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Valleys of fire: historical fire regimes of forest-grassland ecotones across the montane landscape of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA

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Abstract

Context

Montane grasslands and forest-grassland ecotones are unique and dynamic components of many landscapes, but the processes that regulate their dynamics are difficult to observe over ecologically relevant time spans.

Objectives

We aimed to demonstrate the efficacy of using grassland-forest ecotone trees to reconstruct spatial and temporal properties of the historical fire regime in a complex landscape of montane forests and adjacent grasslands.

Methods

We sampled and crossdated fire-scarred trees along ecotones and compared variations in historical fire occurrence within and among nine adjoining valle basins in a 10,158 ha landscape. We analyzed fire year extensiveness, climate regulation, and the occurrence of consecutive fire years.

Results

The resulting tree-ring record covers 1240–2005 AD, with 296 trees recording 125 replicated fire years during the analysis period 1601–1902 AD. Mean fire intervals for all events recorded on two or more trees ranged from 4.7 to 13.6 years in individual valles, and a mean of 2.4 ± 1.7 (SD) years at the landscape scale. Between 1660 and 1902, extensive fires occurring in six or more valles occurred 15 times, on average at ~ 17-year intervals; 29 moderately widespread fires (3–5 valles) occurred during this period, at 8.7 year intervals on average. Widespread events occurred in years with a significantly lower Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) preceded by years of significantly positive PDSI, indicating conditions favorable for fine fuel production. Spatial reconstruction of fire extent revealed multiple occurrences of consecutive-year fires burning non-overlapping areas, associated with persistent low PDSI anomalies preceded by positive conditions in antecedent years.

Conclusions

A landscape spatiotemporal approach to reconstructing fire regimes of montane forest-grassland complexes provides a valuable baseline for guiding prescribed and natural fire management at large spatial scales.

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Notes

  1. Taxonomy follows Dick-Peddie et al. (1993) and Muldavin and Tonne (2003). Plant authorities verified at USDA PLANTS Database (USDA NRCS 2020).

  2. North American Datum.

  3. Universal Transverse Mercator.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Joint Fire Science Program Grant JFSP 06-3-1-27 and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RJVA 08-279. We thank Kay Beeley, Rebecca Oertel, and Student Conservation Association interns Caroline Collin, Andrew Goumas, Sarah Hoff, Mango Kucera, and Niki vonHedemann with the Ecology Group at Bandelier National Monument and the USGS Jemez Mountains Field Station for extensive field scouting of fire-scarred material and assistance with field sampling. Previous collections in the study area by Allen, Baisan, and TW Swetnam are included in this analysis. DAF and Tyson Swetnam led field sampling in 2007–2008 with valuable assistance from Alex Arizpe, Joshua Farella, and laboratory assistance from Sarah Jorgenson (all University of Arizona). The authors thank the Editor and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments on the original manuscript. The use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    J. J. Dewar, D. A. Falk & E. J. Taylor

  2. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    J. J. Dewar, D. A. Falk, T. W. Swetnam & C. H. Baisan

  3. New Mexico Landscapes Field StationFort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Los Alamos, NM, 87544, USA

    C. D. Allen & E. Q. Margolis

  4. Valles Caldera National Preserve, National Park Service, Jemez Springs, NM, 87025, USA

    R. R. Parmenter

  5. Forestry Division, Wildfire Management Branch, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Government of Alberta, Whitecourt, AB, T7S 1N2, Canada

    J. J. Dewar

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  1. J. J. Dewar
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  2. D. A. Falk
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  4. C. H. Baisan
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  5. C. D. Allen
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  8. E. J. Taylor
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Correspondence to D. A. Falk.

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Dewar, J.J., Falk, D.A., Swetnam, T.W. et al. Valleys of fire: historical fire regimes of forest-grassland ecotones across the montane landscape of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico, USA. Landscape Ecol 36, 331–352 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01101-w

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