Europe on fire three thousand years ago: Arson or climate?

Geophysical Research Letters

Volumn 42, Issue 12, 2015, Pages 5023-5033

  Zennaro, Piero ^a,b   Kehrwald, Natalie ^b   Marlon, Jennifer ^c   Ruddiman, William F ^d   Brücher, Tim ^e   Agostinelli, Claudio ^b   Dahl Jensen, Dorthe ^f   Zangrando, Roberta ^a   Gambaro, Andrea ^a,b   Barbante, Carlo ^a,b,g  

^a CNR   (Italy)

^b CA' FOSCARI UNIVERSITY OF VENICE   (Italy)

^c Yale School of the Environment   (United States)

^d UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA   (United States)

^e MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR METEOROLOGY   (Germany)

^f UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN   (Denmark)

^g ACCADEMIA NAZIONALE DEI LINCEI   (Italy)

Author keywords

biomass burning; deforestation; human impact; levoglucosan; NEEM ice core; paleofire

Indexed keywords

BIOMASS; DEFORESTATION;

BIOMASS-BURNING; HUMAN IMPACT; ICE CORE; LEVOGLUCOSAN; PALEOFIRE;

ICE;

ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECT; BIOMARKER; BIOMASS BURNING; CARBOHYDRATE; DEFORESTATION; EEMIAN; EMISSION INVENTORY; FIRE; GLOBAL CLIMATE; HOLOCENE; INDUSTRIALIZATION; LAST GLACIAL; RECONSTRUCTION;

ARCTIC; EUROPE; GREENLAND;

EID: 84948713124     PISSN: 00948276     EISSN: 19448007     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/2015GL064259     Document Type: Article

References (72)

1. Ali, A. A., C. Carcaillet, and, Y. Bergeron, (2009), Long-term fire frequency variability in the eastern Canadian boreal forest: The influences of climate vs. local factors, Global Change Biol., 15 (5), 1230-1241.
2. Ali, A. A., et al., (2012), Control of the multimillennial wildfire size in boreal North America by spring climatic conditions, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 109 (51), 20,966-20,970.
3. Archibald, S., D. P. Roy, B. W. van Wilgen, and, R. J. Scholes, (2009), What limits fire? An examination of drivers of burnt area in Southern Africa, Global Change Biol., 15 (3), 613-630.
4. Archibald, S., A. C. Staver, and, S. A. Levin, (2012), Evolution of human-driven fire regimes in Africa, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 109 (3), 847-852.
5. Barbante, C., N. M. Kehrwald, P. Marianelli, B. M. Vinther, J. P. Steffensen, G. Cozzi, C. U. Hammer, H. B. Clausen, and, M. L. Siggaard-Andersen, (2013), Greenland ice core evidence of the 79 AD Vesuvius eruption, Clim. Past, 9 (3), 1221-1232.
6. Bartlein, P., S. W. Hostetler, and, J. R. Alder, (2014), Climate change in North America, in Regional Climate Studies, edited by, R. Ohring, pp. 1-52, Springer, New York.
7. Baumgartner, M., A. Schilt, O. Eicher, J. Schmitt, J. Schwander, R. Spahni, H. Fischer, and, T. F. Stocker, (2012), High-resolution interpolar difference of atmospheric methane around the Last Glacial Maximum, Biogeosciences, 9 (10), 3961-3977.
8. Behl, R. J., (2011), Glacial demise and methane's rise, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 108 (15), 5925-5926.
9. Berger, A., and, M. F. Loutre, (1991), Insolation values for the climate of the last 10000000 years, Quat. Sci. Rev., 10 (4), 297-317.
10. Bigelow, N. H., et al., (2003), Climate change and Arctic ecosystems: 1. Vegetation changes north of 55 degrees N between the Last Glacial Maximum, mid-Holocene, and present, J. Geophys. Res., 108 (D19), 8170, doi: 10.1029/2002JD002558.
11. Bistinas, I., D. Oom, A. C. L. Sa, S. P. Harrison, I. C. Prentice, and, J. M. C. Pereira, (2013), Relationships between Human Population Density and Burned Area at Continental and Global Scales, Plos One, 8 (12), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081188.
12. Blunier, T., J. Chappellaz, J. Schwander, B. Stauffer, and, D. Raynaud, (1995), Variations in atmospheric methane concentration during the Holocene Epoch, Nature, 374 (6517), 46-49.
13. Bond, W. J., F. I. Woodward, and, G. F. Midgley, (2005), The global distribution of ecosystems in a world without fire, New Phytol., 165 (2), 525-537.
14. Bowman, D., et al., (2009), Fire in the Earth system, Science, 324 (5926), 481-484.
15. Brook, E. J., T. Sowers, and, J. Orchardo, (1996), Rapid variations in atmospheric methane concentration during the past 110,000 years, Science, 273 (5278), 1087-1091.
16. Brücher, T., V. Brovkin, S. Kloster, J. R. Marlon, and, M. J. Power, (2014), Comparing modelled fire dynamics with charcoal records for the Holocene, Clim. Past., 10 (2), 811-824.
17. Clark, P. U., A. S. Dyke, J. D. Shakun, A. E. Carlson, J. Clark, B. Wohlfarth, J. X. Mitrovica, S. W. Hostetler, and, A. M. McCabe, (2009), The last glacial maximum, Science, 325 (5941), 710-714.
18. Daniau, A.-L., F. d'Errico, and, M. F. S. Goni, (2010a), Testing the hypothesis of fire use for ecosystem management by Neanderthal and Upper Palaeolithic modern human populations, Plos One, 5 (2).
19. Daniau, A.-L., S. P. Harrison, and, P. J. Bartlein, (2010b), Fire regimes during the Last Glacial, Quat. Sci. Rev., 29 (21-22), 2918-2930.
20. Daniau, A.-L., et al., (2012), Predictability of biomass burning in response to climate changes, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 26, GB4007, doi: 10.1029/2011GB004249.
21. Davidson, C. I., J. R. Harrington, M. J. Stephenson, M. C. Monaghan, J. Pudykiewicz, and, W. R. Schell, (1987), Radioactive cesium from the Cernobyl accident in the Greenland Ice Sheet, Science, 237 (4815), 633-634.
22. Dibb, J., (1989), The Chernobyl reference horizon in the Greenland Ice Sheet, Geophys. Res. Lett., 16 (9), 987-990, doi: 10.1029/GL016i009p00987.
23. Elias, S. A., (2006), in Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science, edited by, R. Holloway, Univ. of London, U. K.
24. Ellis, E. C., J. O. Kaplan, D. Q. Fuller, S. Vavrus, K. Klein Goldewijk, and, P. H. Verburg, (2013), Used planet: A global history, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 110 (20), 7978-7985.
25. Fischer, H., M. L. Siggaard-Andersen, U. Ruth, R. Rothlisberger, and, E. Wolff, (2007), Glacial/interglacial changes in mineral dust and sea-salt records in polar ice cores: Sources, transport, and deposition, Rev. Geophys., 45, RG1002, doi: 10.1029/2005RG000192.
26. Fyfe, R. M., J. Woodbridge, and, N. Roberts, (2015), From forest to farmland: Pollen-inferred land cover change across Europe using the pseudobiomization approach, Global Change Biol., 21 (3), 1197-1212.
27. Gambaro, A., R. Zangrando, P. Gabrielli, C. Barbante, and, P. Cescon, (2008), Direct determination of levoglucosan at the picogram per milliliter level in Antarctic ice by high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, Anal. Chem., 80 (5), 1649-1655.
28. Girardin, M. P., A. A. Ali, C. Carcaillet, O. Blarquez, C. Hely, A. Terrier, A. Genries, and, Y. Bergeron, (2013), Vegetation limits the impact of a warm climate on boreal wildfires, New Phytol., 199 (4), 1001-1011.
29. Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, G. van Drecht, and, M. de Vos, (2011), The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human-induced global land-use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 20 (1), 73-86.
30. Guyette, R. P., R. M. Muzika, and, D. C. Dey, (2002), Dynamics of an anthropogenic fire regime, Ecosystems, 5 (5), 472-486.
31. Hallett, D. J., D. S. Lepofsky, R. W. Mathewes, and, K. P. Lertzman, (2003), 11 000 years of fire history and climate in the mountain hemlock rain forests of southwestern British Columbia based on sedimentary charcoal, Can. J. For. Res., 33 (2), 292-312.
32. Hély, C., M. P. Girardin, A. A. Ali, C. Carcaillet, S. Brewer, and, Y. Bergeron, (2010), Eastern boreal North American wildfire risk of the past 7000 years: A model-data comparison, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14709, doi: 10.1029/2010GL043706.
33. Indermuhle, A., et al., (1999), Holocene carbon-cycle dynamics based on CO2 trapped in ice at Taylor Dome, Antarctica, Nature, 398 (6723), 121-126.
34. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013), Climate change 2013: The scientific basis, in Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by, T. F. Stocker, et al., Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
35. Kaplan, J. O., K. M. Krumhardt, and, N. Zimmermann, (2009), The prehistoric and preindustrial deforestation of Europe, Quat. Sci. Rev., 28 (27-28), 3016-3034.
36. Kaplan, J. O., K. M. Krumhardt, E. C. Ellis, W. F. Ruddiman, C. Lemmen, and, K. K. Goldewijk, (2011), Holocene carbon emissions as a result of anthropogenic land cover change, Holocene, 21 (5), 775-791.
37. Keywood, M., et al., (2013), Fire in the air: Biomass burning impacts in a changing climate, Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., 43 (1), 40-83, doi: 10.1080/10643389.2011.604248.
38. Knorr, W., T. Kaminski, A. Arneth, and, U. Weber, (2014), Impact of human population density on fire frequency at the global scale, Biogeosciences, 11 (4), 1085-1102.
39. Kobashi, T., J. P. Severinghaus, E. J. Brook, J. M. Barnola, and, A. M. Grachev, (2007), Precise timing and characterization of abrupt climate change 8200 years ago from air trapped in polar ice, Quat. Sci. Rev., 26 (9-10), 1212-1222.
40. Krawchuk, M. A., and, M. A. Moritz, (2011), Constraints on global fire activity vary across a resource gradient, Ecology, 92 (1), 121-132.
41. Krawchuk, M. A., M. A. Moritz, M. A. Parisien, J. Van Dorn, and, K. Hayhoe, (2009), Global Pyrogeography: The current and future distribution of wildfire, Plos One, 4 (4), doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005102.
42. Li, X. Q., J. Dodson, J. Zhou, and, X. Y. Zhou, (2009), Increases of population and expansion of rice agriculture in Asia, and anthropogenic methane emissions since 5000 BP, Quat. Int., 202, 41-50.
43. Liu, F., and, Z. D. Feng, (2012), A dramatic climatic transition at similar to 4000 cal. yr BP and its cultural responses in Chinese cultural domains, Holocene, 22 (10), 1181-1197.
44. Liu, Z., et al., (2009), Transient simulation of last deglaciation with a new mechanism for Bølling-Allerød warming, Science, 325 (5938), 310-314.
45. Marcott, S. A., J. D. Shakun, P. U. Clark, and, A. C. Mix, (2013), A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11,300 Years, Science, 339 (6124), 1198-1201.
46. Marlon, J. R., P. J. Bartlein, C. Carcaillet, D. G. Gavin, S. P. Harrison, P. E. Higuera, F. Joos, M. J. Power, and, I. C. Prentice, (2008), Climate and human influences on global biomass burning over the past two millennia, Nat. Geosci., 1 (10), 697-702.
47. Marlon, J. R., P. J. Bartlein, A. L. Daniau, S. P. Harrison, S. Y. Maezumi, M. J. Power, W. Tinner, and, B. Vanniere, (2013), Global biomass burning: A synthesis and review of Holocene paleofire records and their controls, Quat. Sci. Rev., 65, 5-25.
48. Molinari, C., V. Lehsten, R. H. W. Bradshaw, M. J. Power, P. Harmand, A. Arneth, J. O. Kaplan, B. Vanniere, and, M. T. Sykes, (2013), Exploring potential drivers of European biomass burning over the Holocene: A data-model analysis, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 22 (12), 1248-1260.
49. Monnin, E., et al., (2004), Evidence for substantial accumulation rate variability in Antarctica during the Holocene, through synchronization of CO2 in the Taylor Dome, Dome C and DML ice cores, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 224 (1-2), 45-54.
50. Muller, S. D., P. J. H. Richard, J. Guiot, J. L. de Beaulieu, and, D. Fortin, (2003), Postglacial climate in the St. Lawrence lowlands, southern Quebec: Pollen and lake-level evidence, Paleogeogr. Paleoclimatol. Paleoecol., 193 (1), 51-72.
51. NGRIP Project Members (2004), High-resolution record of Northern Hemisphere climate extending into the last interglacial period, Nature, 431 (7005), 147-151.
52. Peteet, D. M., M. Beh, C. Orr, D. Kurdyla, J. Nichols, and, T. Guilderson, (2012), Delayed deglaciation or extreme Arctic conditions 21-16 cal. kyr at southeastern Laurentide Ice Sheet margin?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L1170, doi: 10.1029/2012GL051884.
53. Power, M. J., et al., (2008), Changes in fire regimes since the Last Glacial Maximum: An assessment based on a global synthesis and analysis of charcoal data, Clim. Dyn., 30 (7-8), 887-907.
54. Prentice, I. C., (2010), The Burning Issue, Science, 330 (6011), 1636-1637.
55. Prentice, I. C., D. Jolly, and B. participants (2000), Mid-Holocene and glacial-maximum vegetation geography of the northern continents and Africa, J. Biogeogr., 27 (3), 507-519.
56. Pyne, S. J., (2001), The fires this time, and next, Science, 294 (5544), 1005-1006.
57. Rasmussen, S. O., et al., (2013), A first chronology for the NEEM ice core, Clim Past Discuss., 9 (3), 2967-3013.
58. Renssen, H., H. Seppa, O. Heiri, D. M. Roche, H. Goosse, and, T. Fichefet, (2009), The spatial and temporal complexity of the Holocene thermal maximum, Nat. Geosci., 2 (6), 410-413.
59. Rhodes, R. H., X. Fain, C. Stowasser, T. Blunier, J. Chappellaz, J. R. McConnell, D. Romanini, L. E. Mitchell, and, E. J. Brook, (2013), Continuous methane measurements from a late Holocene Greenland ice core: Atmospheric and in-situ signals, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 368, 9-19.
60. Sowers, T., (2010), Atmospheric methane isotope records covering the Holocene period, Quat. Sci. Rev., 29 (1-2), 213-221.
61. Sun, A. Z., and, Z. D. Feng, (2013), Holocene climatic reconstructions from the fossil pollen record at Qigai Nuur in the southern Mongolian Plateau, Holocene, 23 (10), 1391-1402.
62. Syphard, A. D., V. C. Radeloff, J. E. Keeley, T. J. Hawbaker, M. K. Clayton, S. I. Stewart, and, R. B. Hammer, (2007), Human influence on California fire regimes, Ecol. Appl., 17 (5), 1388-1402.
63. van Bellen, S., M. Garneau, and, R. K. Booth, (2011), Holocene carbon accumulation rates from three ombrotrophic peatlands in boreal Quebec, Canada: Impact of climate-driven ecohydrological change, Holocene, 21 (8), 1217-1231.
64. Van Bellen, S., M. Garneau, A. A. Ali, A. Lamarre, E. C. Robert, G. Magnan, H. Asnong, and, S. Pratte, (2013), Poor fen succession over ombrotrophic peat related to late Holocene increased surface wetness in subarctic Quebec, Canada, J. Quat. Sci., 28 (8), 748-760.
65. van der Werf, G. R., W. Peters, T. T. van Leeuwen, and, L. Giglio, (2013), What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates?, Clim. Past, 9 (1), 289-306.
66. Viau, A. E., and, K. Gajewski, (2009), Reconstructing millennial-scale, regional paleoclimates of boreal Canada during the Holocene, J. Clim., 22 (2), 316-330.
67. Vinther, B. M., et al., (2006), A synchronized dating of three Greenland ice cores throughout the Holocene, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D13102, doi: 10.1029/2005JD006921.
68. Westerling, A. L., H. G. Hidalgo, D. R. Cayan, and, T. W. Swetnam, (2006), Warming and earlier spring increase western US forest wildfire activity, Science, 313 (5789), 940-943.
69. Whitlock, C., P. E. Higuera, D. B. McWethy, and, C. E. Briles, (2010), Paleoecological perspectives on fire ecology: Revisiting the fire-regime concept, Open Ecol. J., 3, 6-23.
70. Williams, J. W., (2003), Variations in tree cover in North America since the Last Glacial Maximum, Global Planet. Change, 35 (1-2), 1-23.
71. Woodbridge, J., R. M. Fyfe, N. Roberts, S. Downey, K. Edinborough, and, S. Shennan, (2014), The impact of the Neolithic agricultural transition in Britain: A comparison of pollen-based land-cover and archaeological C-14 date-inferred population change, J. Archaeol. Sci., 51, 216-224.
72. Zennaro, P., et al., (2014), Fire in ice: Two millennia of boreal forest fire history from the Greenland NEEM ice core, Clim. Past, 10 (5), 1905-1924.