Red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) fire history and management implications in the Mississippi River headwaters, Minnesota, USA

Abstract

We used dendrochronological methods and remnant fire-scarred red pines (Pinus resinosa Ait.) to reconstruct historical fire regime characteristics and relate these findings to past climate, human land use changes, and vegetation for a landscape in northern Minnesota, USA. A total of 314 fire scars were dated, representing 56 unique fire events from 1565 to 1967. In the period prior to fire exclusion (1535–1935), fire intervals ranged from 1 to 40 years across the landscape and the mean fire interval was 6.6 years. The majority of fire scars (74%) occurred in the dormant season. Climate analyses showed that conditions two years before fire events were significantly wet and, in the year of fires, conditions were significantly dry. Overall, our study reveals complex interactions among climate, humans, and physiographic factors and how these have varied through time. For fire and forest management of red pine specifically, the results point to the use of silvicultural systems with high levels of retention, including non-stand replacing disturbances.