Prehistoric anthropogenic wildland burning by hunter-gatherer societies in the temperate regions: A net source, sink, or neutral to the global carbon budget?

Abstract

There is a need for more intensive multi-disciplinary study of prehistoric “hunter-gatherer” burning patterns in temperate regions. California is presented as a case study to demonstrate how powerful, effective, and widely employed fire was in the native repertoire for directly manipulating the wildland environment. It is highly likely that the magnitude of burning in other temperate regions as well as in California, has been underestimated by anthropologists. A methodological approach to better define the broad outlines of anthropogenic wildland burning patterns in various regions of North America, at the point of Euro-American contact, is put forth. Regional studies which revaluate the extent to which Native American tribes were an important ecological force in shaping the biotic and physical environment, will have profound implications for contemporary environmental policies to reduce the threat of global warming. It is suggested that physical, social, and biological scientists work together to examine global warming in a broader historical context to include temperate wildland burning by prehistoric peoples and explore its contribution as a net source, sink, or neutral to the global carbon budget.