noaa-fire-2227 Heyerdahl fire data from Big Hole - IMPD USBGH001 Heyerdahl, E.K.; Miller, R. Heyerdahl fire data from Big Hole - IMPD USBGH001 2015-10-26 NCDC-Paleoclimatology ONLINE Files Pending https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/2227 Investigator E.K. Heyerdahl Investigator R. Miller earth science paleoclimate fire history|tree ring tree demographic and injury and fire event code,wood,null,null,null,fire history|tree ring,null,null,C,FHX2 data format; refer to IMPD documentation for description of codes earth science paleoclimate sample identification,null,null,null,null,,null,null,C,Tree ID earth science paleoclimate fire history|tree ring age,null,null,null,null,fire history|tree ring,null,null,N,null earth science paleoclimate fire history|tree ring tree demographic and injury and fire event code,wood,null,null,null,fire history|tree ring,null,null,C,null earth science paleoclimate fire history fire scar dates earth science paleoclimate fire history establishment dates geoscientificInformation PICO Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon lodgepole pine PSME Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco Douglas-fir 1388 AD 2003 AD 562 cal yr BP -53 cal yr BP Complete 45.83 45.83 -112.93 -112.93 2226 2226 Continent North America United States Of America Montana Big Hole>LATITUDE 45.83>LONGITUDE -112.93 None Please cite original publication, online resource, dataset and publication DOIs (where available), and date accessed when using downloaded data. If there is no publication information, please cite investigator, title, online resource, and date accessed. The appearance of external links associated with a dataset does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the Department of Commerce/NOAA does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Department of Commerce/NOAA Web site. English DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data DATA Center Contact Bruce Bauer bruce.a.bauer@noaa.gov paleo@noaa.gov 303-497-6280 303-497-6513

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Boulder CO 80305-3328 USA online ASCII Heyerdahl, E.K., R.F. Miller, and R.A Parsons 2006 Forest Ecology and Management 230 107-118

Over the past century, trees have encroached into grass- and shrublands across western North America. These include Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco) encroaching into mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana (Rydb.) Beetle) from stable islands of savanna in southwestern Montana. Our objectives were to quantify the relative area occupied by mountain big sagebrush and grasslands versus Douglas-fir savanna in the Fleecer Mountains of southwestern Montana today and in the past, and to identify the historical role of fire and other factors in maintaining this distribution. To do this, we reconstructed a multicentury history of tree establishment and surface fires from 1120 trees sampled on a grid of 50 plots covering 1030 ha of a modern mosaic of sagebrush-grasslands and Douglas-fir trees. We compared these histories to time series of climate and land use, and to spatial variation in topography and soil moisture availability. Beginning in the mid-1800s, Douglas-fir trees established in areas in which trees did not persist historically. In 1855, less than half the plots (42%) had trees whereas today, most plots do (94%). This encroachment was synchronous with the cessation of frequent surface fires, likely caused by the advent of domestic livestock grazing, and perhaps by the start of several decades of relatively dry summers. Douglas-fir savannas historically occurred on fire-safe sites more often than did sagebrush-grass. Our inference that frequent fire excluded Douglas-fir in the past was supported by the results of a simulation model of fire and associated vegetation dynamics. In the continued absence of fire, mountain big sagebrush and grasslands in southwestern Montana are likely to become more homogeneous as Douglas-fir trees continue to encroach.

GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/firehistory/firescar/northamerica/usbgh001.txt More Information; usbgh001.txt GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/firehistory/firescar/northamerica/fire-hist-graphs/usbgh001-fire-hist-graph.png Fire History Graph; usbgh001-fire-hist-graph.png GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/firehistory/firescar/northamerica/fire-hist-graphs/usbgh001-fire-hist-graph.pdf Fire History Graph; usbgh001-fire-hist-graph.pdf GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/firehistory/firescar/northamerica/usbgh001.fhx Fire Scar Data; usbgh001.fhx GET DATA https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/firehistory/establishment/northamerica/usbgh001.dat Establishment Data; usbgh001.dat USA/NOAA DIF Version 9.8.4 2018-12-11 2018-12-11