
Informing sedimentary charcoal-based fire reconstructions with a kinematic transport model
Minimum count sums for charcoal concentration estimates in pollen slides
A method for the preparation and quantification of microscopic charcoal from terrestrial and lacustrine sediment cores
A usage-based size classification scheme for sedimentary charcoal
Comparison of pollen-slide and sieving methods in lacustrine charcoal analyses for local and regional fire history
Experimental production and analysis of microscopic charcoal from wood, leaves and grasses
Effect of fire on phytolith coloration
The phytolith archaeological record
Phytoliths and microcharcoal at Jinluojia archeological site in middle reaches of Yangtze River indicative of paleoclimate and human activity during the last 3000 years
Palm reading
Tracing Fire in Early European Prehistory
Subdecadal phytolith and charcoal records from Lake Malawi, East Africa imply minimal effects on human evolution from the ∼74 ka Toba supereruption
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |