Patterns of Anthropogenic Fire within the Midwestern Tallgrass Prairie 1673–1905: Evidence from Written Accounts

This article was published Oct. 18, 2021, in Natural Areas Journal.

This article is open access and the full text is available here: https://doi.org/10.3375/20-5

Abstract

We conducted literature searches of records from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to create a source bibliography of wildland fire descriptions occurring between 1673 and 1905. A total of 795 landscape fire records were identified within or near the eastern tallgrass prairie–forest transition region, including 32 attributed to Native Americans, 194 to Europeans from spontaneous records in the nineteenth century, and 569 to Europeans from a systematic dataset collected during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Minnesota. From these historical accounts, we find overwhelming evidence that a two- to three-week period during October and November, known then as “Indian summer,” was the primary wildland fire season. Our records indicate that Native Americans used fire primarily for hunting, whereas Euro-American fires were set to reduce fire hazards near their habitations, to eliminate crop residues, and to facilitate plowing, or they were escapes due to mere carelessness. Only five lightning-caused fires were identified. Individual fires frequently burned thousands of hectares, creating dense smoke, damaging trees, personal property, and occasionally burning inhabitants fatally. South and southwest were the most frequent wind directions during wildfires. Drought years, including 1796, 1819, 1856, and 1871, were characterized by extensive fires, which ultimately resulted in legislation to protect property owners and public welfare. Fire events for the study period are certainly underestimated by this dataset because only large, spectacular, threatening fires were recorded, especially during European settlement. In addition, our estimate of Native American fire frequency and prevalence is less than their historical/expected frequency, due to their widespread population collapse and changed hunting methods following contact and dispossession by Europeans.

Citation

William E. McClain, Charles M. Ruffner, John E. Ebinger, Greg Spyreas "Patterns of Anthropogenic Fire within the Midwestern Tallgrass Prairie 1673–1905: Evidence from Written Accounts," Natural Areas Journal, 41(4), 283-300, (18 October 2021)

Increased burn frequencies may be detrimental to soils & productivity in savanna grasslands

TPOS notes: A recent paper in the journal Nature made headlines for suggesting that an increase in the frequency of burning is detrimental to soils and plant productivity. The meta-analysis titled, "Fire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity" (available online Dec. 11), analyzed soils data from 48 long-term research sites from around the globe, representing savanna grasslands, broadleaf forests, needleleaf forests, and boreal forests.

The study primarily reports the comparison of sites with elevated fire frequencies (average fire frequency 4 times greater than the historic fire frequency) compared to sites protected from fire. Analysis of intermediate sites (at which fire frequencies were closer to mimicking the historic fire frequency) suggests that the changes associated with elevated burn frequencies were "... attributable both to C and N accumulation during fire protection, and to C and N loss during increased burning."

Media coverage included, "More frequent fires reduce soil carbon and fertility, slowing the regrowth of plants" at phys.org.

Abstract:

Fire frequency is changing globally and is projected to affect the global carbon cycle and climate. However, uncertainty about how ecosystems respond to decadal changes in fire frequency makes it difficult to predict the effects of altered fire regimes on the carbon cycle; for instance, we do not fully understand the long-term effects of fire on soil carbon and nutrient storage, or whether fire-driven nutrient losses limit plant productivity. Here we analyse data from 48 sites in savanna grasslands, broadleaf forests and needleleaf forests spanning up to 65 years, during which time the frequency of fires was altered at each site. We find that frequently burned plots experienced a decline in surface soil carbon and nitrogen that was non-saturating through time, having 36 per cent (±13 per cent) less carbon and 38 per cent (±16 per cent) less nitrogen after 64 years than plots that were protected from fire. Fire-driven carbon and nitrogen losses were substantial in savanna grasslands and broadleaf forests, but not in temperate and boreal needleleaf forests. We also observe comparable soil carbon and nitrogen losses in an independent field dataset and in dynamic model simulations of global vegetation. The model study predicts that the long-term losses of soil nitrogen that result from more frequent burning may in turn decrease the carbon that is sequestered by net primary productivity by about 20 per cent of the total carbon that is emitted from burning biomass over the same period. Furthermore, we estimate that the effects of changes in fire frequency on ecosystem carbon storage may be 30 per cent too low if they do not include multidecadal changes in soil carbon, especially in drier savanna grasslands. Future changes in fire frequency may shift ecosystem carbon storage by changing soil carbon pools and nitrogen limitations on plant growth, altering the carbon sink capacity of frequently burning savanna grasslands and broadleaf forests.

Citation:

Pellegrini, A. F., Ahlström, A., Hobbie, S. E., Reich, P. B., Nieradzik, L. P., Staver, A. C., ... & Jackson, R. B. (2017). Fire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity. Nature.

doi:10.1038/nature24668

Corresponding author: Adam F. A. Pellegrini (afapelle "at" stanford.edu)

Rapidly sharing new fire science for the TPOS region

Introducing a new tool to stay up-to-date on fire science for the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna region as it comes out. The New Science Blog is an experimental effort to increase the rate at which relevant science is shared with practitioners and researchers in the Upper Midwest.

There are multiple options to follow the blog:

• subscribe via RSS - http://www.tposfirescience.org/new-science/rss.xml,
• follow the new Twitter feed set up to share new posts (@strictlyfiresci), or
• watch for research round ups in the TPOS newsletter (join here).

How we find new publications:

Google Scholar and Web of Science alerts notify us when new fire science publications have been published for the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems; for example, Google Scholar alerts notify us of papers that include both the phrase "tallgrass prairie" and "fire." However, this is a relatively poor filter -- many of the publications are not necessarily relevant to the region (for instance, a paper may be picked up because of a reference to tallgrass prairie in a literature review or the title of a paper in the works cited section). Papers shared via the blog are selected for their potential relevance to fire practitioners, land managers, ecologists, researchers, and policy makers in the region.

Your feedback about whether we were too narrow or too broad with our first selections will help us modify how we determine which papers to share.

The audiences:

Applied science is favored by practitioners, so expect to see an emphasis on papers that compare restoration and management techniques that incorporate prescribed fire (for example, research published in Restoration Ecology, Ecological Restoration, Fire Ecology, Conservation Biology, Ecosphere). Studies of fire effects on taxa and other natural history papers also provide valuable information to land stewards and wildlife biologists (journals such as American Midland Naturalist, Natural Areas Journal, Biodiversity Conservation).

We will also share papers that provide examples of fire ecology research methods that can be applied to management challenges in the TPOS region-even if the study was not conducted here. Those posts will be tagged "research methods."

While we are sometimes encouraged to avoid "preaching to the choir," some of our members have interest in papers that share interesting perspectives on fire ecology, wildfire, and prescribed fire, whether or not the information can be directly applied. We'll aim for 5-10 percent of posts sharing new peer-reviewed papers that address national policy, controversial issues that affect public opinion about prescribed fire, and fire science that is otherwise nationally or internationally notable.