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The Holocene
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Changes in fire regime explain the Holocene rise and fall of Abies balsamea in the coniferous forests of western Québec, Canada

Adam A. Ali

Chaire industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en aménagement forestier durable, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda QC J9X 5E4, Canada, Adam.Ali{at}uqat.ca

Hugo Asselin

Chaire industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en aménagement forestier durable, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda QC J9X 5E4, Canada

Alayn C. Larouche

Département de Géographie, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal QC H3C 3J7, Canada

Yves Bergeron

Chaire industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en aménagement forestier durable, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 Boulevard de l'Université, Rouyn-Noranda QC J9X 5E4, Canada

Christopher Carcaillet

Centre de Bio-Archéologie et d'Ecologie (UMR 5059, UM2/CNRS/EPHE), 163 rue Auguste Broussonet, F-34090 Montpellier, France

Pierre J.H. Richard

Département de Géographie, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal QC H3C 3J7, Canada

The coniferous boreal forest of northeastern North America is characterized by large and severe fire events and dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana ), with scattered patches of balsam fir (Abies balsamea), a species otherwise predominant in the more southern mixedwood boreal forests, characterized by smaller and less severe fire events. Because balsam fir is a late-successional species ill-adapted to fire, this study aimed at determining if the scattered balsam-fir patches found in the coniferous forest were relics of a former fire regime characterized by less frequent and/or severe conflagrations. Fire and vegetation history were assessed for a coniferous forest site through analyses of charcoal, pollen and plant macroremains preserved in lake sediments, peat and hydromorphic forest soil. Pollen and macroremains analyses show that black spruce dominated the local vegetation since deglaciation ( c. 8000 cal. yr BP). Balsam fir was abundant around the site during the warm and humid summers of the Hypsithermal (between c. 7000 and 3500 cal. yr BP), before gradually declining during the cool and dry Neoglacial, which was characterized by increased fire frequency and severity. Scattered balsam fir patches in the coniferous forest result from the fragmentation of formerly larger populations and are presently in disequilibrium with climate.

Key Words: Abies balsamea • biogeography • boreal forest • climate change • fire history • fire regimes • population ecology • palaeoecology • Canada • Holocene.

The Holocene, Vol. 18, No. 5, 693-703 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683608091780
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