Land management explains major trends in forest structure and composition over the last millennium in California's Klamath Mountains

SignificanceWe provide the first assessment of aboveground live tree biomass in a mixed conifer forest over the late Holocene. The biomass record, coupled with local Native oral history and fire scar records, shows that Native burning practices, along with a natural lightning-based fire regime, prom...

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Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 119; no. 12; p. e2116264119
Main Authors: Knight, Clarke A, Anderson, Lysanna, Bunting, M Jane, Champagne, Marie, Clayburn, Rosie M, Crawford, Jeffrey N, Klimaszewski-Patterson, Anna, Knapp, Eric E, Lake, Frank K, Mensing, Scott A, Wahl, David, Wanket, James, Watts-Tobin, Alex, Potts, Matthew D, Battles, John J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 22.03.2022
Subjects:
California
Conservation of Natural Resources
Fires
Forests
Humans
Trees
California
forest biomass
Indigenous management
land use
restoration
carbon policy
ISSN:1091-6490, 1091-6490
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:SignificanceWe provide the first assessment of aboveground live tree biomass in a mixed conifer forest over the late Holocene. The biomass record, coupled with local Native oral history and fire scar records, shows that Native burning practices, along with a natural lightning-based fire regime, promoted long-term stability of the forest structure and composition for at least 1 millennium in a California forest. This record demonstrates that climate alone cannot account for observed forest conditions. Instead, forests were also shaped by a regime of frequent fire, including intentional ignitions by Native people. This work suggests a large-scale intervention could be required to achieve the historical conditions that supported forest resiliency and reflected Indigenous influence.
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ISSN:1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2116264119