Effects of historical charcoal burning on soil landscapes in West Connecticut, USA

历史上的木炭燃烧对美国康涅狄格州西部土壤景观的影响

• 批准号: 389437212
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Thomas Raab
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl Geopedologie und Landschaftsentwicklung
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/389437212?language=en
• 关键词: Effects; historical; charcoal; burning; soil

Relict Charcoal Hearths (RCHs), also referred to as Charcoal Kiln Remains (CKR), are small anthropogenic landforms that are typically found in historical mining areas of low mountain ranges in Europe. Recent findings of several thousand RCHs in the North German Lowland and the use of very accurate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) have increased awareness that historical charcoal production may significantly contribute to Late Holocene landscape change. In addition to the historical and archaeological aspects of RCHs, the potential implications of charcoal burning on ecosystems, including changes in physical and chemical properties of soils, increased stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) and effects on plant growth, are worthy of investigation identified. There is a tremendous gap in the knowledge regarding the general ecological significance of RCHs as we are just starting to realize the greater dimensions of large RCH landscapes that have been recently. Charcoal production occurred in several regions in the Northeastern United States, although its effects on the landscape remain widely unknown. Recently, a first evaluation of shaded-relief maps (SRM) has revealed over 3,000 RCHs in a 40 km2 large area in Pennsylvania and more than 20,000 RCHs in a 1170 km2 large area in Litchfield County in Northwestern Connecticut. These results suggest a completely new picture of human impacts on soil landscape evolution in the Northeastern USA. A comparatively high density of RCHs is located in Litchfield Hills near the town of West Cornwall in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The RCHs are especially well preserved on slopes of the Housatonic River tributary valleys and form circular platforms with diameters normally less than ten metres. It is remarkable that currently the region is densely forested and the remains of former charcoal production, although only 125 years old, are completely obscured. Further research on RCHs is needed to enhance our understanding of the environmental consequences of historical charcoal production and examine the quantity and quality of this legacy effect on our modern ecosystems. Litchfield Hills are ideal for studying the properties, development and distribution of RCH-controlled soils and to gain new insights into anthropogenic soil landscapes in general.

木炭窑遗迹（英语：Charcoal Kiln Remains，缩写为CKR）是一种小型的人为地貌，通常在欧洲低山脉的历史矿区发现。最近的调查结果几千RCH在德国北部低地和使用非常准确的数字高程模型（DEM）增加了认识，历史木炭生产可能会显着促进晚全新世景观变化。除了历史和考古方面的RCHs，木炭燃烧对生态系统的潜在影响，包括土壤的物理和化学性质的变化，增加土壤有机碳（SOC）的股票和对植物生长的影响，是值得调查确定。关于RCH的一般生态意义的知识存在巨大差距，因为我们刚刚开始认识到最近大型RCH景观的更大维度。美国东北部的几个地区都有木炭生产，但其对景观的影响仍然未知。最近，第一次评估的阴影地形图（SRM）显示，超过3,000 RCHs在40平方公里的大面积在宾夕法尼亚州和超过20,000 RCHs在1170平方公里的大面积在康涅狄格州西北部的利奇菲尔德县。这些结果表明，在美国东北部的土壤景观演变的人类影响的一个全新的画面。康涅狄格州利奇菲尔德县西康沃尔镇附近的利奇菲尔德山有相对较高密度的RCH。RCH在胡萨托尼克河支流山谷的斜坡上保存得特别好，形成直径通常小于10米的圆形平台。值得注意的是，目前该地区森林茂密，以前的木炭生产遗迹虽然只有125年的历史，但已完全被掩盖。需要对RCHs进行进一步研究，以提高我们对历史木炭生产的环境后果的理解，并研究这种遗产对我们现代生态系统的影响的数量和质量。利奇菲尔德山是研究RCH控制土壤的性质，发展和分布的理想场所，并获得对人类土壤景观的新见解。