Abstract
Conservation efforts to protect forested landscapes are challenged by climate projections that suggest substantial restructuring of vegetation and disturbance regimes in the future. In this regard, paleoecological records that describe ecosystem responses to past variations in climate, fire, and human activity offer critical information for assessing present landscape conditions and future landscape vulnerability. We illustrate this point drawing on 8 sites in the northwestern United States, New Zealand, Patagonia, and central and southern Europe that have undergone different levels of climate and land-use change. These sites fall along a gradient of landscape conditions that range from nearly pristine (i.e., vegetation and disturbance shaped primarily by past climate and biophysical constraints) to highly altered (i.e., landscapes that have been intensely modified by past human activity). Position on this gradient has implications for understanding the role of natural and anthropogenic disturbance in shaping ecosystem dynamics and assessments of present biodiversity, including recognizing missing or overrepresented species. Dramatic vegetation reorganization occurred at all study sites as a result of postglacial climate variations. In nearly pristine landscapes, such as those in Yellowstone National Park, climate has remained the primary driver of ecosystem change up to the present day. In Europe, natural vegetation-climate-fire linkages were broken 6000-8000 years ago with the onset of Neolithic farming, and in New Zealand, natural linkages were first lost about 700 years ago with arrival of the Maori people. In the U.S. Northwest and Patagonia, the greatest landscape alteration occurred in the last 150 years with Euro-American settlement. Paleoecology is sometimes the best and only tool for evaluating the degree of landscape alteration and the extent to which landscapes retain natural components. Information on landscape-level history thus helps assess current ecological change, clarify management objectives, and define conservation strategies that seek to protect both natural and cultural elements.
Highlights
Most sustainable forestry initiatives, whether at the international, national, or regional level, are challenged by climate projections that suggest a significant restructuring of vegetation and fire regimes in the future (e.g., Gottfried et al 2012; Diffenbaugh & Field 2013; Elsen & Tingley 2015)
Paleoecological records that describe ecosystem responses to past variations in climate, fire, and human activity offer critical information for assessing present landscape conditions and future landscape vulnerability. We illustrate this point drawing on 8 sites in the northwestern United States, New Zealand, Patagonia, and central and southern Europe that have undergone different levels of climate and land-use change
We considered the importance of paleoecology for evaluating current landscape status in terms of its naturalness or alteration
Summary
Most sustainable forestry initiatives, whether at the international, national, or regional level, are challenged by climate projections that suggest a significant restructuring of vegetation and fire regimes in the future (e.g., Gottfried et al 2012; Diffenbaugh & Field 2013; Elsen & Tingley 2015) To put these projections into the context of ecosystem variability, many researchers have examined global and regional biotic vulnerability to future climate change in light of what is known about past climate– vegetation–fire linkages (e.g., Willis et al 2007; Gillson et al 2013; Benito-Garzon et al 2014). Most landscapes fall somewhere between the 2 end points and support both cultural and natural elements These intermediate conditions are shaped by complex interactions of changing climate and land use that operate over different temporal and spatial scales. Land-use history was inferred from archeological and historical records, ethnographic accounts, paleobotanical studies, and models that explicitly considered the impact of different types of human activity on fire, vegetation, and climate (Henne et al 2013; Pfeiffer et al 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
