A Macroscopic Charcoal and Multiproxy Record from Peat Recovered from Depression Marshes in Longleaf Pine Sandhills, Florida, USA

Science-based information on historical fire frequency is lacking for longleaf pine sandhills. We undertook a high-resolution macroscopic charcoal and geochemical analysis of sediment cores recovered from three depression marshes located within a longleaf pine sandhill ecosystem in Florida, USA. A ~1500-year fire history reconstructed from >1.5 m length peat cores analyzed at decadal to multi-decadal resolution revealed abundant macroscopic charcoal particles at nearly all sampling intervals, suggesting that fire occurred near the sites for almost all decades represented in the deposit. This result supported previous hypotheses of a frequent natural fire return interval for Florida’s longleaf pine sandhills and suggested that management decisions for this ecosystem should continue to focus on the frequent prescription of controlled burns. Our research also demonstrated that some of Florida’s depression marshes contain a >3000-year archive of organic-rich peat. Bulk elemental carbon and nitrogen data and stable carbon isotope analysis of the deposits at two of the three study sites suggested persistently wet soils. Soil data from the third site suggested that drying and peat oxidation occurred periodically. These depression marshes rapidly sink carbon, with measured sequestration rates on the order of 16 to 56 g m−2 yr−1. Our research demonstrated that Florida’s depression marshes provide an untapped record of paleoenvironmental information

Archaeology · Biology · Charcoal · Ecosystem · Fire regime · Geography · Geomorphology · Hydrology (agriculture · Marsh · Peat · Physical geography · Radiocarbon dating · Sediment · Wetland · Chemistry · Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Ecology · Forestry · Geology

• Detecting historic tar kilns and tar production sites using high-resolution, aerial LiDAR-derived digital elevation models

  Open Access•Grant Snitker, Jason D Moser et al.•Journal of Archaeological Science…•2022

  Incluir item

• Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments

  John P Smol, H John B Birks et al.•Developments in Paleoenvironmental…•2001

  Incluir item

• Comparing fire-history interpretations based on area, number and estimated volume of macroscopic charcoal in lake sediments

  Open Access•Adam A Ali, P E Higuera et al.•Quaternary Research•2009

  Incluir item

• Soil charcoal stability over the Holocene—Response to comments by Mikael Ohlson

  Open Access•Guillaume de Lafontaine, Hugo Asselin•Quaternary Research•2012

  Incluir item

• Soil charcoal stability over the Holocene across boreal northeastern North America

  Open Access•Guillaume de Lafontaine, Hugo Asselin•Quaternary Research•2011

  Incluir item

• Sedimentary Proxy Evidence of a Mid-Holocene Hypsithermal Event in the Location of a Current Warming Hole, North Carolina, USA

  Open Access•Benjamin R Tanner, Chad S Lane et al.•Quaternary Research•2015

  Incluir item

• Quantifying the source area of macroscopic charcoal with a particle dispersal model

  Open Access•Matthew Edward Peters, P E Higuera•Quaternary Research•2007

  Incluir item

• Preservation of elemental and isotopic source identification of sedimentary organic matter

  Open Access•Philip A Meyers•Chemical Geology•1994

  Incluir item

• C 4 photosynthesis, atmospheric CO 2 , and climate

  Open Access•James R Ehleringer, Thure E Cerling et al.•Oecologia•1997

  Incluir item

• Organic geochemical proxies of paleoceanographic, paleolimnologic, and paleoclimatic processes

  Open Access•Philip A Meyers•Organic Geochemistry•1997

  Incluir item

• Vegetation mediated the impacts of postglacial climate change on fire regimes in the south‐central Brooks Range, Alaska

  Open Access•P E Higuera, Linda B Brubaker et al.•Ecological Monographs•2009

  Incluir item

• Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis

  Graham D Farquhar, James R Ehleringer et al.•Annual Review of Plant Physiology…•1989

  Incluir item

• A 9000-year fire history from the Oregon Coast Range, based on a high-resolution charcoal study

  Open Access•Colin J Long, Cathy Whitlock et al.•Canadian Journal of Forest Research•1998

  Incluir item

• Changes in fire regimes since the Last Glacial Maximum

  Open Access•Mitchell J Power, Jennifer R Marlon et al.•Climate Dynamics•2008

  Incluir item

• Reconstructing past fire regimes

  Open Access•Marco Conedera, W Tinner et al.•Quaternary Science Reviews•2009

  Incluir item

• The charcoal record in peat and mineral soil across a boreal landscape and possible linkages to climate change and recent fire history

  Open Access•Isabella Kasin, Ylva‐li Blanck et al.•The Holocene•2013

  Incluir item

• The macroscopic charcoal record in forested boreal peatlands in southeast Norway

  Open Access•Mikael Ohlson, Auen Korbøl et al.•The Holocene•2006

  Incluir item

• Late Holocene climate change and anthropogenic activities in north Xinjiang

  Open Access•Hui Zhang, Yun Zhang et al.•The Holocene•2014

  Incluir item

• Interpretation of the charcoal record in forest soils

  Open Access•Mikael Ohlson, Elling Tryterud•The Holocene•2000

  Incluir item

• Climatic control of the biomass-burning decline in the Americas after ad 1500

  Open Access•MJ Power, FE Mayle et al.•The Holocene•2012

  Incluir item

• Can we infer vegetation change from peat carbon and nitrogen content? A palaeoecological test from Tasmania, Australia

  Open Access•Maurine S Fletcher, Haidee Cadd et al.•The Holocene•2015

  Incluir item

• Comparison of pollen-slide and sieving methods in lacustrine charcoal analyses for local and regional fire history

  Open Access•Christopher Carcaillet, Martine Bouvier et al.•The Holocene•2001

  Incluir item

• Isotopic analysis of wetland development in the American Southwest

  Open Access•Thomas A Minckley, Mark T Clementz et al.•The Holocene•2009

  Incluir item

• Testing the assumptions of fire-history studies

  Open Access•Cathy Whitlock, Sarah H Millspaugh•The Holocene•1996

  Incluir item

• IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP

  Open Access•Paula J Reimer, Edouard Bard et al.•Radiocarbon•2013

  Incluir item