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Project ID: 06-3-1-31

Year: 2006

Date Started: 07/07/2006

Date Completed: 10/04/2010

Title: Holocene Records of Fire in the Subalpine Forests of Utah: Linkages to Climate Change, Forest Composition and Beetle Infestations

Project Proposal Abstract: Although fire regimes are possibly best understood in subalpine conifer environments, it is arguable that the long fire return intervals of some systems make the historic and dendrochronological data insufficient for appreciating the range of variability. This study proposes to provide four Holocene (~10,000) year records of fire, climate, and vegetation change from spruce-fir forests in Utah using lake sediment analyses. Looking at Holocene records will allow us to understand how fire regimes have responded climate changes in the past that are good analogues for changes we can expect as a result of global warming. By using multiple proxy (e.g., charcoal, pollen, macrofossils) we will also be able to evaluate the interrelationships among fire, climate, and vegetation composition. Additionally this study will contribute information about past infestations of spruce beetles and how they have been related to climate, fire, and vegetation change in the past. This knowledge will be of particular use for land managers as much of the spruce-fir forest in Utah is currently being devastated by these insects and little is known about the role of fire in these forests of standing dead or how forest composition may change as a result of the outbreak.

Principal Investigator: Andrea R. Brunelle

Agency/Organization: University of Utah

Branch or Dept: Department of Geography

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Federal Cooperator	Steve Munson	Forest Service	Region 4-Forest Health Protection-Ogden

Project Locations

Consortium

Southern Rockies

There are no project locations identified for this project.

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	8997	Refereed Publication	Pollen Evidence of Late Holocene Disturbance on the Wasatch Plateau, UT

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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