Widespread wildfire across the Pliocene Canadian Arctic Archipelago

T. Fletcher; C. Eble; J. S. Sinninghe Damsté; K. J. Brown; N. Rybczynski; J. Gosse; Z. Liu; A. Ballantyne

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110653

Widespread wildfire across the Pliocene Canadian Arctic Archipelago

T. Fletcher
, C. Eble
, J. S. Sinninghe Damsté
, K. J. Brown
, N. Rybczynski
, J. Gosse
, Z. Liu
, A. Ballantyne

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Arctic warming is expected to accelerate northward migration of the boreal zone, altering the boreal wildfire regime, with changes in fire frequency, intensity, size, and fire season length. The closest analogue to these future high latitude climate conditions occurred during the Pliocene Epoch (2.58–5.33 Ma). Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions at four Pliocene-aged sites across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago reveal that boreal forest occurred at the southern-most site on Banks Island (74.30°N), while open forest or tundra-forest ecosystems existed further north, characterized by species tolerant of low to moderate fire intensity. The climate that supported these ecosystems was much warmer and wetter than the current climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Charcoal was discovered in samples across all sites, suggesting that wildfire was ubiquitous within these ecosystems and climate regimes. The reflectance of the charcoal is consistent with crowning fire or a mixed fire regime on Banks Island and a surface fire regime on Meighen and Ellesmere islands. Boreal forest in southern Ontario, Canada, and open taiga are potential analogues for southern and northern Pliocene Arctic ecosystems, respectively.

Original language	English
Article number	110653
Journal	Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Volume	584
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110653
State	Published - Dec 15 2021

Funding

Thanks to Charlotte Reid (University of Montana) for her work in the laboratory. The Nunavut field research was supported by a Palaeontology permit from the Government of Nunavut, CLEY (Doug R. Stenton, Julie Ross), a Water License of the Nunavut Water Board, and carried out with the permission of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, especially the Hamlet of Grise Fiord (Aujuittuk, Nunavut). Logistic support was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Program. Permitting and logistic support for research on Banks Island (North West Territories) was with the Aurora Research Institute . Thank you to our editor, Shucheng Xie, and two anonymous reviewers for their efforts to improve this work. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41922006 to ZL); The National Geographic Society (Grant 9912-16 to TF; 7902-05 to NR); The Chinese Academy of Sciences ? President's International Fellowship Initiative (Grant 2019PC0035 to TF); The W. Garfield Weston Foundation (NR); Canadian Museum of Nature (NR); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants and Northern Research Supplements (Grant 239961; 362148 to JCG; 312193 to NR); NSF Division of Polar Programs (Grant 1418421 to AB); The Netherlands Earth System Science Center (NESSC) through a gravitation grant (NWO 024.002.001) from the Dutch Ministry for Education, Culture and Science (JSSD); Natural Resources Canada (KB).We would like to acknowledge the field teams including: Neil Davies (PdF, Dalhousie University) on Meighen Island in 2010; Lea Braschi (M.Sc. Dalhousie University), Thomas Lakeman (PdF, Dalhousie University) and Clayton Kennedy (Canadian Museum of Nature), Banks Island in 2013; Robyn Smith (University of Saskatchewan), W. Travis Mitchell (Carleton University) and Claudia Schr?der-Adams (Carelton University), Fyles Leaf Beds 2010. Thanks to Charlotte Reid (University of Montana) for her work in the laboratory. The Nunavut field research was supported by a Palaeontology permit from the Government of Nunavut, CLEY (Doug R. Stenton, Julie Ross), a Water License of the Nunavut Water Board, and carried out with the permission of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, especially the Hamlet of Grise Fiord (Aujuittuk, Nunavut). Logistic support was provided by the Polar Continental Shelf Program. Permitting and logistic support for research on Banks Island (North West Territories) was with the Aurora Research Institute. Thank you to our editor, Shucheng Xie, and two anonymous reviewers for their efforts to improve this work. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41922006 to ZL); The National Geographic Society (Grant 9912-16 to TF; 7902-05 to NR); The Chinese Academy of Sciences – President's International Fellowship Initiative (Grant 2019PC0035 to TF); The W. Garfield Weston Foundation (NR) ; Canadian Museum of Nature (NR) ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants and Northern Research Supplements (Grant 239961 ; 362148 to JCG; 312193 to NR); NSF Division of Polar Programs (Grant 1418421 to AB); The Netherlands Earth System Science Center (NESSC) through a gravitation grant ( NWO 024.002.001 ) from the Dutch Ministry for Education, Culture and Science (JSSD); Natural Resources Canada (KB) .

Funders	Funder number
362148, 312193, 239961
National Geographic Society	9912-16, 7902-05
1418421
Carleton University
University of Saskatchewan
Canadian Museum of Nature
Government of Nunavut
Natural Resources Canada
National Natural Science Foundation of China	41922006
Chinese Academy of Sciences	2019PC0035
Dalhousie University
024.002.001

Keywords

Boreal
Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs)
Charcoal
Organic petrography
Reflectance

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110653

Cite this

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title = "Widespread wildfire across the Pliocene Canadian Arctic Archipelago",

abstract = "Arctic warming is expected to accelerate northward migration of the boreal zone, altering the boreal wildfire regime, with changes in fire frequency, intensity, size, and fire season length. The closest analogue to these future high latitude climate conditions occurred during the Pliocene Epoch (2.58–5.33 Ma). Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions at four Pliocene-aged sites across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago reveal that boreal forest occurred at the southern-most site on Banks Island (74.30°N), while open forest or tundra-forest ecosystems existed further north, characterized by species tolerant of low to moderate fire intensity. The climate that supported these ecosystems was much warmer and wetter than the current climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Charcoal was discovered in samples across all sites, suggesting that wildfire was ubiquitous within these ecosystems and climate regimes. The reflectance of the charcoal is consistent with crowning fire or a mixed fire regime on Banks Island and a surface fire regime on Meighen and Ellesmere islands. Boreal forest in southern Ontario, Canada, and open taiga are potential analogues for southern and northern Pliocene Arctic ecosystems, respectively.",

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AU - Fletcher, T.

AU - Eble, C.

AU - Sinninghe Damsté, J. S.

AU - Brown, K. J.

AU - Rybczynski, N.

AU - Gosse, J.

AU - Liu, Z.

AU - Ballantyne, A.

PY - 2021/12/15

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N2 - Arctic warming is expected to accelerate northward migration of the boreal zone, altering the boreal wildfire regime, with changes in fire frequency, intensity, size, and fire season length. The closest analogue to these future high latitude climate conditions occurred during the Pliocene Epoch (2.58–5.33 Ma). Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions at four Pliocene-aged sites across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago reveal that boreal forest occurred at the southern-most site on Banks Island (74.30°N), while open forest or tundra-forest ecosystems existed further north, characterized by species tolerant of low to moderate fire intensity. The climate that supported these ecosystems was much warmer and wetter than the current climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Charcoal was discovered in samples across all sites, suggesting that wildfire was ubiquitous within these ecosystems and climate regimes. The reflectance of the charcoal is consistent with crowning fire or a mixed fire regime on Banks Island and a surface fire regime on Meighen and Ellesmere islands. Boreal forest in southern Ontario, Canada, and open taiga are potential analogues for southern and northern Pliocene Arctic ecosystems, respectively.

AB - Arctic warming is expected to accelerate northward migration of the boreal zone, altering the boreal wildfire regime, with changes in fire frequency, intensity, size, and fire season length. The closest analogue to these future high latitude climate conditions occurred during the Pliocene Epoch (2.58–5.33 Ma). Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions at four Pliocene-aged sites across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago reveal that boreal forest occurred at the southern-most site on Banks Island (74.30°N), while open forest or tundra-forest ecosystems existed further north, characterized by species tolerant of low to moderate fire intensity. The climate that supported these ecosystems was much warmer and wetter than the current climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Charcoal was discovered in samples across all sites, suggesting that wildfire was ubiquitous within these ecosystems and climate regimes. The reflectance of the charcoal is consistent with crowning fire or a mixed fire regime on Banks Island and a surface fire regime on Meighen and Ellesmere islands. Boreal forest in southern Ontario, Canada, and open taiga are potential analogues for southern and northern Pliocene Arctic ecosystems, respectively.

KW - Boreal

KW - Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs)

KW - Charcoal

KW - Organic petrography

KW - Reflectance

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M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85115976679

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JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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M1 - 110653

ER -

Widespread wildfire across the Pliocene Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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