Holocene Fire History and the Vulnerability of a Primary Rainforest to Fire Encroachment

国家科学基础地理空间科学(GSS)进展这项研究项目将调查森林火灾的历史先例，以提供关于热带雨林对火灾的复原力的新知识。通过从历史背景研究干扰制度的古生态，调查者将为原始热带雨林的稳定性提供新的见解。研究人员对多种栖息地类型火灾的时空模式的分析将改变人们对区分气候引起的火灾影响和人类引起的火灾影响的基本理解。该项目将解决高度生物多样性生态系统中的火灾生态和景观干扰等基本问题。该项目将把重点放在研究区域的教育和研究能力建设上。它将促进美国和外国组织之间的合作，并将为本科生和研究生的跨学科教育和培训提供坚实的基础。项目成果将促进国家和国际伙伴之间的合作关系，以提高它们解决与地球许多地区的热带森林管理有关的问题的能力。土壤木炭记录有助于深入了解火灾在受时断时续干旱影响的热带雨林生态中可能发挥的重要作用。本项目将关注四个核心问题：(1)全新世及早期火灾的流行程度；(2)火灾的空间格局是否与气候控制或轮作农业活动相一致？(3)不同生境的土壤中热源有机质的数量是多少？这种木炭在热带土壤中的保存情况如何？(4)过去6000年来泥炭在森林中积累的历史是什么，它是否受到过去火灾事件和环境变化的影响？在印度尼西亚婆罗洲的一个研究区域，将在七种栖息地类型上建立总共126个采样点，调查人员将检查这些采样点，以寻找土壤中放射性碳年代测定的木炭颗粒过去发生火灾的直接证据。将对采样数据进行光谱分析、化学分析和定量分析，以确定火灾随时间变化的时间模式。这一研究项目开发的数据和方法将对在广泛的不同生态系统中研究火灾行为具有全球影响。

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONGEOGRAPHY SPATIAL SCIENCES (GSS) PROGRAMABSTRACTThis research project will investigate the historical precedence of forest fires in order to provide new knowledge about the resiliency of tropical rainforests to fires. By studying the paleoecology of disturbance regimes from a historical context, the investigator will provide new insights into the stability of a pristine rainforest. The investigator's analyses of the spatio-temporal patterns of fire across multiple habitat types will transform basic understanding of distinguishing climate-induced fire impacts versus those that were human-induced. The project will address fundamental questions of fire ecology and landscape disturbance in a highly biodiverse ecosystem. The project will have a strong focus on educational and research capacity-building in the study region. It will foster collaboration across U.S. and foreign organizations, and it will provide a strong foundation for interdisciplinary education and training of undergraduate and graduate students. Project results will promote collaborative ties among national and international partners to increase their capabilities to address issues related to tropical forest stewardship across many parts of the Earth.Soil charcoal records provide insight into the potentially important role of fire in the ecology of rainforests affected by episodic droughts. This project will focus on four core questions: (1) How prevalent was fire during the Holocene and earlier periods? (2) Is the spatial pattern of fire consistent with climatic control or with agricultural activities associated with shifting cultivation? (3) What is the quantity of pyrogenic organic matter in soils among different habitats, and how well is such charcoal preserved in tropical soils? (4) What is the history of peat accumulation in the forest over the past 6,000 years, and has it been affected by past fire events and environmental change? A total of 126 sampling sites will be established across seven habitat types in a study region in Indonesian Borneo, and the investigators will examine these for direct evidence of past fires from radiocarbon-dated charcoal particles in soil. Sampling data will be spectrally, chemically, and quantitatively analyzed to determine the chronological pattern of changing fire over time. The data and methods developed from this research project will have global implications for studying fire behavior studies across a wide-range of diverse ecosystems.