Paleoecology and fire history of Garry oak ecosystems in Canada: implications for conservation and environmental management
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| Authors: | Pellatt, MG; Mccoy, MM; Mathewes, RW |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Journal: | Biodiversity and Conservation 24: 1621-1639 Article Link (DOI) |
| Title: | Paleoecology and fire history of Garry oak ecosystems in Canada: implications for conservation and environmental management |
| Abstract: | Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystems are listed as "at-risk" or endangered throughout their global range. In Canada, they are an umbrella for over one hundred species that are endangered to some degree. In order to effectively recover or allow these species to persist where possible, understanding of the ecological processes essential to their ongoing survival is needed. Fire suppression, aboriginal land-use, climate change, and post-colonial development have lead to drastic changes in the structure and amount of Garry oak ecosystems in North America. This paper presents new data using pollen and charcoal analysis to reconstruct past vegetation change and disturbance regimes for Garry oak and coastal Douglas-fir ecosystems over the past 500 years. Significant change in vegetation at the study sites has occurred with the greatest change in community structure and decline in Garry oak ecosystems occurring after the end of the Little Ice Age and as the impacts of western colonization occurred in the mid to late 19th century. Understanding mean fire return intervals (MFRI), ecosystem dynamics over time, and the role of people in this ecosystem structure is critical to the success of conservation efforts that are designed to ensure the long-term survival of these communities. The MFRI, inferred from charcoal analysis, ranges from 26 to 41 years on Vancouver and Pender Islands, Canada. Our results indicate that fire suppression, cessation of aboriginal land-use, climate change, western colonization and subsequent intensification of land-use has greatly altered Garry oak ecosystems. This study illustrates the utility of using paleoecological investigations to help in the development of land management strategies and prescribed burn plans. |
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