Carleton Author

Camill, Phil; Teed, Rebecca

Department

Biology

Journal Title

Quaternary Research

Publication Date

2006

Volume No.

66

Issue No.

1

First Page

53

Last Page

66

Publisher

Elsevier

File Name

019_Camill-Phil_AsymmetricVegetationResponsesToMidHoloceneAridity.pdf

Keywords

Climate; Ecotone; Fire; Mid-Holocene aridity; Prairie forest border; Big Woods

Abstract

The mid-Holocene (ca. 8000–4000 cal yr BP) was a time of marked aridity throughout much of Minnesota, and the changes due to midHolocene aridity are seen as an analog for future responses to global warming. In this study, we compare the transition into (ca. 9000–7000 yr ago) and out of (ca. 5000–2500 yr ago) the mid-Holocene (MH) period at Kimble Pond and Sharkey Lake, located along the prairie forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota, using high resolution (∼5–36 yr) sampling of pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic and loss-on-ignition properties. Changes in vegetation were asymmetrical with increasing aridity being marked by a pronounced shift from woodland/forest-dominated landscape to a more open mix of grassland and woodland/savanna. In contrast, at the end of the MH, grassland remained an important component of the landscape despite increasing effective moisture, and high charcoal influxes (median 2.7–4.0 vs. 0.6–1.7mm2 cm−2 yr−1 at start of MH) suggest the role of fire in limiting woodland expansion. Asymmetric vegetation responses, variation among and within proxies, and the near-absence of fire today suggest caution in using changes associated with mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie forest boundary as an analog for future responses to global warming

Rights Management

Carleton College does not own the copyright to this work and the work is available through the Carleton College Library following the original publisher's policies regarding self-archiving. For more information on the copyright status of this work, refer to the current copyright holder.

RoMEO Color

Green

Preprint Archiving

Yes (with link to journal home page)

Postprint Archiving

Yes

Publisher PDF Archiving

No

Contributing Organization

Carleton College

Type

Article

Format

application/pdf

Language

English

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