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A History of Fire and Vegetation in Northeastern Minnesota as Recorded in Lake Sediments1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Albert M. Swain
Albert M. Swain*
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 USA
*
3Present address: Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.
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Abstract

The record of charcoal in lake sediments indicates that fire has always been an important ecological factor in the forest history of northeastern Minnesota. The annually laminated sediments of Lake of the Clouds permit precise dating of the charcoal peaks and record the changes in the influx of various pollen types. A detailed record of the past 1000 yr shows that the average frequency of fire is approximately 60–70 yr, with a range of about 20–100 yr. The amount of charcoal in sediments dating between 1000-500 y.a. is consistently higher than that for the last 500 yr, although the fire frequency for the two periods was not appreciably different. Pollen analysis shows no change or only short-term changes in the percentages of major pollen types following charcoal peaks.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , October 1973 , pp. 383 - 396
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1

Contribution 91, Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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