Effects of climate on historical fire regimes (1451–2013) in Pinus hartwegii forests of Cofre de Perote National Park, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Cofre de Perote National Park (CPNP) in Veracruz, Mexico is part of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt, and its Pinus hartwegii forests reflect a balance between the various natural factors that represent the region's climatology and hydrology. Like many other areas in this region, the historical fire regimes of these forests and their relationship with climate are unknown, but are needed for sustainable management plans. The main objectives of this study were to reconstruct the historical fire regime in a Pinus hartwegii forest and decipher the influenced of climate. Our investigation focused in two study areas, Valle la Teta (VT) and Barranca Honda (BH). The VT study area was divided into three sites based on humidity and elevation: 1) Humid (VTH), 2) Dry Low (VTDL) and 3) Dry High (VTDH). The approximated area for each site was ​​30, 30, 35 and 50 ha, for VTH, VTDL, VTDH and BH, respectively. We collected 162 fire scarred samples to reconstruct the fire history for the last 550 years (1461−2013). The fire scarred samples contained 1240 fire scars, with most fires occurring in spring (95 %) or summer (5%). Prior to 1973, these sites were characterized by a frequent surface fire regime. In all four sites, the mean fire intervals ranged from 5 to 6 years (for fires that scarred ≥ 10 % of the samples) and 13–23 years (for fires that scarred ≥ 25 % of the samples). Extensive fires (≥ 10 %) coincided with significantly dry conditions based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), influenced by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index (PDO). We also found a significant relationship between fire occurrence and ENSO, both in its warm phase, El Niño (21 fires ≥ 10 %) and in its cold phase, La Niña (32 fires ≥ 10 %). Synchronization of the cold phase of ENSO (La Niña) with the cold phase of the PDO (negative), facilitated severe drought conditions, resulting in fires with the greatest spatial extent. Since 1973, extensive fires have been absent from the study area most likely due to anthropogenic activities including active fire suppression. These results show a strong climate-fire relationship in these high elevation forests. The lack of fire in the last four decades is concerning and could potentially lead to unnatural stand-replacing fires, unless the historical fire regime is restored to maintain natural processes and increase forest resilience.